(Photo: Norm Hall / Getty Images)
Emotions are high. Temperatures are high. I learned not to make really big decisions while I’m glowing with anger.
Fire Kliff Kingsbury?
Yes. Definitely yes.
After an 18-7 defeat on Sunday, there is no other way to go. The Cardinals will miss the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. The lack of leadership and discipline is terrible. Offense is subject to stagnation. They collectively wasted a golden opportunity, losing to smaller teams, often taking to the pitch without bloodlust, shooting themselves in the feet along the way.
And if a head coach could be dismissed for a single game call, it would be this:
After burning their second half before a third and 18 in the fourth period, the Cardinals made a choice of play with a weak defender who lost most of the game due to an ankle injury.
We’ve seen this team fall off the tracks before. On Sunday, he left Kliff.
“We have made progress,” said Kingsbury. “There is no doubt, as an organization, that we are not where we want to be. But the competitiveness from Year 1 to Year 2 has definitely increased. “
Sorry, it’s not good enough. Not after that cowardly exit, when the Cardinals scored two touchdowns in their last eight quarters.
This game was a chance for redemption. And the Kingsbury Cardinals made it the most embarrassing performance of the season.
Those satiated by the “progress” of an 8-8 season should be gagged with tape. You don’t care enough to be part of this conversation.
The Cardinals have already gone 5-2 and the NFL darlings. They ended the season whining, forced to submit by the 49ers; exposed as fragile and thin by the Rams. Of all the consecutive defeats to Sean McVay, this is the one that hurts the most.
There are so many questions.
Kyler Murray proved that he has electrifying and revolutionary talents. I strongly believe in your future as a defender of the franchise. But he doesn’t always inspire his teammates. His interaction with the media has been indifferent and occasionally strange. Before Sunday’s game, Cardinals defensive striker Jordan Phillips tweeted his support for Bills quarterback Josh Allen as the league’s MVP.
And on Sunday, after an ankle injury in the first series of the game, Murray continued to leave the field and re-emerge from the tunnel. He didn’t return until 14:25 left in the game.
I will not judge another man’s courage when it comes to playing football while he is injured. But I can guarantee that some of Murray’s teammates will. After all, this is the NFL, a league built with blood and courage. This was a playoff-or-bust scenario. And when Murray returned to the game, he seemed to throw the ball well, passing 60 yards in his first four attempts.
“I had to let some things work,” said Murray, obviously referring to painkillers. “As soon as I did, I decided to go in.”
Meanwhile, DeAndre Hopkins was mostly a godsend in 2020. But he needlessly started a fight with anonymous members of the local media before the final two games. And on Sunday, he melted into an important situation, receiving a penalty for frustration.
Hopkins was called in for unsportsmanlike conduct, for barking at an officer and then sending him away … because of a foul he obviously committed. This does not happen in a team with real leadership and real responsibility.
The management of this team left a lot to be desired. Andy Isabella is unable to take the field. They spoiled the handling of placekickers. They chose Chris Streveler over Brett Hundley a long time ago, but stopped giving him offensive snaps after the second game of the season. But this team had the talent to make the playoffs long before Sunday. Instead, they wasted two years of a rookie contract with Murray, and time is running out.
Asked what needs to change in the future, Murray said the following:
“I think part of that is going through this. Learning how to win. And some other reasons that I don’t want to explain now. We have to be better at all stages. And I hope that this motivates us as an organization. It feels horrible … ”
Ugly, indeed. This team had the chance to be the underdog of the NFC playoffs. Without a solid foundation or any kind of identity, they collapsed.
The team will certainly return with its technical committee intact, trying to sell statistical and methodical progress. They will point to Murray’s injury in Week 17 as a reason for patience. Perhaps they will give Kingsbury a veteran presence behind the scenes to help him during the games.
But that’s just kicking a can on the way.
This team needs a stronger voice at the top. A head coach who is a leader of men. A head coach who is more than just an offensive coordinator. A head coach who is not the general manager. A coach who is so elitist at his best that the whole team lines up to follow him, perhaps even running through brick walls along the way.
At the very least, someone who is not manipulated and outdone by division rivals with a playoff spot in play.