'Kind of a rollercoaster': The Arizona Cardinals' 2022 season has been one thing after another

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If it feels like the Arizona Cardinals’ entire 2022 season to date has been a sideshow, an unexpected three-ring circus, and a carnival full of errors, missteps, and misdeeds, it’s because it has been just that.

And don’t forget, after Sunday’s meeting against the Chargers at State Farm Stadium, there are still at least five more games left to play so you can probably expect to see, hear and read about even more drama before it’s all over.

“This whole year has been kind of a rollercoaster,” quarterback Kyler Murray said in maybe the understatement of 2022. “It seems like we were in the news all offseason, and then in the season.”

Murray noted the tragic offseason death of cornerback Jeff Gladney, who died in a Dallas-area car accident along with his girlfriend not long after Gladney signed with the Cardinals as a free agent. Murray also mentioned the departures of three assistant coaches, including top offensive line coach and run game coordinator Sean Kugler, who was fired after reportedly inappropriately touching a woman in Mexico City before Arizona played San Francisco on “Monday Night Football.”

“It’s been up and down,” Murray said, “but this group is resilient. The mentality, it could be a lot different around here. But it’s not. These guys have a lot of faith, a lot of belief, and it’s a great locker room to be a part of.”

That may be true, but things have been anything but rosy about this team and this season since the Cardinals got walloped by the Rams in the NFC Wild Card round last January following an 11-win campaign.

The first distraction and uncomfortable incident, if you remember, began shortly after the Pro Bowl when Murray decided to scrub his social media accounts of anything related to the Cardinals. Upset that management hadn’t promptly come to him and his agent regarding a contract extension everybody knew was eventually coming, he and Erik Burkhardt came off looking unprofessional and smug.

It only got worse when Burkhardt published his contract manifesto online to the Cardinals, all in upper-case text, taking the situation public instead of behind the scenes. It was an endless saga that played out for months and included Burkhardt pulling his own contract proposal off the table.

Once both sides came together and agreed to a five-year, $230.5 million deal on July 21, word soon leaked that an “independent study” clause was written into the contract and could default the entire contract if Murray didn’t put in a required number of hours each week on private film study.

That led to even more animosity, including an angry impromptu news conference by Murray in training camp, before ultimately the clause was removed by Owner Michael Bidwill, who was torched with criticism for having the clause written into the deal in the first place.

But this season already had become turbulent well before any of that.

Sep 25, 2022; Glendale, Ariz., U.S.;  Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks with Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill (center) and general manager Steve Keim before a game at State Farm Stadium.
Sep 25, 2022; Glendale, Ariz., U.S.; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay talks with Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill (center) and general manager Steve Keim before a game at State Farm Stadium.

General Manager Steve Keim was strangely silent during the free-agency signing period, electing to focus the team’s available budget on re-signing a core group of its own players and declining to make a splash on any big names available despite glaring news at edge rusher and cornerback, primarily.

Then came the NFL draft when, on Day 1, the Cardinals traded their first-round pick to the Ravens for wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Two days after the draft, we all found out why that trade was really made. It was because of the blockbuster news that star wideout DeAndre Hopkins had been suspended for the first six weeks of the season for violating the league’s policy regarding performance-enhancing drugs.

As if that wasn’t enough, word leaked a month later that veteran center Rodney Hudson, the glue of Arizona’s offensive line, was seriously considering retirement. Once that became public, left guard Justin Pugh volunteered to learn to play center while simultaneously saying he, too, contemplated calling it quits during the offseason.

Hudson agreed to return, but only lasted four games. He’s been on injured reserve with a knee injury. Pugh played in five games and then suffered a season-ending knee injury. Since then, the same thing happened to star tight end Zach Ertz. Injuries would become a common theme all season as a multitude of starters have been in and mostly out of the lineup.

When it rains, it pours, and we should have seen it coming after a storm damaged several of the Cardinals’ rooms the night before they reported to their new team hotel for the start of training camp. Shortly after that, “Hollywood” Brown was arrested and charged with criminal speeding. He was clocked driving 126 mph on Loop 101 – during morning rush hour, no less.

“He knows he’s got be better than that and he will be moving forward,” Kingsbury said at the time. “He can’t be doing that. You have to follow the rules and obey the laws. Hopefully, we don’t have any more incidents.”

But, of course, they did.

Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals looks on during warmups prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on November 13, 2022, in Inglewood, California.
Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals looks on during warmups prior to the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on November 13, 2022, in Inglewood, California.

On Aug. 5, a day after it was learned he had been charged with two counts of domestic violence all the way back in May, running backs coach James Saxon was placed on administrative leave. He would eventually resign from the Cardinals after pleading guilty to one of the charges.

Another coach, running backs assistant Don Shumpert, also recently left the organization for reasons still unknown. Running back Eno Benjamin, meanwhile, was released two weeks ago after getting into an altercation with another assistant regarding playing time.

Then, last Sunday in Mexico City, there was the incident involving Kugler, who went sent home before the game and was fired the next day.

“I had a chance to talk to (Kugler) yesterday,” Cardinals right tackle Kelvin Beachum told reporters on Wednesday. “He’s devastated by it. I think it shocked the room, shocked this team, but we’ve got to move on.”

With the playoffs now virtually out of reach, that’s all the Cardinals can try to do from here on out. The goal is simple: Find a way to finish the season on a high note. There haven’t been many of those in 2022.

Asked if this has been the most challenging season of his head coaching career, which included six years coaching his alma mater, Texas Tech, Kingsbury said, “They’re all a challenge, but this one has been unique.”

“I’d say that over the last six, seven months it just seems like a lot of different things have come up,” he added. “… You go through it as a coach and this year just happens to be unique in that things continue to happen that really don’t have much to do with football.”

It's been a trainwreck.

“I’ve never been a part of anything like this,” Beachum said. “You’ve just got to find a way to battle, rectify things, find a way to right the ship. We’re at a point in the season where there’s still hope.”

No, not really. The Cardinals are at a point in the season where the only hope is that nothing else bizarre unfolds to make things even worse.

Notes

  • The team activated wide receiver Marquise Brown from the injured reserve/designated for return list, signed receiver Andre Baccellia to the active roster from the practice squad, elevated receiver Pharoh Cooper and tight end Maxx Williams to the active roster from the practice squad as standard elevations and place tight end Zach Ertz (knee) and left tackle D.J. Humphries (back) on injured reserve.

  • Receiver DeAndre Hopkins was fined $10,069 for unsportsmanlike conduct for pointing at 49ers defenders after making a catch during Monday night’s game in Mexico City.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals have faced turbulent season with 6 games left to play