ESPN tabs Commanders as most "watchable" team and the Cardinals as 4th least.
by Walter Mitchell
ESPN's Ben Solek has put together a list of what he feels are the most exciting and least exciting NFL teams to watch this season.
2025 NFL season: Ranking all 32 teams by watchability - ESPN
Here is why Solek savors watching the Commanders:
1. Washington Commanders
The Commanders were the perfect team to watch last season. Twelve of their games ended within an eight-point margin, more than all but three other teams. In the fourth quarter, they had 19 scoring drives in the fourth quarter (fourth most) and surrendered 20 scoring drives (sixth most). A big part of that is that they played fast under Kliff Kingsbury, with the most no-huddle plays of any team since the Chip Kelly Eagles. More plays equal more opportunity for excitement.
What else? Jayden Daniels was sick. The Commanders completed multiple Hail Marys, one of which won them a legendary game that broke the Bears franchise. Daniels was electric. The Commanders had the best fourth-down conversion rate in history for a team that attempted more than 10 fourth-down conversions (87%). Daniels was magical.
But I also just enjoyed rooting for them. It has been a tough couple of decades for Washington fans, and the team got a huge likability boost in the Adam Peters-Dan Quinn-Jayden Daniels era. I wanted to see them succeed.
On the flip side, he is Solek's explanation of why he does not find watching the Cardinals particularly exciting.
28. Arizona Cardinals
On the scheme nerd rankings, the Cardinals come in much higher. Some of that trickles into their overall watchability, of course. When Budda Baker makes those huge third-down plays, it's often because he's roaming around the field in his unique, schemed-up role. Those big James Conner runs are the product of a huge offensive commitment to getting Conner matched up with defensive backs. The Cardinals' coaching staff has the goods.
Unfortunately, they just aren't an exciting watch otherwise. Their bend-don't-break defensive philosophy leads to long drives with low scoring outputs (third in field goals forced per drive and fourth worst in punts forced per drive). Their league-leading explosive rush rate couldn't save the 21st-ranked explosive pass rate. It's not a bad offense at all (sixth in success rate and ninth in points per drive!); it's just not particularly exciting.
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Commentary:
As a long-time Cardinals' fan, the best, most watchable and exciting football that the Cardinals have provided over the years has been characterized by these common denominators:
Charmingly high-flying passing offenses led by (a) gutsy, innovative head coaches who call the plays, (b) charismatic, tough-minded quarterbacks, and (c) brilliantly productive playmakers.
Therefore, these days for passing game romantics it is a little more difficult to watch the Cardinals put their heaviest emphasis on the running game with equal excitement, especially when the team gets behind and pretty much all we see is an array of 5-yard, "time-is- a-wasting" passes to the running backs during what should be a far more aggressive, well-coordinated two-minute offense.
There is a special kind of art to the Cardinals' running game and the play action passes to burgeoning superstar Trey McBride...which certainly captures my attention and esteem, especially with the most physical brand of smashmouth football I have ever seen from the Cardinals...
But fans and pundits in the valley are obsessed with Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. to the point where even winning games where Murray and Harrison are not showcased in the top highlights of the game does not bring the kind of joy one would expect from a fan base that by now should be overjoyed whenever the team wins, regardless of how they pull it off.
After all, fans and pundits who insisted that Kyler Murray, despite manifesting a parade of red flags, had to be paid a 5-year $230.5M contract because the Cardinals "had no other choice" --- are the same fans and pundits who for over an entire year chanted: "Tank for Marv, he's an elite. generational, surefire first ballot Hall of Fame talent."
If there is one thing that Cardinals' fans consistently win at --- it's cajoling Michael Bidwill to give them what they want.
Now the fans and pundits, if they don't get Pro Bowl seasons out of Murray and Harrison want Bidwill to fire Drew Petzing.
And somehow, Jonathan Gannon and Nick Rallis, the architects of one of the NFL's worst tackling, softest run-stopping and pass coverage defenses, to the fans are pure can't-miss whiz-kid geniuses.
Ironically, these are the same fans and pundits who mercilessly scapegoated Kliff Kingsbury, who is synonymous with high-flying offenses run by highly productive quarterbacks.
Drew Petzing's running offense would be a more enjoyable to watch, if the Cardinals' defense wasn't just letting the other team have their turn rushing down the field at 5-10 yards a clip. Moreover, it has been so exasperating to see the opponents convert easy third downs versus soft, cardboard box coverages.
Not only do the Cardinals currently have the youngest and most inexperienced coaching staff in the NFL --- by far --- they have arguably the most conservatively cautious coaching staff in the NFL today. The odds of the braiding of inexperience with caution leading to consistent wins in the NFL, especially down the stretch, where the wins are needed the most, are slim.
In sum --- as Michael Bidwill's tenure as team president has evolved over the last dozen years plus--- the Cardinals have gone from "no risk it, no biscuit" to "no risk it, no, no risk it."
Monti Ossenfort and Dave Sears have had a truly outstanding off-season. They have brought in a treasure trove of groceries. But will the Cardinals' coaches be able to become 5-star chefs this season, given the quality of their ingredients?
Will the Cardinals be one of the more exciting teams to watch this season?
What say you and why?
My thoughts about Cardinals football...
ReplyDeleteI will keep it simple...
As long as a Bidwill is in the owners box, making decisions for a football club, that club will remain in the cellar. Oh sure, they'll have a once a decade team make play-offs. But make no mistake its been a hundred years of mediocrity.
