When Kliff Kingsbury was hired to turn around the basement-dwelling Arizona Cardinals in 2019, the plan was crystal clear.
The innovative Air Raid coach was heading to the desert to draft quarterback Kyler Murray, surround him with globs of talented skill players and either take the NFL by storm or die trying.
In that first season, the offensive turnaround was magnificent, and it seemed only a matter of time before the Cardinals were consistently putting up chunks of points on a weekly basis.
Instead, Arizona has finished middle of the pack in offensive efficiency each of the last two years, and the group was embarrassingly toothless in Monday night’s 34-11 wild card loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
As Kyler Murray & Kliff Kingsbury continue their trend of fading down the stretch, @7BoomerEsiason wonders if the pair can succeed in the NFL. @WFANmornings pic.twitter.com/FtOc4vFGmC
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) January 18, 2022
The strength of the Cardinals the past two seasons has been the defense, and the team’s coordinator on that side of the ball, Vance Joseph, deserves a lot of credit for that.
But after making a bold move to hire an alleged offensive guru, defense was not supposed to be Arizona’s calling card.
Which begs the question: Three years into this regime, what, exactly, is the Cardinals’ identity?
The best teams in the NFL — the Chiefs, Packers, Buccaneers, Bills and Rams — have great offenses, and while the Cardinals showed top-tier ability early in the year, by the end, they fell woefully short.
There seems to be a disconnect between the 2019 philosophy and the resulting roster build-up.
The trade for All-Pro center Rodney Hudson this offseason was a good one, but the Cardinals’ offensive line is still inadequate. It should have been a no-brainer to prioritize that position group over all others the past two seasons, but the Cardinals have not had a single offensive lineman make the Pro Bowl since Kingsbury was hired.
If offensive line was not going to be emphasized, then the Cardinals needed to find a glut of yards-after-catch maniacs to get the offense humming. But while everyone watched the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle run roughshod over the Cowboys on Sunday, no one on the Cardinals flashed that ability against the Rams.
In fact, little-used third-string running back Eno Benjamin finished second on the team in yards from scrimmage against Los Angeles, as Zach Ertz, A.J. Green, Chase Edmonds, James Conner and Rondale Moore all had negligible impact.
Bottom line: Cardinals made progress this year, but not nearly enough. They needed to make a legitimate Super Bowl push with Kyler on such a team-friendly contract.
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) January 18, 2022
In free agency this past offseason, Steve Keim’s marquee signing was defensive tackle J.J. Watt. In the two drafts since choosing Murray, the Cardinals’ general manager has spent top-16 picks on inside linebackers Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins.
Due to limited positional value, the selections were questionable at the time, and look even worse today. In the biggest game of the year, Simmons was platooning with veteran journeyman Tanner Vallejo because of his inability to stop the run, while Collins barely saw the field.
Simmons finished as the lowest-graded Cardinals defensive starter this season, according to Pro Football Focus, while Collins played less than any other defensive player picked in the first round.
Many thought the Cardinals should have taken an offensive tackle or wide receiver to further bolster the offense in 2020. Tackle Tristan Wirfs and Murray’s former college teammate, wideout CeeDee Lamb, were common refrains, and two years later, both are NFL stars while Simmons still searches for consistency.
The friendship is strong between CeeDee Lamb and Kyler Murray
(Via @AZCardinals) pic.twitter.com/O1ycyqg03s
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) August 15, 2021
The Cardinals hired Kingsbury and drafted Murray to turn the offense into a juggernaut, and Keim made some nice trades to add DeAndre Hopkins and Hudson to the fold.
But why did it stop there?
Green was not the answer as the No. 2 receiver and midseason addition Ertz was solid but not a game-breaker. While the Rams showed a sense of urgency to push for a championship in their Super Bowl window, the Cardinals chose half-measures that did not have nearly the same impact.
Keim and Kingsbury will likely get one more shot at getting things right next season, but the pressure is on. Nearly every playoff team remaining has continued to supercharge its offense at every turn, fully understanding that dominance on that side of the ball is the way to a Super Bowl title.
That was the Cardinals’ thought process with the Kingsbury hire, but by the end of wild card weekend, they ended up in the same boat as the Eagles and Patriots, not the title contenders.
Murray will still be on a team-friendly contract next season and is approaching his physical prime. Hopkins will be back healthy. The two best linemen, Hudson and left tackle D.J. Humphries, are under contract.
The 2022 campaign will be the last great Super Bowl opportunity before Murray’s contract skyrockets.
Can the Cardinals find their identity and truly make a run? A most critical offseason awaits.
