Arizona Cardinals: Roasted by Denver, Redbirds search for answers

The Arizona Cardinals were hoping to get their first home victory against the Denver Broncos. Instead, Denver roasted the Cardinals, 45-10.

The Arizona Cardinals came off a short week in Week 7 in hopes to earn their first victory on their home field of the 2018 season. You do not always get what you want. Arizona was roasted thoroughly by the Denver Broncos, losing 45-10 on Thursday Night Football.

How bad the loss? Mike McCoy was relieved of his duties as the Cardinals offensive coordinator. Byron Leftwich takes over the task of resurrecting the charred remains of the Redbirds offense.

Arizona was never really in the game from the beginning. In their first series after the opening kickoff, the Cardinals already seemed out of sorts. Just 50 seconds into the game, they call a timeout.

Disaster was lurking around during the timeout. On second down, disaster struck and made his presence known. Josh Rosen threw a pick-six and Denver jumped out to a 7-0 lead. On the next Redbirds possession, they ran three plays. Two pass plays and a David Johnson run up the middle for a one-yard gain. Arizona gained seven yards in two possessions.

Denver buckled in for their first drive of the night. Six plays and 77 yards later, the Broncos were up 14-0. Arizona was able to get a field goal before Rosen threw another pick-six. Denver led 21-3 after the first quarter.

Denver scored two more touchdowns to lead 35-3 at halftime. The game was basically over. The Cardinals were roasted. Larry Fitzgerald caught a four-yard pass to end the Arizona touchdown drought.

Denver scored 10 more points over the final 30 minutes to make the final 45-10. Rosen had the worst game of his brief professional career. He completed 21 of 39 passes for 194 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Arizona struggled to convert on third down once again. They converted only four times on 14 chances. Most of all, they had five turnovers.

Rosen was sacked six times for 40 yards. The offensive line did not protect him against the Broncos relentless pass rush. Denver won the battle in the trenches.

The game was basically a snapshot of the Arizona’s offense this season. They could not score touchdowns, run the ball, or move the chains. Change, following the game, was imminent.

It’s going to be interesting to see if Leftwich can ignite the offense with the same players that McCoy couldn’t. Do not expect a major overhaul of the offensive scheme, but maybe things are tweaked to more familiar things from last season.