Arizona Cardinals Struggle with Consistency in NFC West

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00:00Arizona and New England, and the reason why I say that is I was high on Arizona when they

00:05were 6-4.

00:06They had won four straight games, they beat teams like the Jets and the Bears in back-to-back

00:10weeks.

00:11Then all of a sudden, Kyler reverted back to his old ways.

00:14He started to retreat 14 yards in terms of the pocket and throw underneath passes only,

00:21or better yet, he likes to throw picks to opposing defenses like he did against Seattle.

00:27They're laying now five and a half against New England.

00:29You and I were together last night, we talked about it briefly, right, that how this line

00:35is indicative to me of a huge Arizona win.

00:39Five and a half to lay, even though they're at home.

00:42They haven't stepped up in recent weeks, and New England has been a pretty good dog in

00:46terms of a covering machine.

00:48On the road, I like Arizona as a double-digit win to bounce back in a big way.

00:53Under the 46 and a half though, Scotty, I think, in the matchup.

00:57Yeah, you know, Arizona's almost dead to me.

00:59I had a big last week against Seattle, Joe.

01:02I really thought after losing to Seattle, their worst offensive performance a couple

01:06of weeks ago, they had a chance to get revenge and everything.

01:09They're at home, moment of truth, you lost a couple of games, blew the lead you had in

01:13the NFC West, and they lay a complete egg again.

01:17This is Kyler Murray, he's a coach killer.

01:21That expression is because he shows potential, you buy into the potential, you pay him a

01:25gazillion dollars, and then he performs like he's performed this year, like he's performed

01:30basically every single year.

01:32He has games where he shows you why he's in the NFL, he's not horrible, not saying that,

01:37but then he has games like he's had these last couple of weeks where he's had a chance

01:40to elevate his team, get it out of that middle-of-the-road 500-pack, but that's who he is, and that's

01:46who the Arizona Cardinals is because of that.

01:48So they lose games like they lost last week.

01:50You know what, I wouldn't bet on them this week.

01:52Chances are they probably do rebound because that number does seem a little small, right?

01:56But it's something just, I just, I can't bet on this guy, you know, he's the perfect, you

02:01look at his number, he's like the Miami Dolphins, you know, good team, bad team.

02:04He is great against the spread as an underdog, phenomenal, but he's lousy against the spread

02:10as a favorite, which he is here.

02:11So when they sneak up on teams, oh, it's the Cardinals, it's Kyler Murray, he stinks, that's

02:16when they do well.

02:17But when teams prepare for him, because they say, you know what, this is a good team, we

02:21got to really take this team seriously, he doesn't do well.

02:24So you're right.

02:25Now, I watched every step of that game in respect to the Seattle game.

02:30I was very impressed, though, Scotty, with Seattle's offense and defense alliance.

02:35They blew the Cardinals off the ball with Zach Charbonneau.

02:38They ran it for well over 150 yards in that game.

02:42Charbonneau had 130 yards himself on the ground.

02:45That defense was turnover.

02:47The biggest thing, and you're right, when they're winning games, right, like they did

02:51against Miami and like they did in the middle part of the year against the Chargers, 17

02:56to 15, they're utilizing James Conner, they're running the football, and he's working off

03:01of play action.

03:03When they have to pass, when they're in a deficit, the biggest thing that I've seen

03:06with Kyler Murray is he immediately breaks contain.

03:10He's afraid to just sit in the pocket, locate the wide receivers, go through the reads,

03:15go through the progressions, and find the deep shot, right?

03:19He goes underneath to Trey McBride on almost each and every play, and that's not a knock

03:24on McBride.

03:25He's a fantastic player.

03:26Doesn't probably get enough hype as being one of the best tight ends in all of the NFL,

03:31right?

03:32I mean, he had no catches at the half.

03:35He had zero yards.

03:36He finishes the game with 78, and part of that, though, is that Kyler Murray checks

03:41down on almost each and every play.

03:43He's afraid to throw over the top.

03:46He's afraid to locate Marvin Harrison or Wilson like he did in terms of the first try.

03:51He doesn't know how to assess, and that's the one thing that scares me.

03:55But they've lost three straight.

03:57They're still in the mix for an NFC West title, right?

04:00If you're not going to get it here at home against a rookie quarterback in Drake May

04:05that is two and five on the road straight up, when does it come?

04:09If it's not this week, it's not coming, and then they're dead and buried for the playoffs.

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