The Arizona Cardinals had a below-average passing offense in 2019, coming in 24th in the league with an average of 217.3 net yards per game. They were 18th in passer rating, 26th in touchdown passes, had the 15th-fewest interceptions and allowed 50 sacks.
But how did the passing attack break down in terms of direction?
Using the NFL Game Stats & Information Systems, we find how they did it.
They had 551 pass plays in 2019. 452 of them were considered short passes to the left, right or middle of the field.
The most pass plays went short right — 187 plays, which ranked 12th in the league. They completed 65.8% of the passes (19th) and averaged 5.19 yards per play (24th)
To the short left, they ran 177 pass plays (13th), completing 69.5% of them (20th) and gaining 5.22 yards per play (30th).
They were 28th in the league in short middle passes with 88. They were sixth in the league completing 75% of them and were 16th in yards per play at 7.06.
They had 99 total deep passing plays. They attempted the 10th-most to the deep right, with 46 such plays. They completed 41.3% of them (12th) and averaged 14.0 yards per play (6th).
To the deep middle, they attempted 22 (16th), completed 50% of them (18th) and averaged 14.14 yards per play (19th).
To the deep left, they attempted 31 (25th), completed 38.7% (16th) and averaged 10.74 yards per play (18th).
In all, they were in the upper half of the league in four directions and nearer in the bottom in two. Of course, considering they had a much better rushing attack than passing attack, this makes sense. They were, after all, a below-average passing team.
If there is one thing we can pull from the numbers is that Kyler Murray preferred throwing to his right when compared to the rest of the league.
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Ep. 256
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Ep. 255
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