With there likely to be rain in Seattle on Sunday (surprise, surprise!), ball security becomes even more important than usual.
That’s one area where the Arizona Cardinals have been excellent this season, along with the red zone, which are arguably two of the most important metrics for team success.
In the red zone, the Cardinals have 30 trips this season and have scored 19 touchdowns and nine field goals. The touchdown percentage of 63.3 is seventh in the NFL and the 93.3 scoring percentage is fourth.
On defense, there have been 35 opponent trips resulting in 17 touchdowns and 11 field goals. The TD percentage of 48.6 ranks 10th and two teams are barely ahead at 48.3. The scoring percentage of 80.0 is tied for seventh and three teams are at 79.3, 79.4 and 79.5.
In the current four-game winning streak, the Cardinals have scored on all 13 of their trips with nine touchdowns and four field goals. Two of the latter were last-second game-winners.
Opponents have had nine red-zone trips, scoring three touchdowns (all by Miami) and four field goals. The Jets had two trips ended by a turnover and on downs.
Now, back to ball security.
The Cardinals are tied for 16th in the NFL with two other teams with an even ratio: 11 takeaways and 11 giveaways. The 11 turnovers are tied for ninth in the NFL with four other teams. Of those teams with fewer, two teams have 10, one has nine, two have eight, one has seven and two have five.
Only one team (the Chargers with one) has fewer than the Cardinals three interceptions, while three others have three.
Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing noted that one of quarterback Kyler Murray’s three interceptions was tipped pass and said, “I think he’s done a really nice job of taking care of the football. The ball, not every single time, but for the most part, it’s going where it should. He’s making smart decisions, he’s putting us in a position to win football games and give us that opportunity.
“And then certainly, you see the off-schedule and some of the broken-play mentality or ability that he has show up, but I think the decision-making and operation in the passing game has been really good.”
Murray said, “I think in playing the position I’ve always tried to pride myself on taking care of the ball. I think (it’s just) not playing scared or anything like that, just being smart with the football and understanding where your outlets are whenever those situations come up. Maybe scrambling, whatever it is and just being careful with the ball. At the same time, it’s also letting it rip.”
He obviously understands how much that is linked to team success.
“When you’re not turning the ball over, I think that goes into winning and losing,” Murray said. “Taking care of the football is something that’s kind of a non-negotiable. It’s something you have to do when you play this position. You want to play it at a high level. (If) you want to be who you want to be in this league and go where you want to go, you have to take care of the football. I understand that if I’m giving the ball away, I’m putting my team at a disadvantage.”
As for Sunday in Seattle, Gannon concluded, “You gotta be on high alert for the elements, knowing that it might rain there. So we’ve done some things this week to try to prepare for that. That’s why it was really cool way back when in (in training camp) in Indy when we practiced against those guys in the rain.
“I mean that was rain, rain and you saw some of the issues and we got to coach off of that. You gotta play a little differently, but with the elements I always go, the first thing I think about, is ball security. The double positives, so you gotta make sure that’s an advantage for us.”
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