ARIZONA CARDINALS

It’s very clear NFL old heads like Rex Ryan don’t like Kliff Kingsbury

Aug 16, 2019, 10:26 AM

It’s become increasingly worrisome that the Arizona Cardinals have their share of flaws.

Through parts of two preseason games, the first-team offense is going backward and its defense is getting gashed. General manager Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury have expressed more concern about the latter than the former, and considering the recent personnel happenings on the defensive side of the ball, those stances are warranted.

Whether Arizona’s vanilla preseason offense will look that different in Week 1 of the regular season will remain a mystery until then. Same goes for whether the defense will wilt.

In the meantime, we can be certain about one thing: some old-school NFL folks simply want the Cardinals’ “college” offense to fail.

Raiders safety Lamarcus Joyner expressed as much before Oakland wrapped a 33-26 preseason win over Arizona on Thursday, telling ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters he wanted to run the “pretty-boy” offense out of the NFL. Joyner’s head coach, Jon Gruden, dropped a few hints postgame that he isn’t a fan of Kingsbury’s scheme either.

All you need to do is blitz a spread offense led by a mobile quarterback, he said. Regarding the Cardinals’ snapping the ball via hand clapping, Gruden made it clear he doesn’t get it.

“Well, they’re clapping their hands and that’s not real common in the NFL,” Gruden said. “I don’t understand the clapping, but obviously that’s something the referees are looking at tonight.”

Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, now an ESPN analyst, made his feelings of Kingsbury’s offense quite clear when he joined “Get Up” on Friday morning.

“Basketball on grass,” Ryan said. “It’s so boring watching all this stuff right there — I mean, c’mon, college football. I hope it gets smoked also, I really do.

“I think it’s so boring. It is boring. We’re going to see. Kingsbury says, ‘Wait ’til Week 1.’ Oh, I can’t wait until Week 1. They’re going to get whipped Week 1.”

A defensive coach by trade, Ryan believes he has the answer to the Air Raid style offense. Blitz off the edge.

“That’s why that open edge pressure, you’re going to see it all day long,” Ryan said. “Their answer is the quick little hitch screen or slant. Guess what? The DBs are going to know that. They’re going to be sitting on these guys, they’re going to be getting in the face of these receivers. They better get that running game going or they’re going to get run out of town.”

Perhaps.

The Cardinals have been secretive about their offense, and for good reason. Call it an excuse for the inevitable failures or a wise thing to keep it under wraps.

But what they’ve shown in the preseason is not what will debut on Sept. 8 against the Detroit Lions. Watch a few minutes of Kingsbury’s offense at Texas Tech or even a few minutes of Arizona’s open practices, and you’d believe it.

It’s here where we reach a dichotomy forming in how NFL analysts are gauging the Cardinals’ offensive stock.

While some express a distaste so severe that they’re rooting for Kingsbury to fail — and overanalyzing preseason football — others are believing we’ve yet to get a glimpse Kingsbury’s offensive innovation.

Ryan’s ESPN colleague Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback, has long been a believer in the NFL marriage of Kingsbury and Murray. His analysis on SportsCenter late Thursday night wasn’t so down on the rookie No. 1 pick or the offense as a whole.

Breaking down the final play for Murray, in which the quarterback saw a disguised blitz before taking a Joyner sack for a safety, Orlovsky had this to say:

“They fooled Kyler Murray … I’m not overly-concerned about this at all. I expected this offense to be vanilla in this preseason. One of the inherent advantages that Kliff Kingsbury has is a lot of the teams they play early on, they don’t have NFL tape of what this offense is going to look like. Why would he show them in the preseason what their answers to all the pressures are going to be?

“Not an issue. A good learning experience for Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury.”

It’s the same thing you hear from the quarterback and his head coach.

Whether it plays out that way, as they say, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Array

Oakland Raiders running back DeAndre Washington (33) runs as Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders quarterback Mike Glennon (7) throws against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Oakland Raiders defensive back Johnathan Abram (24) tackles Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws as Oakland Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell (96) pursues during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Oakland Raiders tight end Derek Carrier (85) celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals with quarterback Derek Carr (4) during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders tight end Derek Carrier (85) celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders tight end Derek Carrier (85) scores a touchdown as Arizona Cardinals defensive back Rudy Ford defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders free safety Lamarcus Joyner (29) celebrates his safety with defensive back Johnathan Abram (24) during the first half of an an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals , Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) is tackled in the end zone for a safety by by Oakland Raiders free safety Lamarcus Joyner, left, as defensive end Arden Key (99) pursues during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) is helped up by offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert (76) after being sacked for a safety against the Oakland Raiders during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Trent Sherfield (16) pulls in a touchdown catch as Oakland Raiders cornerback Nick Nelson (23) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders wide receiver Marcell Ateman (88) is hit by Arizona Cardinals defensive back Nate Brooks (41) during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) hands off to running back Josh Jacobs (28) during the first half of an an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Trent Sherfield (16) celebrates his touchdown against the Oakland Raiders during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) watches from the sidelines against the Oakland Raiders during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals wide receiver KeeSean Johnson pulls in a pass as Oakland Raiders cornerback Gareon Conley (21) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Brett Hundley (7) runs as Oakland Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell (96) pursues during the first half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury makes a call against the Oakland Raiders during the first half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) runs as Oakland Raiders defensive end Arden Key (99) pursues during the first half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Oakland Raiders wide receiver De'Mornay Pierson-El (9) signals first down as Arizona Cardinals defensive back Jalen Thompson (38) looks on during the second half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders running back Mack Brown celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals with wide receiver Rico Gafford (10) during the second half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders running back Mack Brown celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the second half of an an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (28) runs aArizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones (55) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws during the first half of an an NFL football game against the Oakland Raiders, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) makes a call against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) throws during the first half of an an NFL football game as Oakland Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell (96) pursues, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) scrambles as Oakland Raiders defensive back Johnathan Abram (24) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson (31) runs as Oakland Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell (96) defends during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries (74) blocks against Oakland Raiders free safety Lamarcus Joyner (29) during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden makes a call against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) Oakland Raiders wide receiver Rico Gafford (10) runs in a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso) Oakland Raiders wide receiver Rico Gafford (10) celebrates his touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals with teammate tight end Foster Moreau (87) during the first half of an an NFL football game, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

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