The offensive line has faced plenty of scrutiny throughout the season. It's no secret that the offense has struggled to generate a dominant rushing attack and keep the quarterback upright.
Because of the score Sunday against the 49ers, a game the Cardinals dropped, 41-22, the offense was in known passing situations early in the game, but quarterback Jacoby Brissett was able to come through relatively unscathed.
"That was one of the pretty good spots of what the offense did," coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday. "They kept the quarterback pretty clean, and we were obviously able to generate some yards and some explosives through the air."
Through his first four starts, Brissett was sacked 18 times and was hit 45 times. Against the 49ers, Brissett was not sacked on any of his 57 dropbacks. It's the first time that the offensive line held an opponent without a sack this season.
The Cardinals offensive line did that with plenty of moving pieces, a byproduct of a roster that had been littered with injuries. Kelvin Beachum filled in for Jonah Williams (shoulder) at right tackle. When Beachum exited the game early with a groin injury, something which he had been dealing with and was a limited participant at practice, Josh Fryar stepped up.
"It was good to see him in there," Gannon said of the rookie. "He's been improving every week, and he was ready to go. I was proud of him."
Another offensive lineman that saw an increase in playing time was Isaiah Adams. The 2024 third-rounder had not played an offensive snap in over a month. That changed when Adams played 28 snaps on Sunday against the 49ers.
Gannon said the decision to rotate in Adams for right guard Will Hernandez was "health-related" and wanting to see Adams play.
"I think he did OK," Gannon said of Adams.
One of the reasons why the Cardinals had success was because the 49ers, another team full of injuries, entered Week 11 with the lowest pressure rate in the league. Nonetheless, a collective performance from the line was exactly what the team had been missing.
What was uncharacteristic was the amount of penalties the Cardinals suffered. The 17 penalties were a franchise record and rare for a Gannon-coached team which finished 2024 as the least penalized team in the NFL. The Cardinals are currently in the bottom 10 in penalties, which Gannon said he doesn't "love where we're at right now."
"It's kind of deflating when you're going backwards," Gannon said. "I'd be lying to tell you it wasn't. It's a challenge, especially when you have that many and there's some high leverage ones."
Gannon highlighted the 60-yard touchdown run from Bam Knight on fourth-and-inches that was negated due to a holding penalty by Pharaoh Brown. They were forced to punt. Left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. had a pair of penalties, while two illegal shifts drew flags.
"I can't allow it to happen, but overall, we have to play cleaner," Johnson said postgame. "All we can do is take the accountability. We can't sit here and try to point fingers because ultimately, we as players, we let the game get way too far out of reach."
Following the game, Gannon said the players needed to lift themselves off the mat. How he could tell they did was based on the questions they would ask in meetings, making sure nobody showed up late, and what they did in the weight room were among the traits he was seeking.
According to Gannon, that was accomplished. Keep the pocket clean, clean up the penalties, and return to the win column are some of the other boxes that need to be checked heading into Week 12 against the Jaguars.
"We got good enough guys," Gannon said. "They want to be part of the solution as well. I know that. They come up and tell me that, and that's a good thing. We just got to do a little bit better. But I'd be lying to say it's cheerful in there right now."
