It has become an attractive annual tradition for Cardinals\u2019 fans to watch and listen to Brett Kollmann\u2019s and E.J. Snyder\u2019s in-depth, comprehensive season preview for the team. <\/p>\n
Good points:<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cAh, the Arizona Cardinals, or as I like to call them, the slowest slow burn in the entire NFL. We are in year three of a complete teardown and rebuild in the desert \u2014- what Cardinals\u2019 fans want to know is have they done enough to make the playoffs this season?\u201d<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cThere were 4 key narratives to pay attention for the Cardinals last year, that ideally they are all going to be better this year:\u201d<\/p>\n
They had a really efficient offense last year, most notably a deadly efficient running game.
\nThe pass game was hit or miss, because they apparently couldn\u2019t throw fades.
\nThey could not rush the passer but that doesn\u2019t mean that they had a terrible defense, they were actually ok defensively. It\u2019s just that the defense couldn\u2019t do arguably the one thing that was most important thing for any defense to do, which is get the QB on the ground.
\n\u201cThey also struggled to get RBs on the ground too because they were one of the worst tackling teams in the NFL. Guys were in the right spot often and their coaching staff did a great job of scheming guys into opportunities to make tackles for loss or shut down the screen game, it\u2019s just the actually tackling part which betrayed them a lot.<\/p>\n
EJ: \u201cWhat every coach tries to tell their players \u2014- you\u2019ve got to finish. If there was ever a tale of two cities, it was the Arzona Cardinals\u2019 effectiveness summary in 2024:<\/p>\n
Passing Offense: 13th
\nRushing Offense: 8th
\nPass defense: 24th
\nRush Defense: 25th
\nPoints Scored: 12th
\nPoints Allowed: 15th
\nPoints Differential: 14th
\nOverall Average: 14th in the NFL<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cThe Cardinals defense was really good in the red zone 7th best overall in terms of scoring percentage \u2014- they were better versus the pass and tackling in the red zone \u2014- I don\u2019t really know why, but they were one of the toughest defenses to score on when offenses got down to that space \u2014- that should be reflected in EPA, but it\u2019s not because, as far as field goal drives allowed, they were one of the worst defenses in the NFL. They were terrible on 3rd down, they were a bottom 5 defense in that category, and they had the 4th highest plays per drive, which mean they almost never got three and outs.\u201d<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cA stat for Cardinals\u2019 fans to have earmuffs on \u2014- the Cardinals had the 4th highest blitz percentage, and were still 27th in pressure percentage, which are numbers that should not go to together.\u201d<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cFact was on offense whenever the Cardinals needed to make big plays they struggled, particularly throwing up fade passes. Fun fact: they threw 44 fades and go balls, which was 7th most in the NFL and they completed 8 of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cI can\u2019t think of a team last year that did less than what they had than Arizona. They don\u2019t get a lot a flak for it because nobody pays attention to the Cardinals\u2019 nationally, but we do. We watch this team every week \u2014- and we always ask, \u201care they bad or are they just disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
EJ: \u201cThe Cardinals were statistically right there with the Chiefs in offensive rankings, but with regard to the key 4-5 plays that determine the outcomes of games, the Chiefs made those plays, thanks to Mahomes, whereas the Cardinals did not. In that respect, the Cardinals were like the anti-Chiefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
BK: \u201cThe Cardinals defense was 15th in points allowed and the offense was 12th in scoring \u2014- for a team with those rankings to go sub .500 it almost defies logic. We\u2019ve gone through teams with worse rankings. some with rookie or young QBs, who were over .500 and some that made the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
EJ: \u201cThe two players who can most help this team turn around in two key areas are Marvin Harrison Jr. and Darius Robinson. Both of those guys are going to come back stronger this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Off-season moves that BK and EJ liked:<\/p>\n
The re-signing of Kelvon Beachum, Evan Brown, Trey McBride (whom they believe is worth more than $19M a year), Baron Browning (one of only two legitimate pass rushers from last year, with Dennis Gardeck being the other) and Greg Dortch (\u201cwho will continue to put NFC West teams into the Dortcher Chamber\u201d).
\nThey very much liked the UFA additions of Calais Campbell and Josh Sweat. They are not too sure just yet of Akeem Davis-Gaither.
\nAs for the Cardinals draft, they lauded the talents of Walter Nolen and Will Johnson but were quick to elaborate on the purported red flags for each heading into the draft. EJ\u2019s favorite pick was Jordan Burch. On day three their favorite pick was S Kitan Crawford. <\/p>\n
Omissions and questionable takes:<\/p>\n
Last year, having mocked the Cardinals\u2019 signing of T Jonah Williams and what they considered to be obvious flaws in his game, they did not give Jonah credit for the quality of his play (70.7) at RT when he was healthy.
\nNo mention of UFA DT Dalvin Tomlinson.
\nThis year\u2019s significant question about the Cardinals\u2019 off-season was their drafting of Cody Simon, ILB, Ohio St. BK: \u201cMy take was, he\u2019s going to play more on 4th down for them, than the other three downs. I see him as special teamer and not a modern-day NFL ILB who can cover in space.\u201d EJ lauded Simon as a \u201cdownhill hammer versus the run\u201d and a \u201cdynamic blitzer,\u201d but he too questioned Simon\u2019s ability to play good pass coverage. I intend to write a rebuttal article about their take on Cody Simon, but in the college playoffs, Cody Simon was outstanding in all aspects of his game, including his pass coverage \u2014- just as Jeremiyah Love and the other lightning fast Notre Dame running backs. Plus, when PFF did a preview of their 10 best players in the National Championship game, they had Simon at #3, for these reasons: <\/p>\n
College Football Playoff National Championship: PFF\u2019s best players in every category<\/a><\/p>\n Best off-the-ball run defender: LB Cody Simon, Ohio State<\/p>\n Simon\u2019s 90.4 PFF run-defense grade this season ranks third among all linebackers.<\/p>\n Best coverage linebacker: LB Cody Simon, Ohio State<\/p>\n Simon\u2019s 76.3 PFF coverage grade places 35th among college linebackers.<\/p>\n