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There were reasons for hope for the Cardinals after Week 1. Even in a loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Cardinals looked efficient on offense, especially in the run game, and showed flashes of playmaking ability on defense.
However, any good vibes that the Cardinals were taking into Week 2 took a big hit on Tuesday. Right tackle Jonah Williams is going to miss games with a knee injury suffered in his Arizona debut on Sunday, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
“Sources on #Cardinals right tackle Jonah Williams' knee injury: He's expected to miss some time. Team still sorting through the full scope of the injury and a timeline,” Fowler reported on X, formerly Twitter. “Williams signed a free agency deal with Arizona in March and got hurt in his debut.”
The Cardinals brought Williams in this offseason to start at right tackle after their longtime starter at the position, D.J. Humphries, suffered a torn ACL near the end of last season and was released by the team in March. Williams was starting opposite left tackle Paris Johnson Jr., a first-round pick in 2023 who showed loads of promise during his rookie season.
Reasons to be optimistic about the Cardinals after Week 1
The Cardinals blew a double-digit lead in their Week 1 loss to the Bills, but there are still reasons to be optimistic about Jonathan Gannon and company after the season's opening week. Falling victim to Josh Allen's Superman act in the second half is nothing to be ashamed of; Arizona isn't the first and they won't be the last to do so.
The Cardinals were able to efficiently move the ball on the ground on Sunday, rushing for 124 yards on 25 carries at five yards per rush. Part of that came from Kyler Murray's scrambling (5 rushes, 57 yards), but Murray provides an extra dimension to the run game that makes Arizona difficult to stop.
The passing game has room to grow as well after an up-and-down outing in Buffalo. Murray threw for just 162 yards on 31 attempts, following a trend around the league as a whole as defenses forced quarterbacks around the NFL to take their medicine and move the ball methodically with short passes. Arizona's passing game should be more explosive as rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. builds more chemistry with his quarterback. Harrison had just one catch for four yards on three targets, including a crucial drop in the second half.
Defensively, Arizona struggled down-to-down against a very good offense, but they were able to get in the backfield and create a few splash plays. Those types of game-changing moments — tackles for loss, turnovers, etc. — can help a defense like the Cardinals survive when they play some of the elite offenses in football.
