Revenge of the Birds
The Arizona Cardinals are keeping up with the elite teams in the NFC West Division: the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. All three clubs have won both games and are in a three-way tie for the division.
The Cardinals must be feeling pretty good about themselves. They took care of the New Orleans Saints in Week 1, and then hung on to defeat the Carolina Panthers in the second game.
Emphasis on “hung on.”
Arizona was dominating the Panthers and built a 27-3 lead halfway through three quarters. Then suddenly, the wheels didn’t just come off, they exploded as the Cardinals barely won 27-22. What happened to the lead? How did this come about, and what can be done to stop this from happening again?
This isn’t just a one-off. Against the Saints, the Cardinals had a 20-10 lead with about nine minutes left in Quarter 3. They hung on to win that contest 20-13. Again, they had to fight to preserve the win.
It is concerning that both sides of the ball struggled late in the game against Carolina.
During the post-game presser with Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, he stated regarding the lack of ability to put teams away:
“I’m proud of them because they showed resilience, because it turned quickly. But ultimately won enough plays to win the game there.”
The Cardinals had already scored all the points they were going to, so the winning plays were already gone and over with. Carolina outscored Arizona 19-7 in the second half. The opening drive in the second half saved the game with the nine-play drive that went 71 yards and concluded with a two-yard James Conner run for a 27-3 lead.
From that point on, the offense could not move whatsoever. The other drives in the second half resulted in an interception, a punt, and the victory formation for one play.
Gannon continued:
“I obviously have to do a much better job at making our guys, all three phases, understand how to close games out. That’s two in a row now. When we have a chance to put away games, we have to put them away.”
What was lucky for the Cards is that the third quarter was only two drives: the aforementioned Conner TD drive, and then the Panthers took almost eight minutes off the clock with 14 plays that resulted in a four-yard TD pass to WR Hunter Renfrow. Only three plays remained until the final quarter began. Both long drives only gave Carolina the final quarter to attempt to make up the large difference on the scoreboard.
The issue was, the team did not finish. Gannon noted:
“When you get up like that, defensively, you’re trying to make them earn every yard. Then they went on two long drives and scored touchdowns. Within those drives, we have to do a better job of getting off a little bit better and work...
