The schedule for the Arizona Cardinals (2-4-0) only gets harder. They have to stop the bleeding and come up with some wins against really good teams. That began today against the 3-1-1 Green Bay Packers.
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In the end, the Cardinals had the lead going into the final quarter like they always do, but could not finish. They now fall to 2-5-0 for the year.
Who played well for Arizona? Who didn’t?
WINNERS
TE Trey McBride – Great route on his touchdown catch right
before the half. His second TD catch, he took his route to an open spot, then ran over CB Nate Hobbs in order to get into the end zone. Had two good catches early in the fourth quarter that helped that drive, which got another three points. Led all receivers with 13 targets, 10 catches for 74 yards, and two touchdowns.
QB Jacoby Brissett – Brissett found a wide-open Marv Harrison with 6:28 left before halftime for 23 yards at midfield. Tremendous toss to WR Zay Jones with just over a minute left in the second quarter that gained 43 yards. Brissett’s fumble to start the second half was because C Hjalte Froholdt could not contain DT Colby Wooden, who flushed Brissett forward. At the same time, LT Paris Johnson had lost his man, RE Rashan Gary, who just happened to be coming into the hole Brissett had crept up in. The hit became the fumble. Strike to Harrison on a third-and-14 with 6:59 left in the third quarter. Harrison had beaten CB Hobbs and was led perfectly for 35 yards to Green Bay’s 26-yard line. Four plays later was the second McBride TD. The final drive Brissett had only 1:50 left in the game and drove the offense from their own 35-yard line to Green Bay’s 27. Finished going 25-36 for 279 yards with two TDs and zero picks. Was sacked six times with a QB rating of 110.8.
First half offense – The offense was on fire in the first half. Their first drive took the Cardinals down to the eight before a sack ended any touchdown aspirations, but they did get three points after a 15-play drive. Second possession was a punt followed by an eight-play drive that got another field goal. Then nine plays that finished with a McBride touchdown catch on a great throw by Brissett. Four possessions, three scoring drives, and had the ball almost five minutes more than Green Bay. Plus, they were winning the first down category, making 11 versus just seven for the Packers. Arizona led at the half, 13-6.
K Chad Ryland – Hit all three field goals with a long of 40 yards, and was 2-2 on PATs. Nice placement on kickoffs inside the five. Scored almost half of Arizona’s points with 11.
S Budda Baker – Led all tacklers with eight. Gobbled up RB Josh Jacobs for a short gain in the second quarter. Caused the Jordan Love fumble in the third quarter. On a first down play with 2:26 left in the game, he brought down Jacobs, who had nothing but green in front of him.
LOSERS
Offensive line – You have to give it to Brissett; if not for his escape abilities, like his 12-yard run as the first quarter was winding down, this game would not have been that close. It was jailbreak on most passing downs. Brissett was sacked six times with 12 QB hits. On the Packers’ eight-yard line on their first drive, Brissett was sacked on a third-and-goal when LT Johnson allowed EDGE Micah Parsons to just go around the end. That ended up as three points instead. We get it, Parsons is a beast. But at least give both offensive tackles some help with a tight end to chip before flaring out. LG Evan Brown had no answer for DT Warren Brinson, who had four tackles and gave pressure all game long.
Gary penetrated for most of the game from the leftside in front of RT Williams and caused the Brissett fumble. The sack by Parsons with 9:50 left in the game on the Packers’ 10-yard line back to the 25-yard line was killer. He tossed aside RT Williams like he was nothing. Parsons had a field day with three sacks, eight pressures, five QB hits, and two tackles for loss. The big question was: How did the Packers not end up with double-digit sack numbers? And nobody figured out that Parsons needed two blockers in front of him on every play, all game? Anyone?
Second half offense – What happened? Long drives for points in the first half with just one punt and the lead, followed by mistakes and missed opportunities after halftime. After the Cardinals’ defense held the Packers to a three-and-out to begin the third quarter, Brissett was sacked by Gary and fumbled, recovered by S Evan Williams. Second half drives: Fumble, touchdown, field goal, downs, downs.
Fourth quarter letdown – This is every week. Again. Leading 23-20 with 5:58 left. The final drive began with just 1:50 remaining and behind by four. The Parsons sack with 32 ticks left was a drive killer. But Brissett drove the offense from their own 35-yard line to Green Bay’s 27.
Fourth-and-one with 5:58 left – What was Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon thinking? The Cardinals had a 23-20 lead at their own 40-yard line, then Brissett hit WR Michael Wilson with a nine-yard gain on third down. Now, on their own 48, Gannon went for it on fourth-and-one. A punt places Green Bay inside its own 20 if not deeper. Brissett was nailed for no gain on an ugly QB sneak as Green Bay had nine defenders in the box. The Packers now set up shop on Arizona’s 48-yard line, ran off 4:01 of clock, and scored the go-ahead touchdown. In the NFL, whatever happened to protecting the lead? Or maybe that’s how it’s done in the desert.
Lack of pass rush – With 10:49 left in the second quarter, Packers QB Jordan Love took a seven-step drop. His running back stayed in to block, as the Cardinals rushed five. Love went through his progressions and found WR Romeo Doubs for 15 yards to the Arizona 31-yard line. When Love released the ball, no Cardinal defender was within six yards of him. They rushed five. None could penetrate. This was the scene for most of Green Bay’s passing downs. DT Dalvin Tomlinson provided very little penetration and ended up with one tackle. The Packers double-teamed DT Calais Campbell most of the game, while RE Jordan Burch usually was chipped, then handed off to LT Rasheed Walker, who had no trouble with Burch.
With 3:03 left in the third quarter on a third-and-three, Love waited and waited until TE Tucker Kraft faked a block, then flared out, then gained 22 yards. On the play, Love had all the time he needed to wait for the play to develop and his receivers to take their men deep out of play. Only two QB hits from this group all game, and Love was only sacked once all game.
BIRDSEED – For the Cardinals’ defense in the fourth quarter, it usually starts with, “Here, hold my beer.”
RB Bam Knight – Had several good runs and provided blocking once the offense figured out they could not keep the Packer defenders out. Had two nine-yard gains in the first quarter for first down conversions. Picked up nine mid-third quarter. Led all Cardinals runners with 14 carries for 57 yards and a 4.1 yards per carry average.
K Lucas Havrisik – Okay, okay. He plays for the Packers, but you have to give him props when he nailed that 61-yard field goal as the first half expired.
KR Greg Dortch – Had a nifty return to begin the final quarter. He fielded the kickoff at the one, headed to the rightside with a lead blocker, WR Xavier Weaver. Dortch ran into one Green Bay player, then bounced outside to his left as S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson sealed off the closest man. Another Packer player, S Kitan Oladapo, was already running full speed towards the area where Dortch was headed, except Dortch gave a left shimmy, then darted upfield instead. This froze Oladapo, who overran the play. Dortch then cut inside and was tackled. If he had darted outside, he would have had two Arizona players in front of him and the sidelines to help him out. Gained 39 yards plus was assessed a 15-yard facemask to add to his creation. Nice run.
Defense third downs – Kept the Packers to just 3-10 third-down efficiency.
