The Arizona Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury and drafted Kyler Murray to bring a transformative offense to the NFL and change the course of the franchise, but according to former head coach Rex Ryan, Arizona’s Air Raid is doomed to fail in the NFL.
Murray completed three of his eight pass attempts Thursday night against the Raiders for just 12 yards, a game the Cardinals went on to lose 33-26. Oakland safety Lamarcus Joyner, who brought down Murray in the endzone for a safety to give the Raiders a 26-0 lead in the second quarter, called the Cardinals’ offense “pretty boy football” during a mid-game interview, and said he wants to “run that kind of offense out of the NFL.”
In an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up on Friday, Ryan echoed Joyner, and predicted that the Cardinals will get “whipped” when the regular season begins.
Rex Ryan: “Basketball on grass. It’s so boring watching all this stuff right there. Come on, college football. I hope it gets smoked, also. I really do, because I think it’s so boring…. Kingsbury says ‘wait till Week 1.’ Oh, I can’t wait to see Week 1.”
Mike Greenberg: “Why? What will Week 1 look like that’ll be different from last night?”
Rex Ryan: “Nothing! There’s going to get whipped Week 1. Look, this guy… everyone talks about this great offense and all that. Yeah, if it’s fantasy football and you want points yardage, that’s great. How about wins?
Kingsbury, let’s face it, had the best player in our league [at Texas Tech], he was 13-16 with Pat Mahomes at quarterback. How about you worry about wins?”
According to Ryan, the Cardinals offense will have to evolve, or opposing defenses will quickly be able to shut down Murray’s options.
“That open-edge pressure, you’re going to see it all day long. Teams are going to keep doing it. Their answer is the quick, little hits, screen or slant. Well, guess what? The DBs are going to know that. They’re going to be sitting on these guys, they’re going to challenge them, get in the face of these receivers, and they’re in for a long season. They better get that running game going, or they’re gonna get run out of town.”
