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Kliff Kingsbury's open to giving up play-calling after 2-4 Cardinals start

jason owens
Staff writer
·3 min read
90

Four seasons in, Kliff Kingsbury's NFL tenure is not exactly going to plan.

The Arizona Cardinals are off to a 2-4 start that's good for last place in the NFC West. They rank 16th in the NFL in total offense and 22nd in scoring with 19 points per game. Quarterback Kyler Murray is having his worst season as a pro while sporting a career-low 5.6 yards per passing attempt and 6-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio through six games.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Kingsbury's open to ideas with his head coaching job on the line. This includes giving up play-calling duties, an idea he confirmed on Monday that he's willing to consider.

"I am open to anything that helps us score more points and helps us win," Kingsbury said when asked if he'd give up play-calling at his Monday news conference. "We will see where it all goes, but yeah, whatever it takes to win, I'm all for it."

Asked again on a radio appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7, Kingsbury said this:

"Whatever it takes to win, whatever it takes to score points," Kingsbury said. "Anything goes in this league. We will examine all avenues."

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 16: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Arizona Cardinals leaves the field after a loss against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on October 16, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)
Kliff Kingsbury's Cardinals failed to score an offensive touchdown against a poor Seahawks defense on Sunday. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images)

This is according to the Cardinals' official team website, which compiled Kingsbury's quotes and made a headline out of his willingness to consider delegating play-calling. The official team stance likewise appears open to Kingsbury allowing somebody else to run Arizona's offense on game day.

Seahawks dominate Cardinals, troll Kingsbury

This stance arrives a day after Arizona's offense failed to find the end zone in a 19-9 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Arizona's lone touchdown on Sunday arrived courtesy of a fumble by Seahawks punter Michael Dickson in the end zone.

The Seahawks defense is not good. Even when factoring in their relative dominance of the Cardinals on Sunday (315 yards and 9 points allowed), the Seahawks rank 30th in total defense and 29th in points allowed per game (27.2). Seattle's showing prompted head coach Pete Carroll to troll his Cardinals coaching counterpart in a tweet the Seahawks were more than happy to share.

In case you missed it, here's the reference point on the above.

Can Cardinals offensive issues be fixed?

Arizona's woes are cause for panic in the desert. Kingsbury was hired out of the Big 12 in 2019 as an alleged offensive guru with no NFL coaching experience — a fact that continues to show. Meanwhile, the Cardinals just signed Murray to a five-year extension with the second-highest annual salary in football.

The Cardinals will get a boost in Week 7 when DeAndre Hopkins returns from a PED suspension. They added receiver Robbie Anderson on Monday, completing his exile from Carolina. Neither seems enough to fix what's ailing Arizona.

Whatever fix Kingsbury comes up with, the time to implement it is now. Delegating play-calling sounds like a good place to start.