A Week 3 preview with Seth Cox of @revengeofbirds about the matchup between the Detroit Lions and Arizona Cardinals.
Coming off their first loss of the 2024 season, the Detroit Lions head west for a matchup with the similarly situated Arizona Cardinals at 1-1. But both teams arrived at a .500 record in much different ways. The Cardinals absolutely wiped the floor with the Los Angeles Rams, 41-10. The Lions, on the other hand, couldn’t get out of their own head on offense and lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-16.
Football is back, and we would never pass up the opportunity to get some intel from the opponent’s perspective. We called on Seth Cox from Revenge of the Birds to give us a look into how this Cardinals team has been so competitive through two weeks, and how they’re shaping up for this Week 3 matchup.
Entering Year 2 under Jonathan Gannon, what sort of expectations did the Arizona Cardinals, a team who has finished fourth in their division for the past two seasons, have coming into 2024? How have the first couple weeks of the season aligned–or changed–those preseason expectations?
I think they are trying to mirror what the Detroit Lions have done under Dan Campbell, starting out slow while they rebuild the team/culture, then looking to take a step in season two, where they are competitive against the good teams (see game one) and win games more consistently (game two).
I think most fans were looking for eight plus wins, with anything over nine being gravy, but being relevant and playing important football into late December or even January is where this team wants to be.
Kyler Murray’s path back to being the quarterback he was before ankle and knee injuries knocked him off course seems to be trending in the right direction. How has Drew Petzing, now in his second year as the team’s offensive coordinator, helped get Murray back on track and playing like the quarterback the Cardinals were comfortable giving a $230 million extension in 2022?
They seem to be more in sync, they seem to want to continue to build off of what they have already started while also exploring changing things up week-to-week based on matchups, etc.
It is just a more variable offense, something we didn’t see under Kliff Kingsbury, and while some of the plays Kyler was Superman, the offense is not predicated on Kyler being Superman on every play just to get something moving.
Petzing and Murray seem like they are finding their Johnson/Goff fit with one another and now we are already starting to get into panic mode of who would step in if Petzing leaves. I know Lions fans have been dealing with that for the last couple of seasons.
With Murray back on the field and healthy, the Cardinals have also invested a lot in the offensive side of the ball over the past two offseasons. How have those players helped Arizona get off to a hot start (fifth in team offense DVOA, second in points scored) on offense this season?
The offensive line needed to be rebuilt, and again they followed along with the Lions blueprint. They took Paris Johnson Jr. in the regime’s first draft, they added veterans in Hjalte Froholdt, they have a good one in Will Hernandez.
Then this offseason they added Jonah Williams (who is on IR) and Evan Brown. Brown has been a revelation at the guard spot and the left side of the offensive line looks like they are in a good spot. Froholdt at center, then Hernandez at right guard are set. It now is can veteran Kelvin Beachum stay healthy, and how fast can Jonah Williams get healthy (If at all, we still have no idea what his injury actually is).
On top of that, they had James Conner and Trey McBride in place, added Michael Wilson, got a player in Greg Dortch and then of course drafted Marvin Harrison Jr.
So, as you said, they have added a lot, knowing how bad it was.
Arizona’s blitz rates dropped dramatically from 2022 in Gannon’s first year. The Cardinals went from a 30% blitz rate in 2022 to dead last (15%) in 2023, and now they’re 22nd (21.3%) through two weeks of 2024.
What sort of other shifts in defensive philosophies have you seen under Gannon and how do you see the personnel changes on that side of the ball shaping up so far this season?
The Cardinals don’t blitz, they usually cannot rush the passer, but when you are playing the Rams third string left tackle, it makes it a little easier.
From there, they run a ton of different zone looks, and they like to bring rushers from different angles in order to get some pressure, since they don’t have anything close to Aidan Hutchinson, and probably don’t have a Marcus Davenport.
So, they have to find a way to manufacture pass rush and play a ton of zone (60% total of cover three and cover four).
What’s your most lucrative nugget of Cardinals’ intel that a Lions fan could benefit from hearing and putting on their bet slip for this Week 3 matchup?
The Cardinals offense has become odd because they win using the most 13-personnel in the league.
How many teams bring out three tight ends and then run shot plays consistently? It means that they love to force teams to either match them with eight plus men in the box, or they will run the ball at will (through two games) and when you go big to matchup, then they get Marvin Harrison Jr., and their outstanding tight ends Trey McBride and Elijah Higgins into routes against linebackers.
It is an interesting formula, and we will see how defenses decide to combat it.
Good luck and good health to the Lions this weekend.
