The Arizona Cardinals lost their first game of the season, a 34-28 loss to the Buffalo Bills. They started hot, fell behind and had a chance to win at the end of the game.
They had 270 total yards of offense and rushed for 124 but it the offense was both good and bad Sunday afternoon.
Let’s have a look at what we could take away from the game on offense for the Cardinals.
A tale of two halves
The Cardinals were great in the first half on offense. They did more or less anything they wanted to do, gaining 190 total yards, possessing the ball over 20 minutes and having three scoring drives of at least 10 plays and five minutes. They were 5-for-7 on third down.
In the second half, it was not the same.
They gained only another 80 yards for the rest of the game. They went 2-for-6 on third down in the second half. They had a turnover and two three-and-outs.
They possessed the ball for only 10:24 of the second half. After doubling up time of possession in the first half, they lost time of possession for the game.
Not much running room for James Conner
The Cardinals had 124 rushing yards but Murray was the leading rusher with 57 yards.
Conner was held in check. He finished the game with 16 carries for 50 yards. Twenty of those yards came on one play, which means he had 30 yards on the other 15 carries. Buffalo did a great job at limiting his impact.
Marvin Harrison’s debut was a dud
Harrison finished the game with only one catch for four yards. He had a drop but was targeted only three times. Buffalo bracketed him but he was not a focus in the game plan.
— ⑤ 🖤 🤍 💔 (@Bobables) September 8, 2024
Fans will remember this play when Harrison was wide open and would have scored an easy touchdown, but pressure forced Murray to not be able to make that throw.
Questionable calls late in game
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was a genius in the first half. In the second, he was questioned. He called consecutive run plays on second and third downs with James Conner in the red zone. He called a run to Conner in the final drive on third-and-10 before the final throw that fell incomplete to Greg Dortch.
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