Which Cardinals Improved, Worsened Stock After Week 1?

The Arizona Cardinals fell short to the Buffalo Bills in Week 1, and we saw some players rise and fall as a result.

Sep 8, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) avoids Buffalo Bills cornerback Cam Lewis (39) to get a first down in the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals made it a tight game with the Buffalo Bills to kick off their season, but ultimately lost the game after stalling out on the final drive of the game.

It was a frustrating loss considering the Cardinals had it within their grasp.

Even in a loss, however, there are still some positives to take away.

Of course, there are negatives, too.

Here, we go through players/units whose stock improved or decreased after Week 1:

Stock Up

DeeJay Dallas

There were questions about whether Dallas should’ve made the 53-man roster over some of the team’s other options. Fortunately, we got to see why the team decided to hold on to the fifth-year pro.

Dallas returned a kickoff 96-yards for a touchdown halfway through the fourth quarter. The return marked the first ever touchdown return under the NFL’s new kickoff format.

Hopefully, Dallas can continue to be a playmaker on special teams. Today was a great advertisement.

Kyzir White

The veteran linebacker was balling out last season before he suffered a season-ending bicep injury. Now he’s back and it looks like he never left.

White paced the Cardinals in tackles with 11 (five solo) and managed to record a tackle for loss plus a pass deflection. White was a blur all over the field and was one of the most impactful defenders of the game.

A healthy White will be a baller for this defense.

Stock Down

The offensive line

The O-line took a major blow when Jonah Williams went down and Kelvin Beachum was asked to replace him at right tackle. It went horribly wrong.

The Cardinals would go on to allow four sacks for a loss of 16 yards. The running game also managed just 3.4 YPC from the running backs plus a four-yard run from Greg Dortch. Without including Kyler Murray’s five scrambles for 57 yards, the run game was snuffed out and the offense sputtered.

Depending on how long Williams is out, we could be in for a tough year (again) up front.

The defensive line

The D-line didn’t fair any better against the Bills, who did almost anything they wanted to do. Buffalo ran for 130 yards and two scores.

Although the pass rush was able to make Josh Allen a little bit uncomfortable and recorded two sacks (Kei’Trel Clark and Roy Lopez), the Pro Bowl quarterback created his own running lanes and broke off several chunk yards. Allen finished the game with nine carries for 39 yards and four touchdowns.

It’s never easy to battle the Bills, but it wasn’t an inspiring effort from a defense that we already have low expectations for.

Cardinals Team Stock: Slightly down

The bottom line is the Cardinals lost this game, but if you like moral victories then you can find stuff to be happy about from this performance.

James Conner still looks like a stud after recording 83 scrimmage yards and a score and Kyler Murray had a rock-solid day with 162 passing yards, 57 rushing yards, and a touchdown pass to Michael Wilson to open the game.

As we said before, however, this defense is not good, and they looked as advertised in this game. The Cardinals will have to severely out-score their opponents if they plan to win games this year.

Overall, the Cardinals were competitive but weren’t good enough. The stock doesn’t plummet after this game, but they are trending down.

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