It's Now or Never for Kliff Kingsbury

Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been heralded as an offensive genius. Today provides an opportunity to prove just that.

Donnie Druin | Nov 13, 2022

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Arizona Cardinals

INGLEWOOD -- We're about an hour from game time, so we'll keep this short and sweet.

The Arizona Cardinals have just released their inactives list for Week 10's meeting with the Los Angeles Rams, and the team will be without franchise quarterback Kyler Murray for today's contest.

Sound the Colt McCoy music.

This has been a theme of Arizona's season, as the Cardinals have constantly battled through the likes of DeAndre Hopkins' suspension and a plethora of injuries through the first stage of the season.

Those, along with a tough slate of games to open the year, have played a role in Arizona's sluggish 3-6 start to the season. This is the hole that was created by Kingsbury and his team: now it's time to grab the shovel and start digging.

A loss against the Rams might be the final nail in the coffin for a Cardinals team that expected nothing short of a postseason appearance.

Los Angeles isn't exactly balling out, either. The Rams are 3-5 and will be starting their own backup quarterback (John Wolford) in this matchup behind a shaky/injured offensive line, a familiar tune for Arizona fans.

We've heard so many times the appeal of Kingsbury and his abilities as an offensive mastermind. Now, we're really about to find out how well Kingsbury can orchestrate an offense without the luxury of Murray.

Will he lean on a rushing attack that is set to compete against one of four NFL teams allowing less than 100 rushing yards per game? Is Kingsbury going to let McCoy sling it to DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore?

An emphasis on his play selection and decisions under the headset will be magnified. Surely an offensive guru finds a way to will his team to victory, no?

More than anything, Kingsbury's abilities to coach his guys up will be tested. Should Arizona have ran into a healthy steamroller like they did vs. Kansas City, things may be a bit different.

Yet the Rams are suffering just as much, as today perhaps more than others will come down to making the right calls and limiting mistakes.

Coaching. It's what Kingsbury is paid heavily to do. Call the right offensive plays and get the absolute best out of his guys. We've officially approached do-or-die territory for the Cardinals thanks to their loss against Seattle last week.

Yet with so much pressure mounting around Kingsbury, today provides an opportunity to prove himself in multiple facets.

It's now or never for this team, Kliff.

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