Everyone knew who the Arizona Cardinals needed to stop on Sunday.
The best defensive player in the NFL, Micah Parson was lined up across from the Arizona Cardinals and while his stats were not eye-popping
coming into the day, 2.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, and eight quarterback hits.
In a single game, he basically doubled all those numbers.
Parsons was the unquestioned best player on the field on Sunday, finishing with three sacks, four tackles for loss and five quarterback hits.
The game was astonishing, if it wasn’t happening to the team you root for.
And yet, the game was great not just because Parsons is a freak of nature, but because the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff schemed up a game to let him wreck things.
David Bakhtiari, the former Green Bay Packers All Pro left tackle was quick to note that this all comes from scheme and play calls.
There are times, as I talked about with a college offensive line coach, when you need five offensive linemen to beat four pass rusher, but for the game, why was Drew Petzing happy to allow Jonah Williams to solo Micah Parsons most of the game? Why was Petzing calling plays into solo blocks by the tight end in goal to go situations?
What was being accomplished and planned? Why was there not a little box on the play sheet that said specifically, “Micah Parsons” and was about keeping Parsons occupied?
This is more concerning than anything else we have seen and been upset about this year with regards to coaching.
The Cardinals may have a bigger issue, but it depends on how accurate former Cardinals guard Justin Pugh is:
Whatever is happening, the coaching staff has done nothing all season to put the team in a position to win games, and we know it by the results on the field.
They have the bye week, but will anything get fixed?