Cardinals leaving no stone unturned in Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury’s return to Arizona
Sep 25, 2024, 3:45 PM
TEMPE — The Arizona Cardinals hit the hard eject button on former head coach Kliff Kingsbury after a failing 28-37-1 mark and one embarrassing Wild Card showing across four seasons.
The move off of Kingsbury and an offensive scheme that appeared to have run its course in the NFL — on top of general manager Steve Keim’s resignation — left a sour taste in many Cardinals fans’ mouths given the contract extensions handed down to the pair the previous offseason. Plus, the fall from relevance in 2022 that was plagued with plenty of off-the-field distractions further signaled a change was needed.
It put the Cardinals on a complete course correction and rebuild, especially from a culture and foundational standpoint, now led by head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort.
Kingsbury on the other hand headed back to the college ranks in 2023 as a senior offensive analyst for USC alongside would-be 2024 No. 1 pick Caleb Williams before eventually finding his way back to the NFL. This time, though, as the Washington Commanders offensive coordinator.
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Similarly to what he did with the Cardinals in 2019, Kingsbury began his tenure with a first-round rookie quarterback who brings dual-threat and playmaking abilities that needed little time to show up at the NFL level.
But come Sunday, the two sides will once again cross paths — albeit on different sidelines — when the Cardinals host the Commanders in Week 4.
Regardless of Kingsbury’s ending in Arizona, Gannon, defensive coordinator Nick Rallis and the rest of the unit are making sure all bases are covered internally heading into game day.
The team and the talent may be different — aside from ex-Cardinals tight end Zach Ertz — but there’s still plenty to glean from those who played under and coached alongside Kingsbury.
“We turn over every stone,” Gannon said Monday. “Obviously, I have a high opinion of Kliff and what he does. They have some good players over there.”
“You got to take in every bit of information you can get. You know what I’m saying?” Rallis added.
Unlike what we saw toward the end of the Kingsbury era in Arizona, the Commanders offense heads into Sunday’s tilt operating at a high level following back-to-back weeks without having to punt. Aside from a trio of kneel downs at the end of the half or game, Washington has scored on all of its 13 drives.
Even with eight of those scoring drives ending with field goals — seven alone coming from Week 2’s 21-18 win over the New York Giants — that’s an impressive feat for any NFL offense.
Kingsbury is also utilizing rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels under center at a much higher rate than he did with Kyler Murray. Through three games, Daniels has already attempted 26 passes out of the formation. For comparison, Murray had 48 throughout his entire rookie season and posted just 29 in 2021.
Cardinals DC Nick Rallis is expecting a blend of new and old from Washington Commanders OC and Arizona’s former head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
And yes, picking the brain of Kyler Murray and others is part of the process for the DC. pic.twitter.com/RT91BIyTFI
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 24, 2024
“He’s got completely new players. There’s going to be differences but then there’s going to be things that he does really well schematically that I’m sure he’s carrying over,” Rallis said Tuesday.
“Or if he hasn’t shown it yet, I’m sure he still has it in his arsenal. So, it’s a combination of some new stuff and some stuff he probably did here.”
But just how Murray was an early catalyst to the team’s success and overly relied on to make things happen, Daniels is giving off a lot of the same vibes early on.
After failing to find the end zone through the air across the first two weeks of his NFL career, Daniels lit up the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football behind 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns (both from under center) on an uber-efficient 91% passing. He continued to be a threat on the ground, too, scoring his third rushing touchdown of the season in the 38-33 victory.
Now entering Week 4’s matchup, Daniels has accounted for all but 290 yards of Washington’s total offense (1,080). He’s scored all but three of the Commanders’ eight total touchdowns.
Quarterback Kyler Murray on the differences between playing in former Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s system compared to OC Drew Petzing’s offense.
Come for the quote, stay for the wink. 😉 pic.twitter.com/ZWvV2ri6CG
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) September 25, 2024
“Two different systems, obviously. One is more reliant on other things and the other one is more reliant on other things,” Murray said before ending his answer with a wink.
I’ll let you decipher that last part on your own.
The return of Kingsbury is bound to bring back memories of a previous regime that showed early promise only to crash and burn.
But if there’s at least one memory wouldn’t mind reliving on Sunday, it’s Kingsbury’s parting 1-8 record at State Farm Stadium.
