It is a day later than I would have preferred, but now we can look at the playing time for the Arizona Cardinals in their 25-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With only 13 points, you would think they didn't have many offensive plays. That is not true. They had 72 offensive snaps on Sunday.
Here is how the playing time was divvied up.
Quarterback: Carson Palmer, 72
Well, after Drew Stanton played some snaps in Detroit, it was all Palmer.
Offensive linemen: Jared Veldheer, 72; Mike Iupati, 72; Lyle Sendlein, 72; Jonathan Cooper, 72; Bobby Massie, 72
This was boring. No A.Q. Shipley playing fullback.
Running back: Chris Johnson, 39; David Johnson, 23; Andre Ellington, 9; Stepfan Taylor, 1
This is curious. Ellington only had nine snaps. Bruce Arians told the media it was about game flow, as "he's not our nickel back right now."
"He had a passing game role and got the big, long play for us," he said. "We just didn't run the ball that much in the second half and he's not our nickel back."
That role belongs to David Johnson. We'll see how this plays out more this season.
Wide receivers: Larry Fitzgerald, 63; John Brown, 65; Michael Floyd, 54; Jaron Brown, 27
Arizona went with four receivers several times. Also, in their three tight end sets, Jaron Brown was the guy to get the playing time. Floyd played better and played more. The increased role probably is why he played better.
Tight ends: Jermaine Gresham, 35; Darren Fells, 32; Troy Niklas, 8
Gresham and Niklas will get a big role this week. I imagine Earl Watford or Bobby Massie will play the role of the third tight end in jumbo sets.