In the (red) zone: What the Cardinals must clean up ahead of Week 2 game vs. Seahawks

TEMPE — The good outweighed the bad in head coach Mike LaFleur’s debut as Arizona Cardinals head coach.

But while a win over the Los Angeles Chargers kicked off the LaFleur era in style and made Arizona the Week 1 darlings of the NFL, it’s just one game with plenty to clean up.

If the franchise wants to keep the good times rolling and put its fan in a frenzy, a similar showing is key against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, who have had the Cardinals number since 2021.

That’s not to say there can’t be improvements, especially in two key areas on the football field:

Cardinals must limit the mental mistakes

LaFleur has talked time and time again about having a clean operation and ensuring that the offense not be its own worst enemy.

That was on full display throughout organized team activities and minicamp, where the focus was on doing the little things the right way before diving fully into the playbook.

The thought process was where you wanted it to be. The results from Week 1 were not.

An issue that cropped up during camp and the preseason, Arizona didn’t help itself behind eight penalties for 111 yards as a team.

Five of those came from the offensive side of the ball.

Taking down the defending Super Bowl champions and ending a nine-game losing streak to them is going to come down to owning the fundamentals and not giving the opposition any extra yards or chances.

A lot of that comes down to a lack of discipline with an extra helping of laziness. The best remedy? Reps and the film room.

The mental miscues don’t stop with the laundry, though. The intent factor can also go up a notch.

“Defense, offense, special teams, all the stuff that takes no talent, that’s what my vision is,” LaFleur said when asked if the offense looked the way he envisioned. “That’s what our vision is. Are we operating? Is the playstyle coming to life? All the things that take no talent. And for the most part I thought we did a decent job as a team.

“I thought offensively we were a little slow and sluggish at certain times within the operation, getting in and out of the huddle, stuff like that. That always starts with me. I got to continue to press and move the needle on that. From when the ball was snapped, I thought we left a lot out there, a lot out there.”

Getting more out of scoring drives

You know where Arizona left the most out on the field? In the red zone.

Finishing 2-for-5 in the red zone in Week 1, the Cardinals missed out on golden opportunities to find paydirt.

Instead, three of the trips ended with field goals.

“I think we didn’t do the best job in the red zone,” wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. said Wednesday. “I think we left some points on the board settling for field goals. But we’re going to keep building, keep getting better each week.”

For what it’s worth, Arizona’s failure to find the end zone just before halftime did have time constraints involved. A Paris Johnson Jr. facemask that pushed the Cardinals to the L.A. 26-yard line with nine seconds to go definitely didn’t help, either.

But even with giving that one a slight pass, the other two stand out.

The Cardinals got away with settling for three points instead of seven against a Chargers team that didn’t look ready to play.

Arizona isn’t going to have that kind of slack in a divisional tilt against the Seahawks, who have no weakness whatsoever defensively. And let’s be honest, not cashing in on double-digit-play drives with touchdowns just doesn’t hit the same.

“There’s no weakness whatsoever.”

“Everything” stands out about the Seattle Seahawks defense, says Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur.

He’s not wrong.

“They’re picking up right where they left off.” pic.twitter.com/WPXx9vhZs6

— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 16, 2026

Capitalizing where it counts is going to be critical in Arizona remaining undefeated through two weeks.

“We did enough to win the game. That was pretty much about it,” quarterback Jacoby Brissett said Wednesday. “We got back after the game and that’s kind of how we felt after watching the film.

“We just got so much room for improvement and that’s what this week is about.”

More movement in the run game

Arizona’s run game has the potential to anchor the offense given the tandem of Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier.

Averaging 3.4 yards per carry, however, is not going to make that thought a reality.

Entering Week 2, the Cardinals are 28th in the league in yards per carry and middle of the road in yards per game (116).

Between the pairing of Love and Allgeier, the duo combined for just two rushes of at least 11 yards. Meanwhile, half of Arizona’s 34 carries resulted in three yards or fewer. Five of those were for zero yards or less.

More consistency with some more explosives sprinkled in will only open up the offense that much more for LaFleur.

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