A mailbag after a victory. That's a nice change. Before I get to it, a big thanks to Michael V and Anonymous -- if that is your real name -- for generously donating to my Cardinals Climb page to raise money for special needs. It is much appreciated. On to the mailbag. Don't forget to send a question for a future mailbag with at least a first name and last initial.
I will start here. There were/are/will be a lot of entries about the quarterback position. Some that came in too late for last week's, some that have come in since. Most are along the same lines, so I will take an example or two of the same question (don't feel bothered if yours isn't chosen, it's not personal.) I will say, while I understand the emotion that can go into this topic and how fans feel strongly one way or the other, don't get mad about this. Life is way too short.
From John T:
"OK, now that the decision is made with Brissett starting this Sunday in Week 10, what do you think of that decision? Also, what is wrong with Kyler? Is he really hurt?"
Yes, Murray is hurt. To what extent I don't think anyone knows for sure, but it is undoubtedly playing a role in all this. The decision? It's what Jonathan Gannon chose to do, although after three games of solid play, I would agree that it would be hard to make a change back at this point. This will probably, at least publicly, be a week-to-week thing. (I know there were a couple reports that this was for the balance of the season but Gannon said it was for the Seattle game and so flexibility remains.)
From Pete Landon:
"It'll be easier to talk about this years in the future when all parties involved are gone, but we're in it here and now. How can you justify taking the ball away from Jacoby Brissett?"
From Ben J:
"Is it possible for you to skip the questions from the casual fans who think Jacoby should be our QB? We're tired of them, and I know you are too. I know there will be plenty who look at the box score vs the worst defense in football where we FINALLY force the ball to MHJ and then it opens up the rest of the field when they focus on our WR1! How do you put up with it?"
Out of all the questions I have gotten from this subject, I felt like boiling them down to these two examples makes the most sense for this space. To be fair, I have gotten more like the one from Pete than Ben, but Twitter has many examples of both. Let me start here: These questions came before Gannon's Tuesday announcement Brissett would start in Seattle.
For the former, they aren't taking anything away. Brissett stays in the lineup, but as I noted above, I don't think it's necessarily permanent. I think there is fluidity here, both with Murray's foot situation and also with how Brissett performs. For the latter, Brissett has played well for three weeks, not just against the Cowboys (and their defense). And I disagree the Cardinals are forcing the ball to Harrison all of a sudden. I agree with Gannon that the offense is operating well right now with Brissett and that's what you want at the moment.
From DJ K:
"Regarding the QB situation, does anyone remember Joshua Dobbs? Isn't this almost the same scenario?"
Well, no. Not to me. When Dobbs came in, the Cardinals needed him because Colt McCoy was not healthy enough to keep playing and Clayton Tune wasn't ready. He was always a place-holder for Kyler until Murray returned from his ACL injury, and in fact, never was on the Cardinals' roster when Murray was on the roster. Obviously, Brissett is different. Now, if you want to watch how Brissett's season unfolds as the weeks go by (Dobbs definitely was struggling at the end) that's fine. But Brissett has played much more in the NFL and had much more success than Dobbs.
From Elliot H:
"Hey Darren, your second favorite-type of question -- a hypothetical. I'm a fan of Kyler but Jacoby's impressive command of the offense has definitely put pressure on his position. I am curious about what this QB switch would mean for the content team. I'd love to understand what sort of activities this big decision would have on how it's covered?"
I'll be honest, didn't see this kind of question coming. I mean, we cover it like anything else. I wrote the news story Tuesday. I'm sure it'll be a topic on the podcasts and radio shows, and will be addressed in some form on the TV shows. But again, this is fluid. At some point, Murray will be fully healthy, and there is a chance things could change again. Murray remains first string on the depth chart. But wherever the story moves, we'll cover it.
From Jack S:
"Are the playoffs still possible? That was a great showing against … well, a team. Not sure what to think of them but we won!!! We're all soaring high but looking at the rest of the season should we keep this air under our wings or come crashing back down to earth? Thanks as always."
The playoffs are possible, sure. These next two games are crucial in that regard, I think. But as for the soaring and wings and crashing, I gotta say -- R-E-L-A-X. That's riding a roller-coaster that seems unnecessary right now. The Cardinals have their issues, and 3-5 is a hole from which they have the climb. But they have been close in all these games, and there is no reason, from my point of view, they aren't going to be competitive. We will see if that means they can stay in the race.
From Julian K:
"Hi Darren, a lot of things to like about the Cowboys game! One thing however that is concerning to me is the O-line play, especially on the right side. Do you have insights about Jonah Williams' performance? Thank you and best regards from Germany!"
