After last season, when the Arizona Cardinals went 5-10-1, there was reason to question whether Kliff Kingsbury, who had never been an NFL coach, was the right man for the job.
Those questions, however, have been answered in 2020, as the Cardinals (5-2) not only have a winning record, but also lead the league in total offense.
“Kliff Kingsbury has this offense humming,” NFL on CBS announcer Andrew Catalon said on The DA Show. “You look back at the trade for DeAndre Hopkins, and that obviously stands out when you look at this offense. He leads the NFL in catches, in receiving yards, to go along with Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk, who has four touchdowns in his last two games.”
As great as Arizona’s wide receivers have been, though, Kyler Murray is the straw that stirs the drink. The former No. 1 overall pick has thrown for 1800+ yards, rushed for 400+ yards and scored 20 touchdowns (13 pass, seven rush) to seven interceptions this season.
“Really a quiet leader, and he’s fearless out there,” Catalon said. “He’s got seven rushing touchdowns. I thought I wasn’t seeing things the right way when I wrote his stats down on my board for this week’s game. He’s already rushed for 437 yards, so we know he can beat you with his legs. That’s always been the story. But he’s throwing the ball accurately. And the way that they’re running the ball with Murray – but also with Kenyan Drake, a Chase Edmonds – they’re just so creative on offense. I give Kliff Kingsbury a lot of credit. There was a lot of naysayers when he was hired, and then they get rid of [Josh] Rosen and bring in Murray – how is this all going to work out? Well, they’re 5-2, and they are in the conversation to not only make the playoffs, but win the division in the NFC West.”
Arizona, which has won three games in a row, hosts Miami (4-3), which has also won three games in a row, this Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET. It should be a fantastic matchup, especially since the Dolphins lead the league in scoring defense (18.6 points per game allowed).
“What we’ve seen Miami do a lot is rush the house,” Catalon said. “Just take down and burn that house down when they try to blitz the quarterback. And they leave their corners, who are very good – Byron Jones and Xavien Howard – one-on-one in the back to try to cover the receivers. If you do that against Arizona, if you send everyone and try to set [the] house on fire, then you’re going to have one-on-ones with Hopkins and Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald. To me, that’s a fascinating matchup in this game.”