5 Things We Learned from the Arizona Cardinals' Second Preseason Game

The Arizona Cardinals are one of the two lucky teams that have to endure five preseason games as they were selected to play in the Hall of Fame game.

By the looks of it, that might not be so bad after all. The Cardinals have gotten off to a rough start after consecutive losses to both the Saints and Chiefs. 

Defense, offensive line play and quarterback play are the three things seeming to plague this team the most. 

1. John Skelton Is Still the No. 1

Even after a poor performance where he only completed 50 percent of his passes, John Skelton is still in the lead to be the opening day starter.

Like Kevin Kolb, Skelton's play has been erratic, just not as erratic as Kolb's. There are plenty of things to like about his game; he's big, mobile, does a good job of eluding pressure and, most importantly, he targets Larry Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald was targeted three times in the passing game on Friday night. All of the targets came from Skelton who targeted him on his last three throws before he exited the game.

And, of course, on Kolb's five pass attempts he didn't target Fitz once. The passing game goes as Fitzgerald goes. Whisenhunt kept him out there so both quarterbacks had the opportunity to try and build a repertoire with him. 

It has been reported that Skelton is the favorite, but Kolb will be given every opportunity to try and win the job. 

2. First-Team Defense's Mistakes Continue

For the second game in a row the Cardinals starting defensive unit can't seem to get on the same page. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton was displeased with its overall performance to say the least. 

He talked to Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com yesterday and had this to say about where he thought the team would be at right now: "I thought we’d be ahead of where we left off, really. We put a lot of new stuff in, so there is a learning curve, but I am discouraged our starters aren’t ahead."

It was also pointed out in the article that of the first 20 plays the defensive starters ran, there was a mistake made by someone on 17 of them. 

Five preseason games usually seem a bit dreadful, but it could end up being a blessing as it could give coordinators and players more time to familiarize themselves with the new concepts. 

There's no better time to practice situational work than in a live game, so let's hope the defense gets everything figured out before they open up the season with Seattle.

3. Jamell Fleming's Stock Is on the Rise

Even though Jamell Fleming is buried on the depth chart that hasn't stopped him from making an impact. His first game against the Saints appeared to be a little rough and he seemed a little hesitant at times, but Week 2 of the preseason was a whole different story. 

Two of his most impressive plays of the night came in the first half. He's a big-bodied cornerback who offers some real support in the run game.

On this play, midway through the second quarter, Fleming does a nice job of getting underneath the left tackle to stop the running back for a two-yard loss.

As a third-round selection, he might get the chance to run with the one's sooner rather than later. It can't hurt as the secondary has looked less than impressive so far.

4. Bradley's Play Is Inconsistent

After an impressive debut against the Saints where Bradley was all over the field with seven tackles, one sack, one quarterback hit and one tackle for loss, things didn't quite go as planned the second time around.

He was hoping to duplicate success against the Chiefs as he is pushing Paris Lenon for the starting inside linebacker job.

What are the odds of him passing up Lenon? No one really knows, but continued success would make it hard for Ray Horton to keep him off the field.

His only real highlight of the night was when he stopped Shaun Draughn for a one-yard loss. Other than that Bradley had a tough time getting off blocks and he even missed a couple of tackles. 

As Draughn runs in for the touchdown, take a look at how Tony Moeaki completely seals him off.

5. The Offensive Line Needs to Play Better

A lot of money was invested along the offensive line this past offseason and its play hasn't lived up to those numbers so far.

Skelton and Kolb were both sacked once and under duress more than once. But it's hard to blame all the issues on pass protection. However, things would be a lot different if they could effectively run the ball.

If the run-blocking were to improve, the pass-blocking would improve as well. I say this because Arizona seems to find itself in so many 3rd-and-forever situations that opposing defenses are just teeing off on the quarterback.

Look for the running game to take a step forward this week because it sounds like Ryan Williams will be making his debut against the Raiders.