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.
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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 to keep points off the board ultimately. The turning point for me was we never got that key stop and allowed our offense to get out there and put the game away. It’s not the players – they played their butts off.”
All well and good, and a 24-point lead that dissolved pretty quickly is certainly something to be concerned with. And it has happened twice now. In two games.
One issue in the Carolina game was that after the big lead was established, the defense began to give way too much area away from the Panthers’ receivers, even as much as 12 to 15 yards off their man. Why? Quick, short passes then became the norm as they marched down the field without many contested throws.
The Saints had an opportunity to pull off the upset towards the end of the game and had more first downs (21) than Arizona, with seven fewer possession minutes. The issue in that game was that the offense failed to move the ball the same way they did in the second quarter, where they scored two touchdowns on successive drives.
In the third quarter, the offense bogged down and summoned K Chad Ryland, who kicked a 50-yard field goal to make it 20-10 Cardinals. But from there, the offense could not finish drives as this group finished the game by going punt, punt, blocked 46-yard field goal, and another punt. The final possession, Arizona could have run out the clock as they got the ball with 2:42 left in the game and should have drained the clock. But a 15-yard sack ended with a punt instead.
Meanwhile, New Orleans started their final drive down by just seven points on their own 42 with just 1:49 left in the game. Several good runs and a series of short passes later, the Saints had a first down at the 18-yard line of Arizona. But the clock showed 14 ticks remaining. Four incomplete passes finished the game.
There were chances for the Saints, but the defense stood up to the challenge. Just like against the Panthers.
“There were some bad penalties, too, that we have to clean up. The game was on the line and the defense got it done. I thought we played well enough for three quarters, and in the fourth we didn’t do a good enough job. We got to make sure we are educating our guys and putting them in situations and coaching the details.”
This Cardinals defense is playing well this year. They did their part in the Panthers game with an early fumble recovery for a touchdown, and then the interception by LB Baron Browning, all in the first quarter.
But it seems they get tired after three quarters. Why? Because the offense isn’t staying on the field for as long in the second half.
Against the Saints in the first half, the offense had several good drives of 11and 10 plays. Whereas in the second half, there were six and five-play drives plus and a three-and-out, among others.
Defensive players rarely sub, so when an offense moves the ball and grinds off time on the clock, the defenders can sit in a shady spot, drink, and rest. Then they can hit the field with stamina.
“Calais (Campbell), obviously, a huge play, that hit we needed it. It’s a ‘gotta have it play.’ He came up big. We just didn’t have the ball in the second half.”
The end of the Carolina game was a combination things, such as dumb late-game penalties like Denzel Burke’s which negated a sack and fumble or Josh Sweat’s roughing the passer call, an onside kick recovery that was botched that after it went off a member of Arizona’s return team, a horrible interception, and many offensive miscommunications that all contributed to keeping the Panthers in the mix instead of inserting a dagger.
The defense must find a method so they won’t become drained in the fourth quarter. More conditioning? Kinda late for that. Substitute more bodies? It may come to that. A complete defensive line rotation? An idea for sure.
Gannon concluded:
“Our job is solutions. So, we figure out the solutions.”
How can the Cardinals finish games when they build a lead?
It’s pretty simple: the offense must sustain more drives and complete the game with the football in their hands instead of hoping that the defense will come through once again.
