Global Atlantis Forum » When it comes to protecting Murray

Kliff Kingsbury can't be upset with a team that just won a game by 20 points, scoring 30 in the process. But the coach is still a coach, and still sees things that he wants to improve. And Kingsbury continues to harp on penalties, noting that many are coming in to undercut what they should be doing offensively.
"Huge penalties that just keep stalling drives, I think we lead the league in that category," Kingsbury said. "We've got to be able to overcome that and we did towards the end of the game."
Kingsbury isn't wrong. The fact is the Cardinals, at least on how the NFL defines a stalled drive via penalty, indeed have self-sabotaged more than any team in the league.
According to the NFL, the Cardinals have had a drive stalled via their own penalty 15 times. Four other teams are in double-digits: The Buccaneers at 14, the Seahawks and Bengals at 12, and the Giants at 10. (The first thing that pops to my mind -- imagine what Russell Wilson would be doing if it weren't for penalties.)
The Patriots, albeit in only four games, have only had one drive stalled this season because of penalties, the lowest total in the league.
According to the NFL, quarterback Kyler Murray has three such penalties (all intentional grounding) and guard Justin Pugh has three (a hold, a false start and a trip.) Out of those six penalties, though, only one -- one of Murray's -- came in a Cardinals' loss. Kelvin Beachum is the only other player with more than one, a hold and a false start. The Cardinals also have two delay of games the league does not assign to a particular player.
The Cardinals remained tied with Tampa Bay for the most penalties (42) and have had the second-most flags thrown on them (46).
Even with all that, the Cardinals are above .500 and averaging 25.6 points a game -- which is why Kingsbury can be bullish on what the offense can be, if they can just flush such mistakes.
"We just have to practice better," Kingsbury said. "The wins, we've had more penalties than the losses, which is a little unique. We have to practice penalty-free and practice cleaner and then that'll translate to the games. Right now I think we're let some stuff go on the practice field and expecting it to get cleaned up on Sundays and that's not how it works."
It had been a quiet game for ?DeAndre Hopkins?. Then two throws, eating up a total of 82 yards and producing a highlight-worthy contested touchdown catch, changed the wide receiver's game Sunday during the win over the Jets.
And you could tell too, with the way Hopkins was smiling during his postgame press conference, recounting his conversation with QB Kyler Murray when he spotted a single-high safety and the chance to go one-on-one with a cornerback. "I like my odds," he said.
"I was telling Kyler, 'Just trust me,' " Hopkins said. "I told him, 'Just give me a chance and let's work on some things.' "
If the trust thing sounds familiar around these parts, it's because it should. Once upon a time, it was ?Larry Fitzgerald? telling Kurt Warner to essentially "just trust me" even when Fitz might be covered, because even in Fitz's heyday, he wasn't a guy with so much speed he could run away from defenders.
Hopkins has also never been known for his raw speed, yet that hasn't slowed his own Hall-of-Fame trajectory. When it was pointed out postgame Sunday he already has three 130-yard games with the Cardinals after having none a season ago, he noted that "a lot of people look at me as just a possession receiver, I guess."
Hopkins said he thought the playcalling was a "little bit more aggressive" Sunday. That certainly was true late on the tries to Hopkins, who added that Kliff Kingsbury too trusted him. (Why wouldn't he though -- Hopkins has consistently produced all season.)
Hopkins remains the NFL league leader in catches (45) and yards (528). I'm not huge into projecting only five games in, but right now, Nuk is on pace to crush his career highs in receptions for a season (115) and yards in a season (1,572, both in 2018). Hopkins projects to finish with 144 catches and 1,690 yards.
If the Cardinals keep playing the trust game with Hopkins, he'll reach those goals.
"My abilities and my talent, obviously, (Sunday's game) and other games show I'm not just a possession receiver," Hopkins said. "I'm a downfield threat."
When it comes down to it, teams need players to make plays and win games. That's what Sunday showed on a couple of levels.
By the time it was over, Kyler Murray made plays, DeAndre Hopkins, Fitz, Chase Edmonds. Darrell Daniels even. Dennis Gardeck. Budda Baker. And with guys like Murray, Nuk, Baker and Fitz, those are the stars. Those are the guys you need to excel.
But then you take a star from the equation. Kliff Kingsbury couldn't say 100 percent for certain about Chandler Jones but he was pretty close to it, because most of the time if there is still an inkling of hope, a coach post-game is going to hold on to that hope. Instead, Jones - who came into the year hoping he'd make a run at the single-season sack record - could finish with one sack. And the Cards will have a big hole on the defense, even if Jones had had a slow start.
(Oh, and the next two opponents are the pass-happy Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks.)
It'd be nice for Gardeck to average two sacks the rest of the way but yeah, that probably won't be happening. The Cardinals need Devon Kennard to get healthy, and we will see if Reggie Walker gets pulled up from the practice squad or if they look for a vet.
That's not taking away from what the defense did Sunday or, more importantly, the offense. Murray looked good most of the day (a request on social media - I'd rather not get anymore "Murray needs to be benched" or "Murray is a bust" comments. Criticizing his play is fair and can be justified; the other stuff, nah.) I like what Murray said about having weapons and using them. That makes sense. Fitz got targets in context of the offense. Edmonds is a valuable piece. And it always seems like matter of time before Hopkins gets his.
Jones did come really close to a strip-sack when he was in the game. I don't know how Joe Flacco pulled it down a millisecond before Jones popped it away from behind.
There were already some wondering about Isaiah Simmons in Jones' spot. Maybe that is an option. It wouldn't have been Sunday, given the unexpected nature of the situation. But maybe with some prep - especially this week, with an extra day before a Monday game? Perhaps.
Hopkins extended his streak to 23 games where he gets at least five catches.
D-Hop also had 131 yards, already the third time this season in five games he's had at least 130. He didn't have any games of 130 yards or more in Houston last season.
That one-handed Fitz catch though. He makes a few more of those he might just get into the Hall of Fame someday.
Hopkins, and that TD catch he made. That too might put him on a path to the Hall of Fame.
There are few guys for which to root harder than Dennis Gardeck. For him to have a chance to play defensively, and shine, is great to watch.
When it comes to protecting Murray, the offensive line needs to make sure they protect him from the line itself. It was funny to see right tackle Kelvin Beachum go to give Kyler a flying body bump after Edmonds' TD run - because the 6-foot-3, 308-pound Beachum knocked the much smaller Murray to the ground.
The Cardinals stopped Le'Veon Bell in the second half on a third-and-one play in which Bell stretched wide - and the play linebacker Jordan Hicks made, standing at inside linebacker across from the center and then sprinting all the way to the sideline with Bell and not let the back get the corner, was fabulous.
The tight-end-coach-Steve-Heiden-designed fourth-down play that went for 31 yards to Daniels was beautiful. (And impressed that Kingsbury made sure to credit Heiden when the play was brought up postgame.)
The Cardinals got rushing TDs from Edmonds, Murray and Kenyan Drake. That's the first time they've had three different players run for TDs since Beanie Wells, Tim Hightower and Anquan Boldin did it in Detroit in 2009. (I remember that in part because Boldin was originally given a TD catch that day from Kurt Warner, and when it was changed to a run, it messed up many fantasy football situations.)
A good win. A solid win. A win the Cardinals needed. Time to fly home.