The Arizona Cardinals, their failed run game and injuries

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It doesn’t take much to convince me that the Arizona Cardinals' offensive issues this season are linked to a total absence of a ground game, which results in too much passing and consistent breakdowns in pass protection, especially at critical moments in games.

The offensive line has a hand in that, but it’s also a glaring personnel issue at running back thanks to a total of seven games played by James Conner (three) and Trey Benson (four).

Last season, the Cardinals had about 658 called pass plays that includes 85 runs by Kyler Murray and Clayton Tune and 30 sacks. Admittedly, some of the quarterback runs were designed, but not enough to change the ratio that much. There were 378 running plays.

This year, the imbalance is stark. With one game remaining, there have been 734 pass plays with Murray and Jacoby Brissett being sacked 53 times and only 287 run plays.

The reality of NFL preparation is that game-planning is affected when it is known that defenses don’t respect the run, which includes virtually no threat of big plays. Plus, say what you want about Murray, but defenses play the Cardinals differently when they don’t have to account for his ability to escape and run.

Running back Michael Carter, who wasn’t on the opening 53-man roster, currently leads the team with 315 rushing yards. He needs 42 to not end up with the fewest yards for a team leader in the 38-season history of the Cardinals in Arizona.

Notable is that of the 12 teams in the playoffs and the four competing for the final two spots, eight have 1,000-yard-plus rushers and the other eight have two that have combined for more than 1,000. The top two Cardinals rushers (Carter and Emari Demercado) have a combined 598. Once again, that's reality.

Following are the running backs for those teams with the ones trying to win division titles in Week 18 in bold:

NFC

Carolina: Rico Dowdle 1,066; Chuba Hubbard 501
Chicago: D’Andre Swift 1,094; Kyle Monangai 769
Green Bay: Josh Jacobs 929; Emanuel Wilson 452
L.A. Rams: Kyren Williams 1,192; Blake Corum 687
Philadelphia: Saquon Barkley 1,140
San Francisco: Christian McCaffrey 1,179; Brian Robinson Jr. 391
Seattle: Kenneth Walker III 930; Zach Charbonnet 636
Tampa Bay: Rachaad White 549, Bucky Irving 503

AFC

Baltimore: Derrick Henry 1,469
Buffalo: James Cook: 1,606
Denver: J.K. Dobbins (IR) 772; RJ Harvey 512
Houston: Woody Marks 655; Nick Chubb 506
Jacksonville: Travis Etienne Jr. 1,075; Bhayshul Tuten 284
L.A. Chargers: Kimani Vidal 631; Omarion Hampton 545
New England: TreVeon Henderson 858; Rhamondre Stevenson 472
Pittsburgh: Jaylen Warren 892; Kenneth Gainwell 527

Also significant is that the running issues affect first-down performance. The Cardinals are currently 30th in the NFL with an average of 4.65 yards per first-down play. Last season, they were seventh with a significant difference of 5.94 per play. Hmmm. Taking the risk of being called a moron, a sellout or lacking integrity as some have done when they cringe after I deliver actual facts, wasn't that same guy calling plays last season when the Cardinals ranked 11th in yards, 7th in rushing and 18th in passing?

Conner, for those who seemingly experience collective amnesia, rushed for 1,094 yards and added 414 on receptions.

The injury reality, not excuse

When cornerback Kei’Trel Clark was placed on injured reserve Tuesday, that marked the 33rd trip to a reserve list this year by Cardinals players. That includes four that have been on reserve two different times. That includes guard Will Hernandez, who was on the active 90-man roster when he signed and was placed on PUP. There are currently 24 on reserve with 20 since the cut to 53. At least one player has been placed on reserve after every game this season except for after the Green Bay game leading into the bye week.

The 49ers are hailed by many as a team that has been ravaged by injuries and they did lose key players earlier this season. However, they have had only three players placed on IR since Nov. 8. Currently, the 49ers have 12 on reserve with seven since the cut to 53. Comparing that to the Cardinals is a huge stretch. Many have noted the loss of first-round defensive end Mykel Williams, who went on IR after playing nine games. Dare I say that he has 1.0 sack this season, which is half of the 2.0 Cardinals defensive lineman Walter Nolen III had in the four games he played before being placed on reserve for a second time.

