Through the first five weeks of the regular season, the Arizona Cardinals offense was largely a topic of discussion for the wrong reasons.
But in Sunday’s 31-27 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the conversation flipped with Jacoby Brissett leading the unit to season highs in total yards (400) and most points scored (27) in place of the injured Kyler Murray.
Arizona also posted seven passing plays of at least 20 yards. Heading into Week 6, Arizona had seven such plays in the first five weeks combined.
And there’s one tweak in the game plan that contributed greatly to the offense’s success.
Utilizing Brissett’s pocket presence and 6-foot-4 stature, the Cardinals offense operated under center (17 dropbacks) and out of play-action (44.7%) more than any other game this year.
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The results speak for themselves, with Arizona seeing five of those seven big plays coming out of play-action.
Those throws contributed to Brissett’s 171 yards and a touchdown to one interception on 13-of-20 passing (65%) in play-action. The signal caller had a scramble for 12 yards, too.
Tight end Trey McBride feasted, seeing 64 of his 72 receiving yards and a touchdown coming out of play-action looks.
Even with the run game averaging 3.7 yards per carry on its way to 88 yards and a score while not having a long of more than 12 yards on the afternoon, Arizona was able to keep Indianapolis guessing.
“Obviously, we tailored a little bit the scheme going into this week with the possibility of Jacoby starting,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said Monday. “We kind of had that up. I thought it was a good job by Drew and his staff to make sure that we’re putting Jacoby — just like all our guys — in spots that he does well with. I thought we did that.”
Now, Brissett’s single-game PA% isn’t pacing the league. In fact, six other quarterbacks have posted a higher rate, with Indianapolis’ Daniel Jones doing so twice.
But compared to what’s been on Arizona’s tape the five weeks prior, this was a major change to the game plan.
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With Murray running the show, the Cardinals PA% hasn’t reached more than 31.6% (Week 1). That includes an 11.8% mark in Arizona’s Thursday Night Football loss where the offense looked out of sorts until midway through the final quarter.
As for the production, Murray’s completed 23-of-34 passing (67.6%) for 229 yards and a touchdown in play-action. He’s added 68 yards on eight carries and has been sacked six times. Three of Murray’s four explosives have gone Marvin Harrison Jr.’s way, with Murray also ripping off a 30-yard scamper.
Murray’s underutilization out of play-action and under center (16 total dropbacks in 2025) isn’t just a one-off. The signal caller’s career high PA% for an entire season is 30.9% (2020).
And although Murray’s PA% kicked back up to 29.9% across a full season in 2024, it’s back down to 24.2% (a low since 2022) five games in this year.
Ask offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, though, and Sunday’s game plan would have looked similar given what the Colts defense was presenting.
“Honestly, I don’t think that game looks drastically different if one or the other is in the game,” Petzing said Tuesday.
“There’s going to be tweaks and changes … but I think from an overall standpoint, I think their skillsets are similar,” the OC added.
Given what’s already on the tape, it’s hard to fully buy into that thinking.
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