Perhaps Arizona Cardinals fans will blame quarterback Jacoby Brissett for his late game interception throw to New York Giants defensive back Deonte Banks in Sunday’s 36-24 traumatic loss. Yet, a deeper analysis allows the prudent to see that the deceptive statistical outputs and inconsistencies within the Cardinals offensive efficiency tell a deeper story.
The Cardinals offense was forced to punt six times this Sunday and had three turnovers, all on interceptions thrown by Jacoby Brissett. Three of those punts, came during stalled offensive drives in the fourth quarter. Execution may be a facet that is lacking for the Cardinals, and if so, LaFleur needs to be introspective enough to do some inner work. Nevertheless, LaFleur and offensive coordinator
Nathaniel Hackett have remained faithful to their 11-personnel quick passing scheme that is has become quite predictable. So predictable, that Banks did not even have to move out of position in order to break the hearts of Cardinals fans with his epic fourth-quarter interception return. Yet, LaFleur assumed that a three-step quick slant would beguile the utter excellence of Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson in the game's most crucial moment.
Unimpressively, Brissett stared down Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson, and threw a straight trajectory pass directly into the bread basket of Banks. Again. The Cardinals have four fourth-quarter offensive possessions, a greater testament to Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, who forced turnovers and punts in order to get LaFleur the football back so that LaFleur could execute his perfect two-minute drill scheme of genius. Instead, LaFleur consistently left his defense out to dry.
Ultimately, the Cardinals lost the time of possession versus the Giants by roughly five total game minutes. With mounting injuries on the defensive side of the ball, including the absence of defensive back Will Johnson, there’s no reason for LaFleur to scheme conservatively. Surely, had the final play of regulation yielded a different outcome, the corning and scoffing might've ceased. However, it’s almost impossible to process as to why the Cardinals cannot simply sustain our offensive drive when it matters most.
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: Mike LaFleur hoped for heroics but instead got horror vs. Giants
