The Arizona Cardinals found themselves on the losing end, 27-10, against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, continuing a four-game winless streak. It has been a tough first year for head coach Kliff Kingsbury and quarterback Kyler Murray as the Cardinals are in last place in the NFC West. The Seahawks are always a tough matchup for any opponent, including a rebuilding Cardinals team; however, there were still some good things to build from. Here are the good, bad and ugly moments from Sunday’s game against the Seahawks:
The good: Kyler Murray’s continued rushing success
Murray once again showed off the speed he displayed at the University of Oklahoma. He finished with 27 rushing yards and ran for his first NFL touchdown. Murray also ran for 69 yards on eight carries in last week’s game against Carolina. Kyler Murray is a dynamic runner, and using his legs will be key to moving the offense effectively.
The good: Finally figuring out how to use David Johnson
Johnson has had tough sledding running the ball, averaging only 3.7 yards per attempt this season. Against the Seahawks, he only rushed for 40 yards on 3.6 yards per carry. However, Johnson excelled as a receiver, finishing the day pacing the Cardinals in receiving yards with 99 yards on eight receptions. It was a great game plan to put the ball in Johnson’s hands — he showed off his elite receiving ability when he had difficulty getting going on the ground. Using Johnson in space more needs to be the focus of Kingsbury’s offense.
The bad: Arizona’s inability to cover tight ends
It has been a miserable year for the Arizona defense with regard to covering tight ends. Sunday marked the fourth straight game in which an opposing tight end has scored a touchdown, and the Cardinals are last in the league in touchdowns given up to tight ends with five. Seahawks tight end Will Dissly torched the Cardinals for 57 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. The strength of the Cardinals linebackers is rushing the quarterback, but they have been weak in coverage. The Arizona secondary is already depleted with a suspension to Patrick Peterson, the release of D.J. Swearinger and the injury to Robert Alford. Covering the tight end might be an issue for the rest of the season.
The ugly: This is the revolutionary offense?
Before the season started, much fanfare was made about how Kingsbury would take over the NFL with the “Air Raid”-style offense from his years at Texas Tech. While the offense has improved from its last-place ranking a season ago, it is still ranked 23rd in the league yards per game and 25th in scoring. The season is still early, and Murray has looked impressive for a rookie, but those numbers do not scream “revolutionary.”
The pre-snap motions look nice, and Murray is top-five in the league in pass attempts, but the amount of pass attempts has not translated into points. Against a middling defense like the Seahawks’, the Cardinals were only able to muster 10 points, and they only average 18.5 points per game. The Cardinals have a dynamic rookie quarterback, a good wide receiver corps and a franchise running back — much more is to be expected out of this Cardinals offense.
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