The Arizona Cardinals can move the ball. That part is not in doubt. What’s sinking them is what happens when they finally get where they want to go.
Through seven weeks, Arizona sits last in red zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on only 42.86% of those trips. The offense has put together long possessions and piled up enough drives to rank among the league’s better units in that area, but once the field tightens, the Cardinals keep walking away with too little.
That issue got impossible to brush aside over the last two games. After going 0-for-5 in the red zone in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions, the Cardinals tried to frame it as a one-week hiccup. LaFleur said Arizona would not overreact, pointing to earlier success and stressing that the fix was going to come from better coaching and cleaner execution.
Then Week 7 brought another rough night inside the 20 against the Denver Broncos. Arizona went 1-for-5 in the red zone, and the two-game total of 1-for-10 has shoved the Cardinals to the bottom of the NFL in red zone production.
“No, I don’t think it’s a total blowup because up until two weeks ago we were top 10 in goal-to-goal situations. I think we were 13th overall anytime inside the 20, now we’re dead last for obvious reasons," LaFleur told reporters ahead of Week 8.
The numbers paint a sharp split. In Weeks 1-5, the Cardinals were 16th in red zone efficiency at 61%. But across the season as a whole, Arizona’s touchdown rate has cratered to 56% from goal-to-go and 53% from inside the 10, both good for second-to-last in the league.
The clearest warning sign came at Denver’s one-yard line in Week 7. Down 14 with just under two minutes left, Arizona had already altered its approach to save clock, but still came away empty on all four tries to punch it in.
"Once we kind of got going a little bit and we were moving it, we weren’t finishing it. Against good teams - we lucked out the week before because our defense played incredible. We hit six kicks, but you can’t do that every week (and) we know that," LaFleur continued on the red zone struggles.
"It’s like ‘Guys, we’re down there.’ It’s not like we’re not moving the football, but we have to finish. Again, I’ll look in the mirror first and say it starts with me.”
That’s the heart of the problem for Arizona: the Cardinals are not failing to generate chances, they’re failing to cash them in. And in the red zone, the margin between a drive that feels productive and one that actually changes the game is tiny.
LaFleur has pointed the finger first at himself, saying the responsibility starts with the play design and the clarity of the call, before the players are asked to execute it.
"It’s always going to start with me and the play design. One, the play design and the clarity you’re providing to the guys.
Then two, when you’re calling it. It’s always going to start with me," LaFleur said last week.
"Then after that, the guys have to go execute it. Sometimes you call the right one and it’s not executed.
Sometimes you call the wrong one and guys make a play, but that’ll always start with me.”
The Cardinals’ offense has done plenty well enough to avoid looking broken. They lead the NFL in ten-play drives and rank in the top five in time of possession. But all that ball control has turned into frustration far too often once the offense gets close to the goal line.
Arizona’s strong defensive showing against the Rams stands as the obvious exception, not the rule. And that leaves the Cardinals with a problem they can no longer talk around: they can get there, but they can’t finish.
In Other News...
Cardinals QB Debate Just Got Harder To Ignore
Mike LaFleur made it clear the Cardinals are sticking with Jacoby Brissett for now, confirming the veteran will start against the Cowboys as Arizona tries to steady an offense that has been moving the ball without finishing enough drives. LaFleur said the issue is less about getting into scoring position and more about what happens once the Cardinals get there, a distinction that has become harder to ignore as the season has worn on.
The pressure around the quarterback spot has only grown with fan noise pushing rookie Carson Beck into the conversation, but LaFleur said there have been no talks about benching Brissett. For now, Arizona is choosing continuity over change, even as the red-zone frustration lingers and the offense keeps leaving points on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Carson Beck Timeline Just Became A Real Cardinals Debate
The rookie quarterback class has been slow to arrive in the NFL, but Carson Becks path is starting to look a lot more relevant for Arizona as the season moves deeper into the second half. Through Week 7, most of the quarterbacks taken in the draft still have not started a game, and that kind of delay tends to sharpen the focus on teams like the Cardinals, where every week without a clear answer under center makes the next move feel more important.
Arizona sits 2-5, and the longer the offense stays in limbo, the more Beck becomes part of the conversation around the franchises future. Jacoby Brissett has helped stabilize the position enough to keep the Cardinals afloat, but there is still no long-term answer in place, which is why the timeline on Beck is now being watched so closely around the building. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Keep Facing The Same Offensive Question As Pressure Builds
The Cardinals are still sorting through the same offensive questions that have followed them through the last stretch, and the pressure is only getting louder as the season moves on. Mike LaFleur made it clear Jacoby Brissett remains the starter, a decision that keeps the focus on a group trying to find cleaner execution and better finishing when it matters most.
Arizonas recent struggles have not been pinned on one player alone, and that is part of what makes the situation so tricky. The offense has had chances to turn drives into something more meaningful, but the conversation around the unit keeps circling back to the same issue: enough movement to threaten, not enough payoff to relieve the strain that comes with each passing week. [Read more 🡒]