Arizona Cardinals: Is it time to fire Mike McCoy?

After a 45-10 loss to the Denver Broncos, should the Arizona Cardinals introduce a new play-caller to quarterback Josh Rosen?

Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s coaching career could come full circle—not in a good way.

In 2017, McCoy served as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos through 11 weeks. Vance Joseph relieved him of his duties after failing to reach 20 points in the seventh of 10 games. A 20-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals sealed his fate.

Ironically, McCoy sat on the hot seat leading into Thursday’s game against the Broncos, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport:

The Cardinals scored 10 points. More importantly, quarterback Josh Rosen took a beating under center. The Broncos sacked him six times and also picked off three passes. The rookie signal-caller limped off the field with a foot injury, specifically his toe. He made light of the situation to open the postgame press conference:

"“I’m fine. I was just being soft.”"

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

Running back David Johnson continued to no-show. He tallied 70 yards from scrimmage—39 on the ground and 31 as a receiver. As Rapoport noted, the Cardinals expect to see more from a player with new money on a three-year, $39 million extension.

We can already check the boxes on McCoy’s firing. Rosen put together an awful performance with Broncos defenders draped all over him, Johnson remained limited and the Cardinals offense as a whole looked inept through four quarters.

Head coach Steve Wilks will likely take time to watch the tape before making a decision to cut ties or move forward with McCoy as the play-caller. In the meantime, he may have to listen to the centerpiece of the offense. Rosen seemed to lobby for a simplified playbook, per Scott Bordow of The Athletic:

"“When you are not playing efficiently it has to be more simple for everyone involved so we can be on the same page. Sometimes you have to master a small portion to be decent at something. Right now, I feel that we have a lot of good offense, but we haven’t mastered anything that we’re really good at.”"

Whispers about the complexity of McCoy’s schemes preceded his firing in Denver, per Rapoport:

“Elway has always believed in execution over everything — simple and fast — rather than focusing on trying to out-scheme the opponent. The belief is the offense has contained too much this year.”

Does McCoy have an issue adjusting his playbook to younger quarterbacks? If that’s the case, the Cardinals have to let him go in favor of someone who suits Rosen as a fresh talent straight out of college.

Despite their 1-6 record, the Cardinals have pieces around Rosen to average more than 13.1 points per contest. Rookie second-rounder Christian Kirk leads the team in receptions (28) and receiving yards (368). Larry Fitzgerald hauled in four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown Thursday. The rookie passer can also lean on Johnson as a volume ball-carrier.

Since quarterback Sam Bradford faltered at the helm, the Cardinals can’t waste any time with Rosen’s development. If Wilks feels the slightest need to make a switch at offensive coordinator, it’s best to do it now.