When the bar is set high, the perspective changes. And that's, at least in part, what the Cardinals are facing when it comes to their running game.
After two games -- a small sample to begin with -- the Cardinals are tied for 13th in the NFL at 114 rushing yards a game, and are 11th with 4.65 rushing yards per play. Those numbers don't reach where the Cardinals have been the past two seasons (fifth and seventh in the league, respectively) but they are far from being bad.
"We've been better in the past and I think that's something we have to be better at going forward," quarterback Kyler Murray said.
Some of it is the eye test. Some of it is knowing there was a 52-yard run (Trey Benson) and a 31-yard run (Murray) to boost the stats. Some of it is knowing that James Conner has been incredibly productive for two years and needs to be as the emotional bellwether for this team, and he only has 73 yards on 23 carries so far (although he has scored a couple of TDs and had a marvelous one-handed catch-and-run for 18 yards against the Panthers).
"In a lot of ways I think we need to stay the course," offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said. "When you get a limited sample size at times things can get skewed but I do like the way people are doing things, I like the attitude, and I do think it's going to start to pop."
Petzing noted that looking at the run game from the outside the analysis is going to be "outcome-based." But internally, it's about tweaking areas to get just a little better. Center Hjalte Froholdt echoed the same, noting the high-profile defensive linemen the Cardinals have faced (like Carolina's Derrick Brown) and the idea that the Cardinals don't need any massive improvement to what they are doing.
"That's the marginals in a game like that," Froholdt said.
It will be fascinating to see what the Cardinals can do in San Francisco, where the Cards ran for 169 yards in a last-second 24-23 victory, Conner was a big part of the game-winning field goal drive, loading the team on his back with 34 rushing yards on the drive -- about the same amount he has gotten in the two full games (39 and 34) this season. It is when Conner is loose on the ground when the Cardinals are at their best.
"Hopefully we get a boatload more rushing yards this game," Froholdt said.
