Kliff Kingsbury: Cardinals have to look in the mirror, right now it’s not good enough

Posted by Michael David Smith on December 26, 2021, 5:58 AM EST
Indianapolis Colts v Arizona Cardinals
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For most of this season, the Cardinals have had the best record in the NFL. Now they’ve lost three straight games and no longer have the best record in the NFC West.

Although the Cardinals are still a near-lock to make the playoffs, coach Kliff Kingsbury acknowledged after Saturday night’s loss to the Colts that his team needs to get better.

“We’re looking at ourselves, looking in the mirror and trying to figure out what we have to do,” Kingsbury said. “Because right now it’s not good enough to be the team we know we can be.”

The 10-5 Cardinals can clinch a playoff berth today with two losses from the Eagles, 49ers or Vikings, but Kingsbury said he’s not even thinking about today’s slate of games. He’s thinking about getting his own team to play better.

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23 responses to “Kliff Kingsbury: Cardinals have to look in the mirror, right now it’s not good enough”

  1. Worst play calling i’ve ever seen, sloppy play, 10+ penalties.
    All the talent in the world can’t overcome bad coaching.
    Beyond JT, Indy ain’t that great. Kliff has himself to blame for blowing this one.

  2. Way too much early season hype for the Cardinals. Everyone outside of AZ has been expecting this nosedive.

  3. Kyler Murray will materialize into a coach killer. He’s too good to trade or bench. He can make all the plays and he can dazzle you with his feet. He can take blowout games and turn them into statistical absurdities. But there is a dark side to Murray. His height will always be a challenge and though it may not affect him for the majority of the plays during the game, it does factor at times, and this is what will leads to his inconsistency. Then he runs into bad matchup and he can’t overcome those bad matchups because he’s always playing at a disadvantage. That leads to further bad decisions, rushing throws, second guessing, and he becomes more liability than benefit. This opinion obviously lands bitterly for fans of Murray, and it’s not meant to be harsh criticism of him as an overall athlete or person, but it’s a truth. He’s an incredible athlete and his other talent allows him to compete at the highest level, but when it comes to being elite, he simply cannot compete with other quarterbacks that have all the talent as well but are not held back by there size.

  5. They started 7-0 but it wouldn’t surprise me if they miss the playoffs. Not sure what happened but they sure took a nosedive after starting off so promising. Maybe they started reading stories about how great they were and decided to mail it in. Whatever it is, they might be watching the playoffs from home now. Even if they do get in they’re probably one-and-done.

    The Colts are going to be a tough out in the playoffs.

  6. What was it Watt said? “Maybe we’re just not as good,” or something like that.

  7. Look at yourself Kliff. Kicking the field goal on 3rd down at the end was absurd. What do you gain, 5 seconds? Scoring a td there makes it a lot easier if you should recover the onside kick. Anybody hear his reasoning behind that?

  9. Arizona is a different team now that Hopkins is out. They just need to get to the playoffs and things will change. Hopkins opens the field for the running game and Ertz.

  10. Klingon Kingsbury is all about his haircut. He thinks he’s so smart and above everyone else. Hethiight he could win consistently with a tiny quarterback who can’t see above the line in crucial plays. He is wrong They are done, and do is he

  11. It starts with Kingsbury; he calls the plays. Play calling has sucked since Murray came back. When the play breaks down Murray is to quick to break out. when you have busted plays all of the time, it is hard for WR to run the right routes, it is hard for any communication to be in place, and it is hard for the QB to make accurate throws. Second the routes are causing the breakdowns, the Cardinals are running too deep of routes for the protection they can give Murray. Last night Ertz could have had an all-time receiving game, if Murray would have taken what the defense was obviously giving over the middle.

  13. Lamars a running back and Kyler is too small.
    Nevermind Drew Brees success.
    Yall are something else man

  15. Djaymick says:
    December 26, 2021 at 9:56 am

    Arizona is a different team now that Hopkins is out. They just need to get to the playoffs and things will change. Hopkins opens the field for the running game and Ertz.——————————————————————————-

    Thats what I think it is too. but regardless of that they are what they are now. Without Hopkins they are a fringe playoff team and a quick out if they get there. They will get there with the Wins they built up early in the season, but I see them as a quick out without him.

  17. Hopkins and Watt are unquestioned first ballot HOFers. They were in street clothes. Their pro bowl RB James Conner was in street clothes, too. Murray looked good. His throws were near perfect, and I’m not talking about short throws. The kicker missed a couple he usually makes. When the Cards watch the film, they’ll feel better.

  19. If they looked in a mirror all they would see is a bunch of players choking on their own inflated perceptions of themselves…..

  20. Paper champions they might not win another game all year. Kingsbury sucks and was hired away from college when he had a losing record so not to much of a surprise. Kyl;er Murray is still too small but has a lot of talent.

  22. jvorallballs says:

    December 26, 2021 at 6:52 am

    Worst play calling i’ve ever seen, sloppy play, 10+ penalties.
    All the talent in the world can’t overcome bad coaching.
    Beyond JT, Indy ain’t that great. Kliff has himself to blame for blowing this one
    ———-
    Taylor may be their best player but Indy has 1 of if not the best offensive lines in football, 1 of the top defenses and a qb who although had been in a slight slump coming into the game had still played like a top half of the league qb over the season.

  23. Every team goes through a difficult cycle during the season when key personnel are not available. In this case with Nuk, Watt, Conners, Hudson, etc. the team did not perform well enough to win…. However…. When the playoff begin, all of these missing starters will be there, and then we’ll see what happens. Watch!

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