https://theringer.com/nfl-week-3-recap-philadelphia-eagles-carson-wentz-30c5a722e13e#.6c3rvolfb
The Cardinals Have Cause for Concern
It sounds strange to say that a game that featured zero passing touchdowns and four interceptions could have gone worse for Arizona’s offense, but I promise: Sunday’s loss to the Bills could have been uglier.
A week after making the Jets’ Ryan Fitzpatrick look like Dan Marino, Buffalo’s defense dismantled the Cardinals en route to a 33–18 drubbing. Carson Palmer threw all four of his equally awful interceptions in the fourth quarter, but his picks weren’t simply a product of late-game desperation.
Bills safety Corey Graham, responsible for one of those four, dropped what should have been another interception when Palmer tried to wedge a deep pass between two defenders to Michael Floyd in the first quarter. Stephon Gilmore, who looked more like the star we knew in 2015 than he did against the Jets, recorded two picks but easily could’ve had a couple more.
Even worse for head coach Bruce Arians’s team was the thrashing that the Bills’ front seven handed the Cards offensive line. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams now owns a condo in the Arizona backfield — nothing lavish, but a nice, modern space that should be perfect for weekend winter getaways.
Williams roasted center A.Q. Shipley and backup guard Earl Watford for most of the game, and Buffalo peppered the right side of the Cardinals line with a series of stunts and blitzes. Palmer was sacked five times and hit four more as Watford and right tackle D.J. Humphries (making his third career start) struggled to handle all of the moving pieces on the Bills defense.
Arizona’s deep-strike offense is doomed if those leaks up front continue, but its concerns go beyond the line. Defenses are daring Arizona to beat them underneath, and so far this season Palmer hasn’t proven that he can.
Credit Buffalo coach Rex Ryan for recognizing what’s worked against the Cardinals and deploying more of the same. Arizona is too talented to stay down for long, but the seams of its offense — a rigidity in approach and weak points along the line — are beginning to show.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...oo-many-young-guys-are-doing-their-own-thing/
Bruce Arians: Too many young guys are doing their own thing
Posted by Josh Alper on September 28, 2016
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The Cardinals are 1-2 after getting thumped by the Bills last Sunday, leaving coach Bruce Arians to say that the “biggest thing is be honest and identify problems” with the team that can be corrected before the record gets any worse.
Arians made that comment on Sirius XM NFL Radio during an appearance with Alex Marvez and Bill Polian and he also revealed one of the problems that he’s identified with the team.
“We have some
really, really good leaders,” Arians said. “But to be a good leader, the others have to follow you. We’ve got a lot of young guys. We have some new faces that are doing their own thing and not following the example set by these guys. And it’s a two-way street. They can only lead you to water, but you’ve got to drink it. And some of these young guys have got to get out of old habits and get in with the Cardinal Way.”
The Cardinals haven’t scored in the first quarter this season and they’ve also struggled coming out of the locker room in the third quarter in their two losses, two things that could be attributed to a lower level of focus than Arians might like from his team. There are more tangible things to point to, including an offense that might have too many eggs in the long pass basket, and working on both fronts will be the route back to a winning record.
