3 storylines to follow in Chargers-Cardinals: Bolts should run wild vs. Arizona - Bolts From The Blue

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The Chargers can stack another win on the road against a porous Cardinal run defense.

After getting past another AFC West matchup this past Sunday, the Chargers now have back-to-back games against NFC teams. First up, the Bolts travel to Arizona to face the Cardinals on Monday Night Football. The following week, they’re back home hosting the Saints.

The Cardinals are 2-4 after a 34-13 loss to the Packers in Week Six. The offense has been serviceable for Arizona but the defense ranks in the bottom seven teams in the league in yards allowed, points allowed, and rush defense.

Based on these ranks, the Chargers have an excellent chance to win playing the type of football they want to: Run the ball, control the clock, and play smothering defense.

Below are the three storylines I’ll be following when these two teams kickoff on Monday night.

The Cardinals have struggled to pass the ball this season through six games despite having some of the best young players in the NFL around quarterback Kyler Murray. Tight end Trey McBride leads the team in receptions and yards (28-271) while rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. leads them with four touchdowns, but Murray is only averaging just under 200 yards per game (197.7).

Luckily for Arizona, they’ve got one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in the NFL paired with one of the more consistent running backs of the past five years in James Connor. The two have combined for an average of 110 rushing yards per game and have four touchdowns combines. In all, the Cardinals rank seventh in the NFL with 145.2 yards on the the ground per game.

During the Chargers’ 23-16 win over the Broncos this past Sunday, the Chargers were playing lockdown football through the first three quarters. Essentially, if the Broncos wanted to extend drives past three plays, quarterback Bo Nix needed to scramble 30-40 yards in total to move the chains. He did some magical scrambling to gain just seven or eight real yards. Otherwise, the Broncos weren’t going anywhere for the majority of the game.

Now the Bolts have Kyler Murray who is not only incredibly twitchy and fast as a scrambler, he’s also just straight up smaller than any other starting quarterback in the league. Legitimately, if you’re a taller defender, you will legitimately have to drop those pads even further to try and bring him down effectively.

The Broncos were not able to spark their comeback attempt in the fourth quarter Nix started scrambling and making plays outside of the pocket. Specifically, edge rusher Bud Dupree missed two different sacks on Nix, one of which looked like a kill shot in the Broncos’ own end zone. If you think Nix was able to make it hurt after missed sacks, Murray will truly make the Chargers feel the sting of those missed opportunities.

Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White is a former fourth-round pick of the Chargers from the 2018 NFL Draft. Despite a breakout season during the 2021 campaign, the Chargers allowed White to walk in free agency. He has since played for the Eagles in 2022 before landing with Arizona in 2023.

In his second season with the Cardinals, White is struggling, to say the least. His 37.9 overall season grade from Pro Football Focus is the worst on the Cardinals among players with more than 100 snaps on the season. Mainly, White has been abused this year in coverage which is reflected in his 28.5 PFF grade in that area (worst on the team).

The Chargers have some options here. Ladd McConkey would be your first option in regards to scheming a mismatch against White over the middle of the field. I’d then consider using Quentin Johnston on shallow crossers to get him the ball in stride so he can use the best part of his skillset. With Hayden Hurst, I’d also like to see Stone Smartt get some run in the slot and I personally like his athleticism to beat White in a one-on-one matchup.