With just five games left to play, the Arizona Cardinals are all but out of the NFC Playoff chase, and Bruce Arians is disgusted by what he’s seen from his team this year.
Arizona, with a record of 4-6-1, is currently the No. 12 seed in the NFC and has lost three of its last four games. After such a magical run in 2015, when the team went 13-3 and made it all the way to the NFC Championship Game, the fall from grace is stunning.
Speaking with KTAR 98.7 on Monday, Arians laid into his team a bit, saying perhaps it’s time to give some of the younger, hungrier players a chance.
Arians thinks that “selfishness” is at least partly to blame. Particularly on defense, he criticized players for getting out of position and trying “to get on the stat sheet instead of just doing their job.”
“I’m very surprised,” Arians said, via ArizonaSports.com. “We’ve been talking about it for four weeks and the veterans obviously haven’t done anything about it, so maybe young guys will step up and make the opportunity they need.”
Of course, a continual concern for the Cardinals is the play of quarterback Carson Palmer, who has not bee the same guy since the Carolina Panthers took him behind the wood shed in the NFC Championship game. This season, Palmer has completed 60.9 percent of his passes (down nearly three percent from last year), is averaging 7.08 yards per attempt (8.70 last year) with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through 11 games (35 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year).
The only player who has been a consistent source of positive vibes is running back David Johnson, who has totaled at least 100 yards from scrimmage in each of the team’s games this year.
In every other way, Arizona has declined this year, and Arians has experienced two health scares along the way.
The fiery head coach has never been shy about ripping into his team and his players when he is dissatisfied. Based on his public comments, we’re quite sure he’s laid into the Cardinals with more visceral language behind closed doors.
But will it have any impact? That remains to be seen. As it stands now, it’s hard to imagine the Cardinals will be playing for a championship this January.