Although the Arizona Cardinals are coming off a disappointing 2019 NFL season at 5-10-1, the resurgence on offense was just what this team needed to get trending in the right direction.
The Cardinals made headlines last offseason when they opted to give head coach Kliff Kingsbury his first shot at the NFL following a successful stint at Texas Tech. They then followed it up by taking quarterback Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
While bringing in a rookie pairing at the most vital positions in football certainly comes with its own set of unique challenges, the move paid huge dividends for the offense. As a result, Arizona was able to show more than enough promise to ensure that this team is in good hands for years to come.
The Cardinals offense experienced perhaps one of the biggest turnarounds thanks to Kingsbury's efforts in making sure that their approach was tailor-made to Murray's versatile skill set. After all, his ability to make plays through the air or on the ground was one of the biggest reasons they felt so confident investing even more draft capital under center.
As a result, Kingsbury had no problem going with an Air Raid approach early on, despite the fact that Murray was still trying to find his footing at the next level. Regardless, he still proved to be up to the task by finishing his rookie campaign by throwing for 3,722 yards, 20 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while rushing for 544 yards and four touchdowns.
Fortunately, Arizona was finally able to usher in some balance with the acquisition of running back Kenyan Drake and they managed to establish a strong run game to complement Murray's passing down the stretch. Drake's future still has yet to be determined as he gets set to test the waters of free agency, however, this team still gave a glimpse of what they could become with a consistent ground attack.
Perhaps even more impressive is that they managed to turn things around while fielding the worst defense in football during the 2019 campaign. The lack of resistance on the defensive side of the ball undoubtedly kept the offense from making a more significant impact on most games.
Of course, this was to be somewhat expected considering all the resources that the Cardinals' brass put into making sure they would be able to put points on the board. Given the circumstances, the offense deserves a B+ for what they managed to accomplish.
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