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There has been quite a large amount talk about the missed opportunities and poor decisions made by the Arizona Cardinals coaching staff.
Well, Thursday Night Football gave the nation a chance to see the malpractice that has occurred in the desert all season.
The results were quite extraordinary.
Keep it short, contested and to the outside #NextGenStats pic.twitter.com/XL477UXSDW
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) October 19, 2018
First, it is obvious that the coaching staff is outmatched nearly every game they come into.
No surprise that Josh Rosen has thrown the third-highest percentage of his passes into tight windows (21.7%) this season, per #NextGenStats, behind only Jimmy G and Dak (Dallas still can't fix that issue).
— Matt Harmon (@MattHarmon_BYB) October 19, 2018
We’ve talked about Mike McCoy’s offense ad nauseum and it shows each and every week.
Yet, we’ve also begun to see that Steve Wilks and his defense, including defensive coordinator Al Holcomb are just completely outmatched week in and week out.
The Denver Broncos came in and outclassed the Cardinals at every level of the game, despite being just as miserable of a team. The Cardinals coaching staff created a game plan that didn’t put their best players in a position to be successful.
More than anything, that’s been the downfall of the 2018 Arizona Cardinals and what will end up being the reason this staff is fired after one season.
When you have limited talent, you have to optimize that talent in a way that works.
Defensively the Cardinals have regressed from one of the better units in football to one of the worst, at least in scoring and against the run.
Offensively, they are a team that looks directionless, that doesn’t have an identity and lacks a a philosophy.
This is the worst possible scenario to bring in a rookie quarterback to.
Thank goodness that Josh Rosen has gone through it before at UCLA, he’s an expert at navigating coaching issues. Hopefully it’s not for long.