His PFF grades are OK, if that is what you are asking. It is lower than last year's, but take PFF grades for what they are worth. He didn't have a great game against the Packers, but few offensive linemen are going to have their best days seeing Micah Parsons often. I do think Williams (and the rest of the offensive line) will have their work cut out for them on Sunday in Seattle. The Seahawks have a hell of a defensive line.
From Juli S:
"Why did Coach Gannon say Kyler might play a role in the Dallas game? Was that just a ploy? Thanks. Rise up Red Sea."
My guess ahead of time, given the way JG explained the "role" in vague terms, was more about -- since Gannon was speaking on a Saturday and the game was Monday -- if something happened to Brissett in those next 48 hours and perhaps Murray could be a backup. I never got the sense it was to be a gadget package or something like that.
From Gary M:
"Hi Darren. I thought I asked a great question last week about then-young Kyler and his pre-snap hand claps, but now we give away our pre-snaps by the right guard standing up, looking around at our QB, then turning back around, followed by our center adjusting the ball, then snapping it. I live in Chicagoland so I don't see every game, but these seem to be very correctable issues that could be leading to offensive line problems? I've been a Big Red Fan since birth (1960) and I don't see other teams doing hand claps, nor what we do now."
Every team, when they are in the silent count, uses the guard to stand and set the cadence. Offenses know defenses can time that out and have ways to combat it. The snap clap does not work as well in the pros as college in part because NFL officials are quick to flag the "fake" claps -- like they did often against Kyler in 2019. Whatever improvements the Cardinals offensive line may need to make, I don't think it's because of Will Hernandez briefly standing and instigating the silent snap.
From John White:
"Sending you and the team love from the UK. It's great to have such in-depth coverage on the Cardinals available to all of us, even across time zones. After the win in Dallas (finally!), what do you think about the use and role of Darius Robinson moving forward? His snap count was way lower than Walter Nolen III and if you compare the 'impact' of the two players, then I don't think that Robinson has ever had a game as impactful as Nolen III had on Monday."
Darius is going to remain in the rotation. Yes, his snaps dropped. But if Nolen plays like that, Nolen deserves the time. Robinson needs to be more impactful and you'd like for that to emerge sooner than later. But this is also about the long term; Calais Campbell, who has been excellent, is not going to be around forever (although the way he is playing, could he have another in 2026?). The Cardinals insist Robinson is improving and doing some of the intangible things they like. I do know it's too early in his career to make any final judgements about him.
From Raine V:
"Weird question, but have you noticed how much Trey McBride comes off the field when we are on offense? Is that because they trust their other tight ends that much or because he plays so hard that he needs breaks? It's just something I noticed. Thoughts?"
I mean, yes, he needs breaks. I don't think McBride comes off much. He has played 91 percent of the snaps in eight games. He misses an average of six snaps a game. That isn't much.
From Johnny M:
"There were a few missed passes early, but do you think Jacoby has played so well because of the relatively poor pressure rate from Dallas? I read that he has struggled with that in the past. Are there any stats on this? Does Kyler have similar tendencies? Thanks for your time!"
According to Pro Football Focus, Brissett was pressured by the Cowboys on 20 of his 37 dropbacks. He was sacked five times and completed 9-of-14 passes for 98 yards. Not terrible (although a lot of sacks.) When he wasn't pressured, there were no sacks (of course), and he completed 12-of-17 for 163 yards and both his touchdowns. Not surprisingly, Murray also struggles much more against pressure. But if you are a quarterback, it's big trouble if you are kept clean and can't make your stats better than under pressure. On the season, Murray completes 51.3 percent of his passes and averages 6.8 yards per attempt under pressure. Brissett's numbers are 44.2 and 6.0.
From Matthew Stroh:
"Hey Darren. Had the bye week to think, here's my opinion and question. As for the coaches and people other than media personnel and players, I'm a big Monti Ossenfort and Nick Rallis fan. Also, with what's going on with the NBA and the FBI (with gambling), do you think the NFL will try to get better at making sure there's no controversy with referee calls, especially with how the refereeing has been this season?"
I think there is always going to be "controversy" with officials' calls because they are human and won't be perfect. The NFL will continue to look at technology to help, just like every league. But in the NFL in particular, these are mostly judgement calls. You can't use a robot for most of this. And while I'm not against full-time refs, I've never been one who believes full-time refs solve most of the problems. Whether a guy is studying the rule book all week or not -- these guys are pretty good at knowing the rules as is -- is not going to change if they miss in real time a hold or a pass hitting the ground. That has nothing to do with how much the referees prepare.
