Josh Rosen explains a naughty rule to follow when making reads

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Josh Rosen got animated as he changed things up at the line of scrimmage.

Arizona lined up in an empty formation — no running backs — with three receivers to the left, two to the right. It was the final 30 seconds of the first quarter, and the Arizona Cardinals quarterback saw an opportunity to change the play against the Oakland Raiders.

“They were giving us a pressure look when we were in empty,” Rosen said. “When you’re in empty, usually you want to identify who you’re hot off of. When (the opponent) is walking around like that sometimes it gets a little tricky. I knew even if they didn’t blitz, they were out of position to play a screen to the left.”

Rosen’s awareness and decision was about to make it 14-7.

It was how he came to that conclusion to make a change that allowed for one funny moment amid a frustrating 23-21 defeat for Arizona.

The altered play called for a quick screen pass to Christian Kirk on the left side of the field, and thanks to a block by tight end Ricky Seals-Jones, Kirk shed a tackle and exploded up the left sideline for a 59-yard touchdown pass.

It was a by-the-book play-call.

But Rosen admitted he identified the defense based on a philosophy not suitable for print.

“They were overloaded on the right (side of the field). Back in college, I learned the ‘MFer rule.’ If there are a lot of MFers over there, go that (other) way.”

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