What We Learned From Cardinals Week 16 Loss

The Arizona Cardinals couldn't put the pieces together after spotting Chicago a 21-0 lead.

The Arizona Cardinals fell to the Chicago Bears 27-16 in the Windy City. 

Here are the biggest takeaways from another disappointing performance on both sides of the ball:

This offense's identity is in the run game

James Conner was the X-factor of this lackluster offense once again. While his rushing numbers might not have looked as impressive as they have in recent weeks, Conner was the weapon he always tends to be. 

Conner immediately began ripping off chunk runs in the first half, barreling through defenders and picking up crucial yards. When the Bears began to bottle up James Conner on the ground, he became Arizona's leading receiver, hauling in 5 passes for 67 yards and a touchdown.

James Conner with the touchdown CATCH from Kyler Murray! pic.twitter.com/RKifSWVbtj

— PHNX Cardinals (@PHNX_Cardinals) December 24, 2023

The issue came when offensive coordinator Drew Petzing began to pivot away from Conner on the ground. Midway through the first half, Conner had 43 yards on just six carries. 

But on a 3rd-and-4 on Arizona's second drive, Petzing drew up a deep shot to WR Rondale Moore, which fell incomplete.

Much of the Cardinals' offensive struggles came from the passing game, to little surprise. Petzing's proclivity to turning away from the run and drawing up inefficient pass plays to a less-than-impressive WR corps. 

Relying on the run game on first down will reduce the chances for drive-halting sacks, and turning to their bulldozer back in any medium-to-short yardage situations is the only recipe for success in an offense that has failed to produce through the air all season. 

When teams--like the Bears did this week--find a way to lock down TE Trey McBride for the majority of the contest, the Cardinals need to turn to the one player on this team that is not only a playmaker, but a consistent, reliable one more often than not. There is nothing to lose by running the ball on a 1st-and-10 or a 3rd-and-short. Don't rely on the players who haven't been reliable.

D-Line is AZ's biggest defensive need

We've said it over and over. The Cardinals need everything. Yes, that's true. We've witnessed defensive backs getting torched by receivers and tight ends alike, we've seen linebackers struggle to make tackles in open space.

But the truth is that this defensive line's performance was among some of the most poor performances by any unit in the NFL this season. 

Arizona had not recorded a sack in nearly a month. Although the streak was technically broken against Chicago, it came in the form of LB Dennis Gardeck forcing Bears QB Justin Fields to run out of bounds for no gain. 

It was recorded as a sack, and credited to Gardeck, but the fact remains that this unit cannot generate pressure on the quarterback.

Sure, Fields is a slippery customer. Bringing him down is no easy task. But the Cardinals recorded just one quarterback hit on the day. Fields was able to sit in the pocket for what felt like hours, and when nothing was there, he was able to tuck it and run wild with little pursuit. 

There was barely any contain for Fields to break--he ran for 97 yards and a touchdown with relative ease, and had a 30+ yard gain negated by a questionable offensive holding call.

But it wasn't just Fields running wild on the Cardinals. RB Khalil Herbert rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown, including multiple chunk plays. The Bears rushed for a season-high 250 yards and 2 touchdowns, and averaged 6.4 yards per carry as a team.

Pass coverage is absolutely a need that the Cardinals have to address seriously. But Arizona's complete inability to stop the run, contain mobile quarterbacks and even manage to put an ounce of pressure on the passer will be a much more destructive flaw than a below-average secondary. 

Jonathan Gannon is having some growing pains

I am a firm believer in what Jonathan Gannon will do for this team's culture, and--with an infusion of talent--this team's defense. That being said, his aggressiveness this week came off more irresponsible than gutsy.

This has been a story for weeks now. Gannon has often opted to go for it on fourth down, or attempt 2-point conversions when a simple field goal or PAT would have ultimately been a better play. This matchup was a glaring example.

With 6:37 to go in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals lessened the gap to just a touchdown with a beautiful 38-yard score from WR Greg Dortch. The point after would have made it a seven-point game, but Gannon, perplexingly, ran an instantly doomed two-point attempt. The gap was eight, with no reason for it to be so. 

On the following drive, Arizona faced a 4th-and-6 from their own 27-yard line. With three timeouts remaining, and despite not allowing a Bears touchdown since the beginning of the second quarter, Gannon left his offense on the field. The play failed, and Chicago was able to ice the game with a short field goal.

Gannon's aggressiveness is a trait that is valued in many respected head coaches, but he needs to learn when to eat his vegetables. Sometimes, you have to kick it. 

Granted, it's not like the Cardinals are in contention for anything this season. But decisions like these are reckless to a fault. Unless Gannon made them with intent to find a way to lose this game and retain their draft position--which is very unlikely--it just created a terrible look.

Gannon has plenty of learning to do. It likely won't be his last game where a decision doesn't pay off, but they need to be tempered just a little. There's nothing wrong with smart aggression, but you have to kick the ball sometimes to win games.

Kyler Murray looked a little more comfortable

To end this pessimistic review on a bit of a higher note, Kyler Murray played his cleanest game in Chicago this week.

It's no secret that Murray has not been playing at an elite level since returning. Although his heroics led Arizona to a win against Atlanta at home, Murray has put up minimal numbers, and has thrown some questionable interceptions.

Murray was 24-for-38, with 262 total yards and two passing touchdowns and zero turnovers. It was the first game for Murray with multiple passing touchdowns and no interceptions since early in the 2022 season. 

With very few weapons, and an undersized and unproductive WR group, seeing Murray able to put together a solid--albeit not mind-blowing game was encouraging. 

Several well-thrown passes were either dropped, or defended exceptionally well by Chicago. It might not be as much as you'd want to see out of the $230.5 million QB, but his accuracy was better than previous weeks and he looked somewhat more comfortable.

His one glaring issue was the fact that he tended to hang on to the ball just a bit too long, but he ultimately performed well against the Bears' solid defense.

The Arizona Cardinals are past the point of being competitive. In all likelihood, this game signifies the end of the "winnable" games in 2023. Sitting at the #2 overall spot in the draft following this loss and a Patriots win in Denver, all eyes are on the future.