Inside The Numbers: Why Cardinals Lost

The Arizona Cardinals lost their second straight game, and these numbers tell the story.

Dec 1, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes against the Minnesota Vikings in the second quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images / Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals are back to .500 after falling to the Minnesota Vikings on the road in a one-point game. Tight losses are always upsetting, but Cardinals fans have a lot of frustration to vent after this loss.

If you were to look specifically at the box score, you may walk away unsure how the Cardinals lost. After all, Arizona outgained Minnesota by 133 yards, nabbed six more first downs (25 against 19), and dominated time of possession by nearly ten minutes (more on that later).

And yet, the Cards still head home with the L.

Evaluating the numbers, you can come away with some key figures that stick out the most and understand where something went wrong.

The following four stats tell the story of this game with minimal context but an entire explanation with it:

5.5 Yards Per Attempt

The “Kyler Murray is too conservative” crowd is extra loud today and they have a lot of ammo to use after today’s outing. Murray tossed 260 yards in the loss to the Vikings, which was significantly more than the 213 passing yards per game he averaged entering the contest. The caveat, however, is he was a whopping two yards under his 7.5 yards per attempt average in the loss.

In a game where the Cardinals’ offense seemingly lacked a killer instinct, Murray’s performance exemplified that notion. With Murray also completing nearly 70% of his passes and being sacked just once it becomes more frustrating that the numbers were so miniscule. 

Six Field Goal Attempts

In the defense of Murray being conservative, the decisions on scoring points were also questionable. Chad Ryland may be one of the better kickers in the league, but that doesn’t mean that the Cardinals should be placing the entirety of their offense’s scoring production into his hands.

Four of Ryland’s five field goals came from 32-yards or closer. Each of those instances gave the Cards a chance to try and convert a fourth down and short and they opted for the points. This isn’t always the right or wrong thing to do, but the Cardinals committed to this identity on the first drive of the game where they kicked a field goal on the Minnesota 13 on fourth and two to end an 11-play drive.

It wasn’t the winning strategy, and it cost the team down the stretch.

35:49 Time of Possession

Sometimes you will hear people say that time of possession is the most overrated stat in football and this game is the epitome of why that thought process is there.

When winning the TOP battle, the hope is you are scoring often and keeping the opposing offense off the field. Winning the battle leads to wins more often than not, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, teams win TOP because of long drives that stall out and result in turnovers or settling for points instead of capitalizing for touchdowns. Sound familiar?

This was the undoing of the Cardinals in the end. The hope of keeping the Vikings off the field wasn’t enough as Minnesota made plays when they needed to and scored touchdowns.

10 penalties for 96 yards

The team who commits the most penalties often loses the football game – case in point the Cardinals. However, it’s the team that consistently shoots themselves in the foot that really kills themselves.

There were some ticky tacky penalties throughout the day that had fans pulling their hair out, but there were some calls that really deflated the birds at times, and it turned into the product we received. Meanwhile, the Vikings were flagged just three times for 40-less yards.

When you round up the pedestrian offense along with penalties that slowed everything down, you see how everything came together to ruin this game for the Cardinals, delivering Arizona their second-straight loss.