 Would you believe me if I said that the Arizona Cardinals happened down at halftime in every game this season, five weeks, always down, always coming back, always in a deficit. Sometimes it works out like that OT victory against the Vegas Raiders. Sometimes it does not, like last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. What is going on with the Cardinals specifically in the first half that is leading to all of these deficits? To further explain that, we're going to be breaking down some film. Disclaimer, I'm not an NFL head coach, but I watch 16 hours of football every week for the last three or four years. So I don't have the knowledge to the extent of a coach, but I have a general understanding of telling you what went wrong with the play, what went right with the play. So let's dissect the film. First off, we want to show you this design screen to Zach Ertz. This is the second play of the game. Kyle Murray design screens Zach Ertz. Okay, you look at this and you're like, okay, what's wrong with it? You get a decent amount of yards. Well, nothing's really wrong with it, but if these, it's the idea that in the first half, they're not really taking intermediate shots down the field. More so, jump offs to your receivers and your tight ends, let them get a lot of yards after the catch, let them do their thing. And the problem with that is, it can lead to a lot of three and outs. Let me explain that further with a very second play that I'm going to be showing you. Ronald Moore is in motion. Okay, lines up in the backfield and then he goes out towards the right. Kyle Murray dumps off to him. This ends up being a four yard loss that we not learn anything from last season where Moore was averaging seven, eight, nine yards of reception. Wasn't really doing anything to contribute to the Arizona Cardinals offense that much. This leads to a four yard loss can lead to a lot of three and outs. The next play we want to show you, back shoulder throw outside. Okay, cool. Nothing wrong with that. But again, this is only a three yard toss if it were complete. This is again, is going to lead to a lot of three and outs, unconverted third downs. Your team goes off on offense and now on defense. And the last play we want to show you is an end around to Ronald Moore. It's creative. I give him props for that. But the problem with this is that the left tackle motions right because everybody's motion right to try to fake out the defense that Kyler Murray is going to be the one running the ball. First off, the defense of their homework. They know that Murray is only averaging what two, three, four carries a game. Not that much. So he's really not going to have a lot of design runs. And then the defense of end is going to see, Oh, I am free. I can go on the outside and just try to sack Kyler Murray that way. Oh, no, you hand it off to Ronald Moore. Okay, even better, I can chase him down for a loss. This was also his own coverage. So even if the tackle blocks that defense of end, you still have two defensive backs on the left side of the field that can chase down Ronald Moore and kind of limit him to just a one, two, three yard gain. Again, not a lot of yards you're getting. It's going to lead a lot of three in-outs and a lot of unconverted third downs. That is what's happening with Arizona Cardinals. They're not taking a lot of shots downfield. And when they are, Kyler Murray, incomplete pass, interception like it was against the Philadelphia Eagles. It's just not working out. By the time they get to the second half, they're like, Oh, crap, we're down by 14, down by 20. Let's throw it deep. Let's go incorporate Marquise Brown a little bit more and try to get something out of our quarterback. So like in theory, it's a very good strategy. Like Tom Brady has made a living just dumping the ball off and letting his receivers do a lot of yards after the catch. But for the Cardinals, it's just not working out. Like this kind of strategy and this play calling, like it seems like, okay, they want to dominate the time of possession, keep the opposing offense off the field, but you don't have an established run game to really help with that for the Cleveland Browns in 2022. Like they are so good at dominating time of possession, because they have two established running backs that do a very good job of getting four, five, six yards to carry for the Cardinals. James Conner, it just hasn't been working out this season for them. And then when I talked about Kyler Murray, only averaging like two, three, four, five carries a game. Like you're not really utilizing him as much as a rusher, which is something that he's done very well in his career. I like to see him get utilized more and they run option game and design QB runs rather than having to depend on your legs only if the play breaks down, the offensive line breaks down, and you have no other choice. I do think things are going to get better. Once DeAndre Hopkins comes back, then you can transition from those short passes to more intermediate passes, get more chunky yardage and move the chains and be on the field longer. I get it. But right now, until Hopkins comes back, and this will be the last week without Hopkins, until Hopkins comes back, it's going to be very tough. And they're always down in these deficits, because you get a lot of three and outs, unconverted third downs, and your defense is just not playing well enough to stop the opposing offense. So leave your comments down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on what's going on with the Cardinals and what needs to change. But I mean, that's just my two cents. Like in the first half, you just got to be a little bit more aggressive and not really rely on Rondo Moore getting these end of rounds and only averaging four, five yards of reception. Like that's just not going to cut it.