WFcard makes a valid point in that once our offense dominates the TOP, that keeps our garbage D off the field. As far as the D is concerned, we are ranked 30th against the pass & 31st in points allowed. VJ’s defense can‘t stop anyone early on & whenever the Cardinals‘s offense starts to show life, the D pretty much always allows the opposition a long drive & score. And that has been consistent with VJ’s D throughout his tenure here. When we narrowed the score to 13-9, our D then let the Rams effortlessly drive the length of the field & score. And then when it was 20-12, the Rams did the same, ate up most of the clock. Luckily for us they fumbled on the 1 or it would have been 27-12.
Conversely, the offense is 17th in running yards, 12th in passing yards, and 13th in points scored. Nothing great, but if we weren’t dropping pass after pass, those numbers would be much better. I saw a stat that we hadn’t had a 16 play drive in over 20 years & we had THREE 16 play drives against the Rams. But, they all obviously ended up in FG’s. Which is a kiss of death in the NFL. It’s nice to see the long drives, but this offense lacks explosiveness in a big way. It also doesn’t help that we lead the league in dropped passes. Teams with a strong front 7 know they can zone up on us, still pressure Murray & still keep Murray boxed in so he can’t run. Until we prove we can beat a zone defense, that is all we will see. And that’s all we’ve seen since way back when Detroit kicked our butts last year. Has KK made any adjustments? Brown is getting better every game, but having playmakers like Hop & Moore on the sideline isn’t helping. Maxx will never be Maxx again, so why the hell haven’t we seen the rookie? I heard an interview with Maxx last week & he GUSHED about the kid. Really? PLAY HIM!!