Is it Time for the Arizona Cardinals to Move on from Kliff Kingsbury?

The Cardinals started off the year hot, going undefeated through their first 7 games. Since then, they are 3–5. They are currently on a 3 game losing streak and looking like first-round exits. This was expected, though, it happens every single year to the Cardinals, ever since Kliff Kingsbury got hired. With such a talented roster, missing the playoffs 2 out of the 3 years, and never being a top 10 offense, I believe it’s time to cut his tenure short.

Over the last 3 seasons, the Cardinals have been the prime example of an inconsistent offense. If you look at the graphs below from the last 2 years we can see how badly the Cards offense continuously regresses from the first to the second half of the season.

2019–2020 Season; Weeks 1–9(above), Weeks 9–17(below). Graphs from rbsdm.com

2020–2021 Season; Weeks 1–9(above), Weeks 9–17(below). Graphs from rbsdm.com

And now in 2021, this is no different. Arizona started off as the best offense in the league in the first half of the year, and then dead average over the second half of the year.

2021–2022 Season; Weeks 1–9(above), Weeks 9–16(below). Graphs from rbsdm.com

In terms of DVOA as well the Cardinals have never had a top 10 offensive finish through Kingsbury’s career, and they are currently sitting at 16th below teams like Denver and Baltimore. If we look at yards over expected as well(click here to see more about this stat), we can see that the Cardinals have moved down a bunch in that category as well as moving down a couple of spots. (It’s also interesting to see the amount of parity in the NFL this year and how there have been no consistent “elite” offenses in the league)

Yards over expected through Week 8

Yards over Expected through Week 16

It seems like as the season goes by, the rest of the league starts to figure out Kingsbury’s offense and how to stop it. A lack of innovation in playcalling also leads to a stall in the offense, as well as not utilizing his star players well. Not to mention running your quarterback until he gets injured isn’t exactly the best way to sustain an offense. The Cardinals have the potential to be one of the best offenses in the league, but with Kingsbury calling plays, that potential won’t even remotely be reached.

So yes, it is time to take the step away from Kliff Kingsbury and give him up to the Sooners if he would like, but one more year with Kliff is one more year of disappointment from a talented young team.

Contact: rai.r.nick@gmail.com