Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons: Full Report Card Grades for Arizona
Avert your eyes, Arizona Cardinals fans. In a season full of ugly wins, continually missing opportunities and suffering far more injuries than a team should have in a season were bound to come back to haunt the team. It did in a big way against the Atlanta Falcons.
There were times throughout the 29-18 loss at the Georgia Dome when it appeared the 2012 team replaced the 2014 version.
"2012
— Jess Root (@senorjessroot) November 30, 2014"
Root was referring to the offense, of course, and more specifically quarterback Drew Stanton. We'll get to that and much more in a minute.
The Cardinals allowed two 100-yard receivers and a 100-yard rusher in a game for the first time in over 14 years. For a defense said to be among the best in the NFL, it sure did not play that way against the Falcons—who were without their No. 2 receiver, Roddy White, mind you.
How did each Cardinals positional unit fare in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons? Let’s find out.
Quarterback
1 of 10
In a word, Stanton was bad against Atlanta. He faced some pressure, but for the most part, the offensive line held well for him. He looked uncomfortable at times in the pocket and uncorked some nasty-looking throws as a result, hence the 2012 season reference.
He completed 24 of 39 passes (61.5 percent) for 294 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for a 72.0 passer rating. His line did not allow a sack.
Two more interceptions this week means Stanton has thrown five in the past three games with just three touchdowns. His lone touchdown this week came on a meaningless late-game drive after the Falcons had built a three-score lead.
Overall, Stanton was at his worst in this game. It can't get much worse from here...we hope.
Grade: F
Running Back
2 of 10
Andre Ellington left with a hip pointer in the first half and did not return. He was ineffective in his time before leaving, carrying five times for 12 yards. His best gain came off left guard after Jonathan Cooper briefly replaced Ted Larsen.
Rookie Marion Grice was also ineffective on the ground. He did have three receptions for 24 yards against the Falcons, though, which isn't terrible—and the screen game as a whole seemed to work better on Sunday than it has all season.
But for the most part, Arizona's running backs were a complete non-factor because the Cardinals were forced to play from behind the entire game.
Grade: D
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
Stanton had a bad day at the office, so that means the receiving corps wasn't much better. As a group, they had their chances, and they made some plays. But they also had too many mistakes.
Take Michael Floyd. He had a solid afternoon leading up to his big reception as the team crossed midfield (pictured above). Floyd made a nice catch of a Stanton pass and, like he does, cut across the field to find space to get north.
And as he did earlier this season while doing that, he fumbled.
The turnover did not lead to points for Atlanta, but it meant more than that in terms of momentum. At that point, the Cardinals had nothing going offensively but were mounting their best drive of the game. The air left the sideline after that, and it never returned.
Jaron Brown led the team with seven receptions for 75 yards.
Tight ends were invisible in the passing attack and too noticeable in the run game. That's a problem.
Grade: D+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Zero sacks allowed by the offensive line is a miracle considering the day Stanton had—he was lost in the pocket at times. He had time to throw most of the afternoon and did make some nice throws.
We may have seen the takeover by Jonathan Cooper of the left guard position in this game. He replaced a healthy Ted Larsen for two possessions early before being benched again, but right guard Paul Fanaika left with a high ankle sprain, forcing Larsen to move to the right.
Cooper stepped back onto the field and played well at left guard the rest of the way.
Most of the pressure came off the edge against the Falcons. Left tackle Jared Veldheer and right tackle Bobby Massie were average and nothing more.
The problem area once again was run blocking. Center Lyle Sendlein struggled throughout the game at moving the line of scrimmage for Ellington and Grice, and that affected Cooper's efficiency in run blocking. He did not look as dominant as he should have looked for the simple fact that he had to help Sendlein at times, closing a lane where there should have been one.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
5 of 10
This was not pretty. The defensive line did not close off running lanes as well as we're used to seeing. It did not get to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, as we have seen over the past month. And, most importantly, it did not create space consistently for the linebackers to shoot through and stop the run and pressure Ryan.
Zero sacks and one quarterback hit for the entire game from the defensive line is unacceptable. And then we get to Falcons running backs Steven Jackson and Devonta Freeman, who gashed the defense at times thanks in large part to massive holes created by Atlanta's offensive line.
This is not the type of performance coach Brenston Buckner's defensive line is accustomed to—especially against a team that had struggled to run the football.
Grade: F
Linebacker
6 of 10
It's 2nd-and-4 from the Arizona 37-yard line with 39 seconds left in the second quarter. The Falcons are in a two-minute offense and, to this point, have been moving the ball at will all half.
Ryan takes the snap from the gun and drops back, and as he steps up to avoid the rush, outside linebacker Alex Okafor reaches back as he falls to the turf and trips Ryan, sacking him for a loss of seven yards. It's now third down and the Falcons are out of field-goal range.
"Prior to the pass: Illegal contact on the defense—No. 25. Automatic first down, five-yard penalty."
