After the Hail Murray in Week 10, the Arizona Cardinals were 6-3, they were contending for an NFC West title, and Kyler Murray was an MVP candidate.
They have since lost four of six, including a puzzling 20-12 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers (6-9) on Saturday.
Former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst and podcast host Geoff Schwartz says it’s easy to see why.
“Kliff Kingsbury is not a good coach,” Schwartz said on The DA Show. “I don’t know why this is surprising. He was not a good coach in college. I don’t recall another coach who went from college to the NFL that was not good in college. Normally you’re really good in college and you go to the NFL and you’re probably successful, right? Kingsbury was not good at Texas Tech, and now all of a sudden he’s supposed to be good in the NFL? He’s not.”
Kingsbury went 35-40 in six seasons at Texas Tech and 5-10-1 in his first season in Arizona. He appeared to have turned the corner after the Cardinals’ 6-3 start, but Arizona (8-7) is now the 8-seed in the NFC.
In other words, not a playoff team.
“Did you see the look on Kyler Murray’s face and DeAndre Hopkins for a good part of that game?” Schwartz asked. “They both looked disgusted because the offense is not good – and it’s not really because Murray’s not good or Hopkins is not good. It’s just Kingsbury is not good.”
The Cardinals trailed for virtually the entire game Saturday, as the Niners harassed Murray early and often. He finished 31-of-50 for 247 yards, zero touchdowns, one interception and three sacks. Niners backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, meanwhile, finished 13-of-22 for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
“This is why Kyle Shanahan is an elite coach in the NFL,” Schwartz said. “They out-schemed, they outplayed, they out-toughed, they out-executed with basically a bunch of backups [against] a Cardinals team who had to win that game. Kyle Shanahan has had one season out of four with the Niners where he had a healthy quarterback – and he made the Super Bowl. And they should have won the Super Bowl. Can you imagine if he got an actual quarterback who stayed healthy and was better than Jimmy Garoppolo? It would be a Super Bowl contender each and every year. I just think that it was a huge contrast in coaching styles and coaching management and coaching philosophy, and Kingsbury just falls short every time.”
The Cardinals are 3-5 since their Week 8 bye. They beat the Buffalo Bills (11-3) on a Hail Mary and won back-to-back games against the NFC East, beating the New York Giants (5-10) and Philadelphia Eagles (4-10-1) in Weeks 13-14.
“They’ve won the games you’re supposed to win,” Schwartz said. “But anytime they play against a good coach, a coach where a guy can out-coach Kingsbury, he loses every time. He never rises above in any of those games.”
The Cardinals close the regular season against the Rams (9-6) this Sunday in Los Angeles. Kickoff is at 4:25 p.m. ET.