In the NFL there are many teams that end the season in the most stunning way. The Arizona Cardinals are one of those teams, as they have been eliminated from the playoffs. Some things went right this season but more went wrong. Out of the list of reasons, there are 3 that stand out the most.
I mean, what a complete collapse of the Arizona Cardinals. Did you know this team was once 6-4 and was the division leader in the NFC West? Yeah, good times. Well, they have lost 5 of their last 6 games, and it was too many losses for the Cardinals with how competitive the NFC Wildcard Spots and the NFC West Division are. They needed to win the division to have a chance, and they failed to do it. This is the most stunning collapse so far this year, and it’s a big black eye to the 2024 Arizona Cardinals.
Something I noticed with Arizona is that they had a habit of finding new ways to choke games away. That shouldn’t happen with good teams. The signs were even there on the season opener, when they choked a 17-3 lead against Buffalo. That choking mentality continued when they blew a 19-6 lead against the Minnesota Vikings. The standout game they choked was against the Carolina Panthers, as they were unprepared to play in that game. That needs to get fixed in the offseason, and while they may call it a discipline issue, it’s also an adaptability issue. It should be a learning lesson for Jonathan Gannon, who has been a really solid NFL head coach so far.
Arizona’s defense is lackluster as a whole, but the biggest issue is how terrible their pass rush is.
Out of the bunch, their best pass rusher this season was Zaven Collins. While he’s only got 4 sacks this season, he’s provided a ton of pressure on the quarterback. He is a better fit at linebacker than at DE/EDGE, and it’s where he should play permanently.
Darius Robinson, their first-round pick, was injured for half of the season and even when he played, he looked raw. He’s going to need more time to develop, but the entire unit was lackluster. The biggest disappointment this season was when B.J. Ojulari went down with a knee injury. I had such high hopes for him and it sucks he went down with an injury.
The player who currently leads this team in sacks is DT Dante Stills (4.5 sacks). He has been very inconsistent as a run-stopper/pass-rusher. If Arizona wants to improve, they have to get more depth pieces in the offseason at rushing the passer.
This was tough, because there were a lot of positives with this Cardinals season. I am going a different route, with Trey McBride as the biggest bright spot for Arizona. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of his when he declared for the 2022 NFL Draft. I ranked Jeremy Ruckert and Cade Otton higher in my tight-end draft rankings years ago. Boy, was I wrong about Ruckert, but I’m glad I was wrong about McBride, as he has been excellent this season. This season he proved me wrong, finally getting over 1,000 receiving yards. That’s not all, he finally got his first touchdown of the season last week against the Los Angeles Rams. I like how McBride has continued to improve every season and it’s going to be interesting how Arizona and McBride look with another offseason.
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