The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday 26-14 in their season opener. It was the first time they were able showcase their entire offense for an entire game, and it was solid.
What did we take away from the Cardinals' offensive performance?
Easy 277-yard passing game
Jacoby Brissett picked up where he left off last season in terms of numbers. Averaging 280.5 yards per game in his starts last season, he passed 277 yards and a touchdown. It was pretty easy, too. He was never put in any high-leverage situations. He never trailed.
Trey McBride is still the guy
McBride was still the Cardinals' best offensive player. He had nine receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown, and had a couple of critical catches. And when he made plays, he made sure to let Chargers defenders know. Derwin
James broke up a pass to McBride earlier, and McBride made sure to point at him when he caught his touchdown against him.
Surprise! Kendrick Bourne produced
Bourne finished the game with eight receptions for 75 yards. He had a catch every single time he was targeted. When was the last time a No. 3 receiver with all other pass-catchers healthy done that? It's been a while.
Steady run game
The Cardinals got 102 rushing yards from their running back duo of Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love. Allgeier led with 61 yards. Love had 41 and a touchdown.
Field goals instead of touchdowns
If there is one thing to nitpick, it was the fact they only scored two touchdowns on five red-zone trips. They scored on all five trips and they had 26 points, which should be good enough to win most games, but getting touchdowns more often than not should be the goal.
Quiet Marvin
Harrison was targeted only three times and had only one catch, but it was a doozy of a catch for 33 yards. Still, we wonder if he is going to be able to break out and dominate. Lots of other guys had good games, so it isn't a huge worry right now, but it is something to watch.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire's Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple Podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Cardinals 26, Chargers 14: 6 observations on offense
