Arizona Cardinals: 5 Ugliest Stats From Their Week 2 Loss

9 Penalties Overall

On their first offensive possession, the Arizona Cardinals actually had a nice drive going. They got a 10-yard completion to Christian Kirk on a 3rd-and-2 and were moving along nicely. Hopes, believe it or not, were high at the moment. Unfortunately, there was a false start penalty immediately after that put them into a 1st-and-15 situation. Momentum killed. Arizona punted four plays later.

Fast forward to their fourth possession: Arizona was only down 11-0 and had just picked up a first down on a third-and-long (15-yard completion to Larry Fitzgerald). Just like before, the EXACT next play resulted in a penalty against Arizona, putting them in a 1st-and-20 situation. Again, momentum killed. Again, the Cardinals punted four plays later.

These two plays were their only first-down conversions up to that point, and penalties killed all the momentum they had built. By the game’s end, they had racked up several more penalties, finishing with nine. Last week? Nine penalties as well.

By comparison, the Browns, a team that isn’t known for their discipline, and the Saints combined for eight penalties in Week 2.

Like I mentioned before, head coach Steve Wilks is going to evaluate everything before announcing his plans for Week 3. With that said, this season has been a problem from top to bottom, Wilks included.