Daryn Colledge: Sacks not Arizona Cardinals’ biggest problem

Following the Cardinals’ 17-3 loss at St. Louis Thursday, it was only natural to be taken aback by the alarming number of times quarterback Kevin Kolb was sacked by the Rams’ defense.

But as left guard Daryn Colledge explained, the nine sacks Kolb endured Thursday was less indicative of poor pass protection and more indicative of the offensive line’s inability to help establish a run game.

“You can’t throw the ball 50 times and hope you’re not going to get sacks,” Colledge told Arizona Sports 620’s Paul Calvisi during a post-game interview. “We have to run the ball better. We have to do better earlier in the game so we aren’t behind. Because when you allowed a defense like that to pin their ears back, they have playmakers.”

Arizona’s run game has been hit by the injury bug of late. Beanie Wells, last season’s 1,000-yard rusher, was forced to the injured reserve after suffering a turf toe injury in Week 3. He will not be allowed to return to action for another six weeks. And, starting running back Ryan Williams left Thursday’s game in the fourth quarter with an apparent left shoulder injury.

The Cardinals head into their 10-day hiatus with the second-worst rushing offense — 63.4 yards per game — and a league-high 22 sacks allowed.

They say once is an accident, twice is a trend and three times is a problem. Based on the last two weeks — 73 combined rushing yards and a franchise-record 18 sacks allowed — the offensive line is headed towards the latter if they don’t make adjustments quickly after a pathetic prime time showing.

“Hopefully we use this as a spring board,” said Colledge. “I don’t know if we bought into our hype, or what, but we obviously weren’t ready to play [against the Rams].”

The Cardinals’ next opponent, Buffalo, heads into their Week 5 matchup against the 49ers with the second fewest sacks (4) in the league.

Despite signing highly-touted pass rushers in Mario Williams and Mark Anderson during the offseason, the Bills have rarely even put pressure on opposing quarterbacks — only 13 hits — en route to allowing a whopping 32.8 points per game.