The Cards have all the pieces to be a top 10 most watchable team this season it's just a matter of the starters staying relatively healthy and the coaching staff opening up this offense. I really wish Petzing would steal a lot of plays from K2's 2021 playbook during that 7-0 run because that's what a healthy Kyler Murrays game should look like. Kyler said he is going to use his legs more now that he's fully recovered from his ACL. This defense is good enough to get opposing offenses off the field and this offense has plenty of weapons. Everything hinges on Kyler this season so I seriously hope he takes full advantage of the talent this organization has surrounded him with.
ReplyDeleteThis season is put up or shut up time. All the potential excuses for mediocre don’t have any merit moving forward. Key injuries? Well should’ve built a deeper squad to withstand said injuries as we all know they’re coming, every team has to deal with it. Rams could barely field a team against us first time we walloped them last year. Their great coaching staff developed their young guys mid season and damn near made the SB, arguably ending the season as the 2nd best team in football. Despite getting embarassed by an embarassing AZ Cardinals team early in the season. Coaching is the great equalizer here and we’ve got the least experienced staff in the league by a wide margin. It’s going to pose a problem
DeleteI agree. The talent is there. I believe that some of the really good coaching staffs of the NFL would get this team into the playoffs and win at least a game or two. To me the lack of coaching experience should not be factored in. They're in the NFL now so start coaching at an NFL level. I'm predicting 9 to 11 wins.
DeleteAll the dumb irony you explain in your piece is as you say exasperating. Beyond that in many ways. I can’t even say that I feel Monti has had anything more than a mediocre off season of grocery shopping considering the amount of available cash he had available. Sure it was his best offseason yet but that’s not saying much, as he’s been less than mediocre his first two off seasons. I’ve got grave concerns about his being the big chair in the personnel dept. I’m watching the Titans and Borgonzi closely to see what type of turnaround he will (or won’t) engineer relative to Monti.
ReplyDeleteSo, let me get this straight. KK gets fired by the Cardinals, then proceeds to take time off and ultimately work at USC (while getting paid millions from Bidwell). After his paid vacation, in his first job back in the NFL, he becomes OC of the Commanders who draft a rookie QB. With KK and JD, the team is electrifying and makes it deep in the playoffs - including spanking us at home. At least from a play calling perspective, is it not clear to everyone that maybe, just maybe, KK wasn't the issue? If he was able to get the results that he did with a new QB, could it possibly be that Kyler is the issue? Guys, I hate to be a broken record, but with these turn of events and the mountain of other evidence, it's clear to me that we need a new QB. But, wait, whoever we bring in could be worse than Kyler, right? Well, I bet the Commanders are happy they didn't subscribe to that logic (or lack thereof).
ReplyDeleteI think people will tolerate a less explosive offense if we have a more dynamic defense. Petzing is a very good run game coordinator. Its his passing game that needs a high gear. There are times we are going to need to hang 4 or 5 touchdowns in a game to be competitive. We need that ability to get deep into the playoffs. If we dont we will be probably moving on to another coordinator.
ReplyDeletePetzing might be coaching for his job. Off tackle 80% of first downs? First down play action? Use players besides McBride and MHJ in the passing game? Chunk plays? Unlock this offense! Fair or not, Petzing has a short leash. For the first time he has a defense to keep them in every game and give the offense the ball in decent field position. If Petzing is out, show KM the door too. Call the right plays at the right time and execute the plays called.
ReplyDeleteIf Rallis and Gannon can't coach these kids how to tackle, they need to be kicked out the door too. The talent is there on D this season. No excuses.
All of them are going to end up losing their jobs because of how they’ve chosen a lapdog as Kyler qb coach + JG filling his staff with entirely green no namers. It tells me JG is not entirely secure in his own abilities and he’s scared of being usurped. The risk he hopefully is smart enough to realize he’s taking is that the likelihood of any other team having a better coached 53 top to bottom is damn near 100%. I’m not saying we’ve got to have a bunch of 60yo coaches up and down the staff but at least a couple advisors minimally would undoubtedly make for a better coached football team. General malpractice, it’s what Mikey B teams do best
DeleteGannon dismissing any notion of having experienced successful coaches on staff is confusing since he's a product of M Zimmer, Bobby Patrino, Frank Reich, Mike Munchak coaching trees. All of those coaches had or were part of very experienced staffs. Plus his D scheme is V Fangio influenced. When Fangio was a Denver HC his staff probably had more coaching experience than on any other staff. In Philly, Fangio built a staff with a deep well of coaching wisdom from established veterans
DeleteOnly excuses that make sense give that dynamic is a sort of ass backwards way of self preservation by JG or Mikey won’t pay to field an experienced staff as he’s still licking his wounds and counting his millions from having to pay KK, Vance and others. Both could be somewhat true at the same time even. We will likely have a good idea how much of an issue it will be come end of week 2 and definitely by end of week 4. Must see TV from my perspective.
DeleteGood points, 61. I'd expand on that and say that the talent is there on offense AND defense. There is no reason why this team shouldn't be in the playoffs.
Delete“Mikey won’t pay to field an experienced staff as he’s still licking his wounds and counting his millions from having to pay KK, Vance and others. Both could be somewhat true at the same time”
ReplyDeleteYou said what I’m
Thinking so it must be true
My own opinion on Kingsbury is that he often looked overwhelmed as the head coach of the Cardinals. He had his face buried in his playsheet not watching the field. As an OC he looks focused as confident. I just wonder what would have happened if he was hired as the OC rather than the head coach.
ReplyDelete