Don’t tell me that wasn’t unexpected. Some of us (myself included) maaayyy have gotten a little ahead of ourselves looking at the schedule. After all, with two head coaches on the hot seat and nary a win (before today) among their combined records over the course of the next three games, how could one not expect 5-0? Especially against a Lions team that had been on a losing streak dating back to last October. Well, that’s what you get for overestimating the Arizona Cardinals.
Count yours truly among those surprised that the self-inflicted wounds would come one after another from the hands of QB Kyler Murray. The young quarterback has some learning to do as a passer and now has a negative passing TD to INT ratio, and while that may seem inconsequential 3 games into the season, the negative passing ratio dates back to week 13 of last year - with only one game in that stretch on the right side of that metric. It’s nothing to wring your hands over at this point in his career, but something that you’d like to see tightened up sooner rather than later.
Your Arizona Cardinals gave you some things to write home about this week though. The Andy Isabella breakout game that many have been clamoring for finally happened. And while I’d caution against getting your hopes up too high, it’s good to see him get more chances in the absence of Christian Kirk. But that’s not all! After virtually doubling their previous two opponents in penalties and penalty yardage, things were finally evened up this week. It’s unfortunate that they decided to shoot themselves in a different foot this week.
Eggs have to be broken to make an omelette. There was chatter of K1 being on the verge of a second-year breakout ala Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson. And while I’m not trying to rule out a successful season, those expectations were probably misplaced.
Before you get your pitchforks out, take a breather. The former two are at a caliber of that like we’ve never seen in the league. To expect Murray to be our version of either is not fair to him or Mahomes or Jackson. And that’s not to take anything away from him, he can very much still be special. The supporting cast also pales in comparison to what the previous two MVP’s have to work with. While bringing Deandre Hopkins into the fold was probably the best thing you could do for any quarterback in this situation, little was done to augment the other positions aside from some questionable investments in spots that we aren’t seeing much return from.
They can turn this into a small bump in the road though. While you’d think to question underestimating the schedule, it’s still hard to see the redbirds blowing what is looking to be the easiest match-up on the schedule in the 0-3 New York Jets. Excuse me while I go knock on wood.
Hatch your plans for a great MNF showing tonight and don’t let the L get you down. We’ve still got a long season ahead of us and (hopefully) it only gets better from here.