The Arizona Cardinals were unable to build on their upset victory against Los Angeles last weekend. Instead, the Cardinals flew back down to earth, falling to the Denver Broncos 30–16 in Week 7.
With this defeat, the Cardinals have now lost 10 consecutive home games.
"It sucks. You hate losing," head coach Mike LaFleur said postgame. "I hate playing not-good football more than I hate losing cause good football can lead to wins unless they make so many plays.
"Credit to them. That is a good football team. It's a well-coached football team. They're going to win a lot of football games, but I know we can play better than that."
Three key takeaways:
Red Zone Woes Continue
Arizona's offense needs to execute better in the red area. Against the Broncos Sunday, the Cardinals went 1-for-5 inside the red zone.
In their last ten red zone trips, Arizona has scored only one touchdown.
"We're moving the ball, and we're not finishing. That's a collective deal with coaching and playing," Mike LaFleur told J.P. Shadrick and A.Q. Shipley on the Cardinals Locker Room Show.
"There was opportunities to make plays. There's opportunities to call better plays. There's opportunities to have some better scheme. So it's a collective deal right now. Again, like I told the guys, we're not going to panic after one week. But now we've had two weeks where we haven't cashed it in."
Due to their recent struggles, the Cardinals now rank last in the league in red-zone scoring percentage (touchdowns only) at 42.8%, per TeamRankings.
Jacoby Brissett Under Pressure
Jacoby Brissett is going to need an ice bath after this one. The Cardinals quarterback was under siege the entire afternoon.
Denver's "Orange Crush" defense recorded 13 quarterback hits and a season-high 27 quarterback pressures, per Next Gen Stats.
"He got hit a little bit," LaFleur said to the media postgame. "With their defensive structure, you knew we were going to have to get it over the top. When you do that, you're going to hold onto the ball a little longer."
Coach LaFleur wasn't lying. Brissett 2.82-second time to throw was his longest this season, but it was all for naught. Per Next Gen Stats, the Cardinals allowed a pressure rate of 50.9%. Simply put, Arizona's offensive line was outclassed against Denver's front.
Defense Reverts Back to Old Ways
The Broncos didn't come into this week's matchup as an offensive juggernaut. Per Next Gen Stats, Denver ranked 26th in scoring (19.0 PPG), 31st in yards per game (252 YPG), and 32nd in yards per play (4.4).
However, against the Cardinals, the Broncos matched their season high, scoring 30 points. On the day, Denver produced 377 total yards of offense, and 6.7 yards per play.
The Cardinals continue to struggle on defense. They have allowed 30+ points in five of their last six games. Through seven weeks, Arizona's defense has allowed the most points in the NFL.
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