Also significant is that while the 49ers are 7-1 in their last eight games, only one win was over a winning team (the Bears), the loss was by 16 points at home to the Rams and the combined record of the seven teams they beat is 40-72 (.357).

Meanwhile, during the Cardinals eight-game losing streak, the injuries continued to pile up with 13 players added to injured reserve. And while the blowout losses in that stretch have been difficult to stomach, the combined record of the eight teams is 79-49 (.617), which isn’t surprising considering the Cardinals and Tennessee Titans are neck and neck for having the first- and second-toughest strength of schedules in the NFL.

The five blowout losses came against playoff teams except for the Cincinnati Bengals, which have had quarterback Joe Burrow back for five games and have scored 32, 34, 37 and 45 points in four of the games, winning three by 18, 23 and 24. The other four were to teams with a combined record of 47-17 (.734).

Prior to that eight-game stretch, which began with Mike linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. being lost for the season (defensive lineman Calais Cambell told the FOX broadcast crew last week that was huge loss for the defense), the Cardinals had lost five one-score games by a total of 13 points and then added three more by a total of 13, including a three-point loss in overtime.

There have been comments made by the loud fire-the-coaches crowd that close losses are because of coaching. As if a coach causes dropped passes, missed field-goal attempts, penalties or whatever the myriad reasons there are for players simply not making plays.

Sure, there are situations where coaching decisions can be questioned, but it largely is in the hands of the players on the field. That close-minded group blames it all on coaching and refuses to accept that other variables have an impact.

Guess they must think Andy Reid suddenly became a bad coach this season. After all, the Kanas City Chiefs won 15 regular-season games last season and were 11-0 in one-score games, advancing to the Super Bowl where, yes, injuries on the offensive line sabotaged their hopes of defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl.

This season, with more OLine issues, the Chiefs are 6-10, have lost six of their last seven games and after a Dec. 14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers 16-13, NBC analyst and former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said, “The NFL is about the fourth quarter. The NFL is about winning one-score games. Over the last decade, no one has done that better than the Kansas City Chiefs. This year, they are 1-7 in those games (now 1-8). You want to know the reason they aren’t playing in the playoffs? They haven’t been big in the big moments. It happened again today.”

The Detroit Lions are another example. Last season, like the Chiefs, they won 15 regular-season games and were 7-2 in one-score games. This season, they are 8-8 and 2-5 in one-score games.

That’s two teams that entered the season with legitimate championship aspirations that have won a combined 16 games fewer than they did in the 2024 season.

The overwhelming reality is that it’s incredibly hard to win a game in the NFL. And when there are about 120 scrimmage plays and 30 on special teams per game with 22 players on the field on every play, all it takes is one player to blow up any play and affect the game.

And when many of those are a large number of backups in the group of 80 that have played for the Cardinals this season, sometimes there’s not a lot of control a coach can have.

I am reminded of some words of wisdom said at the end of the 2022 season by defensive lineman J.J. Watt, who had announced his retirement. Watt spoke to the media prior to the regular-season finale a few days after a difficult 20-19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

He had beat himself up after the game for being in the wrong gap on a crucial 22-yard run by Cordarrelle Patterson on the Falcons’ game-winning drive and then got over-aggressive trying to make up for it and was flagged for being in the neutral zone.

I wrote then, “Truthfully, there have been many plays like that this season that led to losses in close games. In a league that plays 17 games and has a large percentage decided by one score, there often isn’t a lot of difference between teams that have won four games and those that have won eight.”

So I asked Watt if those on the outside realize those little details (which head coach Jonathan Gannon talks about a lot) are what separate winners from losers? In that 4-13 season that got Kliff Kingsbury fired, the Cardinals were 2-6 in one-score games

Watt said, “I don’t think, and it’s no fault of their own, but I don’t think anybody who ... no offense, but even you guys; I don’t think anybody who hasn’t been in that locker room and been in that game and been on that field and been in those situations, understands what it truly takes and what goes down on a play-to-play, a game-to-game basis and how many things have to add up for the perfect play to happen and how one tiny little step or one tiny hand placement can change the landscape of an entire game and of an entire season and the mental stress and anguish that comes with that.”

The Cardinals have surely lived that again only three seasons later.

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: The Arizona Cardinals, their failed run game and injuries

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