Joshua Dobbs' Notable Improvement a Bright Spot in Cardinals' Collapse

Despite the Arizona Cardinals' defense falling apart in the second half, Joshua Dobbs played a vastly improved game from last week's offensive dud.

Last week, the Arizona Cardinals' defense played an airtight game, holding Washington to very little. The offense failed to generate any power.

Week 2 was a different story.

The Cardinals' offense exploded in the first half, going up 20-0 on the New York Giants heading into the break. Although the defense ultimately allowed the Giants to come roaring back to score 31 points in the second half, Arizona's woes didn't come from poor QB play this week. 

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs noted in an interview postgame last week that it "starts with me," when it came to executing and finishing drives on offense, after a poor and inefficient performance. 

This week, despite the offense sputtering in the fourth quarter, the journeyman QB looked much more comfortable in Drew Petzing's offense.

Dobbs missed an open Zach Ertz on the first drive, but shook it off and completed 21 of his 31 passes, for 228 yards and a touchdown. Dobbs nearly doubled his YPA, taking it from last week's 4.4 to 7.4. He looked comfortable behind solid pass protection, making accurate throws into tight windows downfield.

Dobbs dime 🎯

📺: #NYGvsAZ on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/FhXtx7w3wW pic.twitter.com/HwBSMrGvVs

— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2023

The confidence was there. Dobbs looked fearless in the pocket and even rushed for a tough additional 41 yards, bulldozing his way for a hard-nosed 23 yard score in the second quarter. 

josh dobbs deserves the angry run sceptre...@josh_dobbs1 x @KyleBrandt pic.twitter.com/E3KamFyDCa

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 17, 2023

For everything that ultimately went wrong for this team in the second half, Dobbs did what he could to give the team a chance to win. While he couldn't ultimately orchestrate a game-winning drive, Dobbs made no critical mistakes, being turnover free and responsible for almost 270 yards of offense and two scores. 

Petzing called an excellent first half behind a stellar 106 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown from James Conner, allowing Dobbs to utilize play-action and make accurate throws downfield. 

Dobbs didn't squander the opportunities he was given, completing close to 70% of his passes and delivering several chunk plays. For about two and a half quarters, the Cardinals' offense was playing with confidence behind a newly-invigorated QB1.

The ultimate defensive collapse - paired with some costly pre-snap penalties and overly conservative play-calling from Petzing in the fourth - came as no result of poor quarterback play, contrary to last week's defensive dominance and turnover ridden performance from Dobbs.

The journeyman QB took responsibility for drive-stalling pre-snap penalties late in the game in an interview postgame. "That starts with me," said Dobbs to the media for the second straight week. But Dobbs also expressed confidence in Arizona's ability to play well offensively. “If we go out, we execute, we do what we say we’re going to do… we’re a difficult offense to stop,” Dobbs said.

🎥 Hear from QB Josh Dobbs following today’s 31-28 loss against the Giants. pic.twitter.com/EdU2sJO07a

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 18, 2023

Coming off a multi-turnover performance, Josh Dobbs came out looking like a different QB. With many calling for Clayton Tune to take over until Kyler Murray's return, Dobbs was able to make a case for himself this week, showing vast improvement and ultimately giving the Cardinals a much greater chance to win than the previous week.

The rough season continues for Arizona, but the offense showed up early and proved that they can perform well behind Dobbs, and that, at least for now, Dobbs has the ability to give them an opportunity to win and stay competitive in games.