The Cardinals offense followed – what has become – a typical pattern this season on Sunday in a 27-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Get a couple of scores in the first half and then remain mum for much of the second half.
The team hasn't scored in the third quarter this year.
It's what happened against the Chicago Bears in week three, when the Cardinals got out to a 14-0 lead in the first half before losing 16-14. It happened in week four when the team led the Seahawks 10-7 going into halftime and didn't score again until late in the fourth quarter before falling 20-17.
Even against the 49ers in week five, the Cardinals' lone win this season, the team led 14-6 going into halftime, failed to score in the third quarter and obtained a couple touchdowns in the fourth thanks predominantly to the defense and its five takeaways.
Well, it's no longer "too early" to carp about the offense. We're more than a third of the way through the season.
The Cardinals rank dead last in total offense. Dead last in rushing yards. Dead last on third down conversions (14-for-64). Second to last in passing, second to last in points.
While the Cardinals receiving corps is certainly not one of the NFL's best, you could argue the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins and a handful of other teams have worse pass-catching personnel, but they're all executing at a much higher rate than Arizona.
Sure, there's a rookie quarterback at the helm, but Josh Rosen isn't playing poorly. Moreover, there are rookie QB's currently directing the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, all performing better offensively than the Cardinals.
The Cardinals offensive line ranks 10th in sacks allowed with just nine through six games, so that's not an over-arching excuse. Although, three linemen went down in Sunday's loss, so come back to me on that.
In the backfield, the Cardinals have David Johnson, who played in just one game in 2017 before suffering a season-ending wrist injury.
In 2016, Johnson's second year in the league, he was an All-Pro. He finished the year with more than 1,200 yards on the ground and 16 touchdowns. On top of that, he had 80 receptions for 879 yards and four touchdowns.
Just before the season opener, the Cardinals extended Johnson's contract three years for nearly $40 million. But, the Cardinals haven't used Johnson like they did in 2016. Granted, it's a new coaching staff, but 2016 was kind of a blue print on how to use the 6-foot-1, 225-pound workhorse back.
Never mind the clearly problematic, dull pound it up the gut and only up the middle strategy that it seems the Cardinals have employed this year with Johnson, in which he's averaging over a yard per carry less than he did in 2016, let's look at his receiving numbers.
Johnson was so lethal in 2016 because of his ability to run routes and offensive plays that gave him the ball on dump down passes and screens to get him in space.
MATH TIME!
Johnson has 17 receptions through six games this season. He's on pace for 45 receptions for the entire year. He's been targeted 27 times, on pace for 72 targets this year.
In 2016, Johnson was targeted 120 times through the air and had 80 receptions, averaging 11 yards per catch.
This year he's averaging 8 yards per catch, but he's not getting the ball. One would think with a below average receiving corps, there would be more plays to put Johnson in position to catch and run.
Larry Fitzgerald, the best receiver on the team, has been targeted 35 times so far this season and has 22 catches.
In 2017, when Fitzgerald was second in the NFL in receptions with 109 and 8th in yards with over 1,100, he was targeted 161 times.
Fitzgerald is on pace to be targeted just 93 times and have under 60 catches this season.
The team's two best offensive weapons aren't getting their quotas.
You could try to blame it on the new quarterback situation, but don't forget that last year, when Fitzgerald caught 109 balls, Blaine Gabbert and Drew Stanton had 9 (NINE) starts between them for the banged-up Carson Palmer.
The Cardinals hired a defensive-minded head coach this season in Steve Wilks, so the blame is falling on first-year offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, a 20-year NFL coaching veteran. Most recently, McCoy was fired by the Denver Broncos following a dismal 2017 season offensively.
Really since week two, relentless fans have been clamoring for McCoy's job on various social media channels. Now, after week six, is it time to start listening?
Even Larry Fitzgerald's father called out McCoy on Twitter during Sunday's loss to the Vikings:
The McCoy criticism is just about everywhere:
Ouch...this is from the Cardinals win against San Francisco last week:
I could go on for days.
There's even a literal petition going around to get him fired.
Yes, fans, you do overreact and this is a perfect example.
However, in addition to his inability to get Johnson and Fitzgerald open, there have been a couple of notable questionable calls by McCoy in crucial moments this season.
One came in week three against Chicago when on a 3rd down and 2, down two points with less than three minutes left in the game, the Cardinals ran the ball up the middle with, not David Johnson, but Chase Edmunds. Edmunds was stuffed. Rosen would throw an interception on the following fourth down.
Another came against the Seahawks when the teams were tied 17-17 with two minutes to go. On 3rd down and 6 in Seattle territory, the Cardinals opted to run it up the middle rather than play for the first down. Phil Dawson would miss go-ahead field goal and Seattle had enough time to get down the field and score to win.
That's not to say these two specific play calls were all Mike McCoy, but it calls decision making on offense into question.
McCoy should not be fired and he won't be. Not yet, at least. Let's remember that most of the pieces on this offense and on this coaching staff are new. BUT, the things that are not new (Johnson, Fitzgerald) shouldn't be so hard to figure out.
Some things need to change and fast or else this fan base might explode.
Not that anyone asked for my recommendation, but I'd say it'd be smart for McCoy go to the film room, open the archives and watch through 2016 and 2017 tape to figure out how to get the ball in the hands of Johnson and Fitzgerald through the air.