Sep 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Arizona Cardinals guard Hjalte Froholdt (72) hikes the ball to quarterback Kyler Murray (1) against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Arizona Cardinals' Biggest Problem is Easily Fixable

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Sep 12, 2025 2:31 PM ET

The Arizona Cardinals hope to improve to 2-0 after Sunday when the Carolina Panthers come to town.

Arizona - who went to New Orleans in Week 1 and emerged with a gritty victory - have plenty of room for improvement entering the second week of the season.

After the Cardinals' defense held the Saints to just 13 points, Arizona's offense has been under the microscope.

That's exactly what Bleacher Report pinned as their biggest problem entering Week 2:

Cardinals' Biggest Problem Revealed

Hit or miss was the term used by Brad Gagnon.

"A win's a win, especially on the road considering Arizona's struggles outside of Glendale. But after scoring on four consecutive drives spanning from the end of the first quarter to the start of the third quarter in a Week 1 victory over the Saints, the Cards failed to register points on each of their final four offensive possessions," he wrote.

"Penalties and broken plays were a factor as the offense failed to sustain a promising start (beyond a first-drive punt), and they allowed the Saints to hang around as a result. Outlook: They might be able to get away with something similar this weekend against the Panthers, but that'll have to change when the schedule toughens up later on."

Gagnon is right - the offense (though they were happy with a victory) outright wanted to play better, and that's something they openly talked about this week.

Cardinals Offense Knows They Can Be Better

“I think we just talked about finishing. When we had an opportunity to put the game away, go and do it. It's the first game. Obviously, we want to be hitting on all cylinders and then go out there and light it up. There are a lot of weeks in this thing, so we have to continue to get better each and every week and I think guys understand that," said Kyler Murray earlier this week.

The good news for the Cardinals? It's easily fixable.

Arizona has a fairly simple recipe when it comes to their succes: 1. Establish the run and 2. let everything else fall into place.

The Cardinals didn't quite do that in New Orleans, which forced Arizona into obvious passing downs on second/third and medium/long, which isn't exactly something the Cardinals are built for in a run-heavy scheme that utilizes multiple tight end sets more than most in the league.

To no surprise, it all boils down to Murray. If Arizona's franchise quarterback is able to perfect his role as a game manager and run the offense on schedule, the Cardinals should have no problems this week.

This article first appeared on Arizona Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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