After last week's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, a game in which the Arizona Cardinals scored just six points, head coach Jonathan Gannon noted that about one in six plays resulted in a negative yardage performance.
Including penalties and negative yardage plays, there were nine lost yards for 79 of the game's 58 snaps (one every 6.44), which is exactly Gannon's number. There were also 13 incompletions, including an interception and two plays without yards.
It was more of the same in to the Minnesota Vikings, with much of the damage done in the red zone.
In 86 total snaps, including false starts where there wasn't actually a snap, there were 13 negative plays for 77 yards, which is one for every 6.62 plays. Eight of those were 60-yard penalties. There were also 14 incompletions, including two interceptions and a spike, and 12 plays that gained only one (six) or two yards (six).
Gannon said: “We fouled too much today because this is a below-average team. To get all we have, almost 100 yards (10-96) penalties, we're shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. It's the presnap penalties on offense where we're regressing. These are negative plays on their own initiative. So I have to clean this up.”
The red zone was incredibly painful. Six trips resulted in one touchdown (a 15-yard pass from quarterback Kyler Murray to wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 19-6 lead), four field goals and one missed field goal. That's 19 out of a possible 42 points. The Vikings scored two touchdowns and two field goals in the red zone, totaling 20 of a possible 28 points.
It's fair to note that the Cardinals' possession in the red zone began on third-and-6 at the 17-yard line on the first drive of the game. An excellent tackle left running back James Conner on a reception two yards short of the first down.
On three more plays, numerous errors resulted in the Cardinals having 12, 16 and 21 yards to go.
As Murray, similar to Gannon, said: “We shot ourselves in the foot. How many times have we put ourselves behind the chains again? I feel like every time we got there, other than the touchdown to Marv, obviously right before the two-minute break, we got penalties.
“They will beat you if you play bad football in the red zone. You go against a good team and a good defense and it kills you.”
In total, the Cardinals gained 49 yards on nine plays, thanks to three opportunities to leave the red zone after entering it. Those yards were offset by five penalties for 40 yards lost.
The worst came when the Cardinals were on the verge of taking control of the game in the final quarter.
It started on the 30th after the Vikings got within 19-16 with a 31-yard field goal. From the 30th minute, 11:08 minutes before the end of the game, the most important moves were:
- A 16-yard run by James Conner;
- A 14-yard catch-and-run by tight end Trey McBride on third-and-12;
- An 8-yard run by Emari Demercado on third-and-6 brought the ball to the Minnesota 31.
After that, Murray ran for five and Conner for seven, the latter sandwiched between passes of five and nine yards to McBride, who took the ball to the 5-yard line with 4:14 to play.
Before a first down and a goal-to-go failure against Seattle, the Cardinals had scored 16 consecutive touchdowns.
This ensured that there were two missed shots in a row. The roof began to fall in when tight end Tip Reiman was whistled for his third false start, even though it was clear that Vikings defensive back Jerry Tillery had crossed the line before Reiman subbed.
Instead of moving the ball near the 2-yard line, where a touchdown would have resulted in a two-score lead, it ended up back at the 10. Murray was guilty of intentional grounding and lost 15 yards. A run by Trey Benson and a reception by McBride brought the ball back to the 4-yard line, but Gannon settled for a field goal and a six-point lead.
Was Murray frustrated because he didn't want to score a touchdown?
“I trust JG,” he said. “I see both sides. Go up to six and let them score. Trust the defense to get a stop. Try it, you don't understand, they still have to go down and score. If you get it, you'll probably put the game down. If we put the play on stage, I’m obviously confident that we’ll get it, but I have every confidence in JG.”
When asked about attempting the touchdown, Gannon explained: “It was thought about. I just wanted to score more than just a field goal there. Definitely a decision point we talked about. So be it. … I would rather they had to score a touchdown to beat us there.”
Which, of course, they did on an eight-play, 70-yard drive that lasted just 2:07. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold was 5-for-7 for 57 yards on the drive, which ended with a 5-yard scoring pass to running back Aaron Jones and a 12-yard fourth-and-5 pass to the wideout Receiver continued Justin Jefferson at the 21 yard line.
On Minnesota's final three drives, which yielded 17 points, Darnold was 12 of 17 for 156 yards and two touchdowns after going 9 of 14 for 79 yards on the first six possessions. Seven of the completions in the three scoring drives totaled 129 yards (18.4 average).
As for what happened before the fourth-round decision, Gannon said simply: “That was brutal.”
Many Cardinals fans certainly agree with him.
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