There are innumerable ways to tell that story through numbers, but the most startling and important one is this: The Cardinals have been outscored 58-6 this season.
When he was hired last January, coach Steve Wilks called his new job a “retool” rather than a rebuild. Two weeks in, it looks more like a throwback to the post-Kurt Warner years, or the nearly two decades at Sun Devil Stadium.
“Lot of things we need to address moving forward,” Wilks said Sunday.
That's an understatement. Wilks has more items to address than a wedding planner for the Kennedys.
The Cardinals gained five first downs, tied for the fewest in franchise history since 1950. Sam Bradford passed for 90 yards, fewest since Ryan Lindley lit the Jets up for 72 yards in 2012. The defense yielded more than 400 yards in both games.
The Cardinals trailed 19-0 at halftime and didn’t cross midfield until there were 30 seconds left in the game.
The No. 10 pick from UCLA was the most game-ready quarterback in the 2018 draft, a guy who threw Sunday passes on Saturdays, and the Arizona Cardinals need to bump him ahead of Sam Bradford.
That might not have made a significant difference Sunday, when the Cardinals were throttled by the Rams 34-0, but with the season already slipping away from 0-2 Arizona, and its offense overheating like a Yugo in the Yuha Desert, there’s no time like the present.