Grades: Coaching Costs Cardinals

We have submitted weekly grades for the players of the Arizona Cardinals, but the coaching also has to be in place for a team to find sustained success.

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon reacts during the second quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals marched into US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis with a chance to retake first place in the division with a victory and a Seahawks loss. Sadly, neither of those things happened.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon spent three seasons as an assistant defensive backs coach in Minnesota during his climbing of the coaching ranks and returned to his old home just to be out-coached by Kevin O'Connell and Company.

Part of the blame for the loss clearly falls on the lack of execution from the Cardinals offense including quarterback Kyler Murray, but the majority of the reason for this heartbreaking one point loss lies on the coaching staff (minus one).

It is easy to retrospectively second guess coaching decisions the day after a loss, but several of them were questionable at best in the moment and there were several late-game decisions that could have easily altered the outcome of the game.

Let's start with the best of the coaches from Sunday:

DC Nick Rallis - A

Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis watches his team against the Chicago Bears during the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium on Nov 3, 2024, in Glendale. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There is not much more that Nick Rallis could have done on Sunday.

For three quarters he took a defense lacking high-level talent and contained one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL with arguably the best wide receiver in the game.

With the offense not pulling its weight, the defense held on admirably for the majority of the game and it should not come as a surprise that a well-coached team like the Vikings eventually broke containment and found their footing on offense.

Rallis has been the most malleable of the coaching staff and his evolution this season has seen him include more blitz-heavy packages which were very successful in the early game. The defense managed five sacks on Sam Darnold which went a long way to keeping the Vikings offense to only field goals in the first half.

Rallis is a talented, young play-caller who might be flying under the radar for the moment, but will garner much more national and head coaching attention if he continues to sustain relative success for an undermanned defense.

OC Drew Petzing - C-

Sep 10, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing walks on the sideline before the game against the Washington Commanders at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-Imagn Images / Brent Skeen-Imagn Images

It was tempting to give Petzing a much lower grade, but the fact is that the Cardinals offense did move the ball to the tune of more than 400 yards of offense but consistently failed in the red zone.

Part of that blame certainly falls on the players on the field for not executing the called plays in the red zone, but the lion's share falls on the offensive coordinator who was simply making confused, low-success rate calls.

The prime example of this was a halfback draw called on 3rd and 6 in the red zone in the first half. Not only is a low success call in this part of the field, the play was not even called for the running back on your roster that just signed a 2-year, $19 million deal. The ball went to third string running back Emari Demercado.

This is ridiculous. What is Petzing thinking on these Demercado plays on 3rd down??

Just because he broke off a surprise touchdown against the Bears does not mean he is your third down back.

Offensive play calling is absolutely atrocious today.

— Kyler Burd (@AZCard_BurdsEye) December 1, 2024

As a pattern, Petzing rarely calls for any downfield plays and Murray was ultimately limited to doing his best with the calls he was given. In that, he did an average job and tight end Trey McBride excelled at bringing in short-medium throws for 12 receptions and 96 yards, once again the Cardinals' leading receiver.

There still appears to be a disconnect between Murray and rookie Marvin Harrison, Jr. and how much of that is two players still getting to know one another and how much is an offensive scheme that doesn't know how to use an elite receiver is still a bit of an unknown.

What does seem clear is that Petzing's run heavy scheme works well against teams with struggling defenses, as evidenced by the the four game winning streak that included the Chargers, Dolphins, Bears, and Jets. The Vikings have one of the best red zone defenses in the NFL and they showed up in a big way on Sunday.

The major problem with Petzing is that, unlike Rallis, he does not adapt to game specific situations well and wants to continue running his scheme even in the face of evidence that against some teams it will not work.

HC Jonathan Gannon - C-

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon reacts during the second quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images / Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Ultimately, blame for this one point loss has to fall on the shoulders of the head coach Jonathan Gannon.

The gameplan from start to finish was too conservative, especially for a team like the Vikings who can only be held back for so long before the offensive talent on that roster wakes up and forces another tight win.

The Cardinals received a blessing late in the first quarter when running back Aaron Jones fumbled the ball at the Minnesota 19-yard line. It is reasonable to expect points out of that scenario but a series of penalties put the Cardinals behind and rather than going for a touchdown early to demoralize the Vikings, Gannon opted for a Chad Ryland kick that went wide right. No points.

The defense contained the Vikings to the best of their abilities for the majority of the game but conservative play calling from Petzing and game management from Gannon contributed to four Ryland field goals and only one touchdown.

The gameplan felt like it was designed to not lose the game rather than go on the road and seize a victory. The Vikings had enough time to figure out the defense and the offense and get things clicking at the right time while the Cardinals plodded along, seemingly aimlessly.

On a day full of horrific in-game management, this took the cake for me.

Mr. Conservative let the clock wind down from 1:52 to 1:12 in 2Q without using a timeout.

AZ ended up w/ first-and-goal at the Minnesota 6 on its ensuing drive but ran out of time and had to kick the FG. pic.twitter.com/vh5BfTmRSn

— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) December 2, 2024

The true dagger came when with less than four minutes left and on the 4-yard line, Gannon decided to kick yet another field goal to give his team a 6 point lead rather than leave the ball in his quarterback's hands and go for a touchdown that would have put the game away.

Surely, Gannon was hesitant because of the lack of red zone success for the entire afternoon but with the game on the line he made a cowardly decision based in fear not in trust.

The Vikings proceeded to march down the field, score their touchdown and extra point and after a confused last chance drive from Murray and the offense, escaped with another signature one-point Vikings victory.

Gannon has a tendency to play super aggressive against inferior teams and super conservative against good teams. His next step is finding a consistency that can lead to sustained success for the Cardinals regardless of location or opponent.