Cornerback Jerraud Powers had been covering receiver Harry Douglas. The penalty gave Atlanta new life and led to an end-of-half field goal by kicker Matt Bryant.
One step forward, two steps back. All day long for the Cardinals.
That was about the lone bright spot from the linebacking corps. Inside 'backer Larry Foote led the team with a dozen tackles, but many of those featured the veteran being flattened by Jackson.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
"Me feeling I'm the best corner in the league, I want the team's No. 1 receiver, period. That's where you get the opportunity to gain the respect from your peers and be recognized as one of the best and one of the greats after you are done with the game.
"
That's a direct quote from cornerback Patrick Peterson last week from NFL.com's Kevin Patra's piece, which he titled, "Patrick Peterson wants Julio Jones one-on-one."
Jones' line from this game: 10 receptions for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown.
Peterson on Jones is not a good matchup. Sure, Jones is physical, and Peterson likes playing physical; earlier this year, Peterson shut down Dez Bryant and Calvin Johnson—two of the league's most physical receivers.
But Jones is also one of the best route-runners in the NFL. Technically sound receivers give Peterson fits because he plays loose with technique and relies too much on physical ability. The good ones know how to exploit that.
Antonio Cromartie would have been a much better matchup on Jones from the Cardinals' standpoint. Cromartie is a mechanically perfect cornerback. He's never out of position and always relies on technique over physical ability.
Peterson cost his team far too many yards Sunday.
The lone bright spot was safety Rashad Johnson. Not only did he pick off Ryan—on a pass intended for Jones, no less—and return it 88 yards for a touchdown, he also was the aggressor when tackling.
Many times this season and in past years, we've seen Johnson drop his head and launch himself into ball-carriers, often leading to missed tackles.
That was not the case Sunday.
Yes, he still launched himself a few times, but Sunday, he did not miss those tackles. He laid the wood on Jackson a couple of times, in fact. He is the only reason this grade is not lower, because Cromartie was outmatched by Douglas most of the game.
Grade: D-
Special Teams
8 of 10
Punter Drew Butler kicked decently in Atlanta. That may have been a gimme considering the domed atmosphere compared to the windy elements of Seattle's CenturyLink Field.
The problem with special teams this week was not with kicking. This week, the problem was coverage. Punt returner Devin Hester, who is the NFL's all-time leader in return touchdowns, took one 71 yards for a score in the first quarter—only to have it called back on an iffy facemask penalty.
Rookie kicker Chandler Catanzaro hit on a 44-yard field goal from the left hash, burying it right down the middle. He appears to be over his midseason struggles.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 10
You will never see me call for head coach Bruce Arians to be fired. He is a hell of a coach and has done a fantastic job this season leading the Cardinals to victories despite a rash of injuries to virtually every position on the roster.
That said, sometimes coaches have bad days too. Arians had a bad day in Atlanta.
The team was hamstrung by injuries already, being without receiver Larry Fitzgerald for a second straight game, but the injury bug bit again in this one. Ellington left with a hip pointer, Fanaika exited with a sprained ankle and safety Tyrann Mathieu fractured his thumb early and did not return.
Still, to call just 10 rushing plays while your backup-turned-starting quarterback struggles to complete passes is suspect. Grice and Stepfan Taylor would not have led a comeback, but to give Grice five carries and nix Taylor from the run game completely after Ellington's injury helped Atlanta call plays on defense.
It knew what was coming, so it was able to drop people into coverage and play defense.
Then we come to defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. His unit was awful all game, allowing too many big plays and not getting off the field on third down. His biggest mistake was leaving Peterson on Jones all game after a big first quarter from the receiver.
He could see Peterson trailing Jones all over the field, struggling to keep up with the Pro Bowler. Why leave him on an island to struggle more?
Grade: F
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Grade |
| QB | F |
| RB | D |
| WR | D+ |
| OL | C |
| DL | F |
| LB | D |
| Secondary | D- |
| Special Teams | C |
| Coaching | F |
| Cumulative Grade | D |
The 29-18 loss at the hands of a team that had not won a game outside the worst division in football is troubling. Most of the problems with the team could be fixed with a healthy roster, however, so while this hurts and makes the team look like it will be lucky to win again this season, not all is lost.
Ellington should be OK, and though Fanaika could be out for an extended time with the ankle injury, the end result may be that Cooper is in his rightful spot at left guard, with Larsen filling in for Fanaika. That's a plus for the offense.
Mathieu's injury is unfortunate for the simple fact that he just returned from a significant injury. Players play with broken fingers and hands all the time, though, so it's not inconceivable that we see him play next week against Kansas City. That will be something to keep an eye on this week in the days leading up to the game.
Overall, this is a really bad loss. But the Cardinals are as well-coached as any team in the league and will rebound from this. If you thought they were pissed off after the Seattle game, just wait until the Kansas City Chiefs get to town.
All stats gathered from Pro-Football-Reference.com and ESPN.com
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