Browns scouting report: Arizona Cardinals
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst on the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Browns v. Arizona Cardinals
Sunday, 1 p.m., in Cleveland Browns Stadium
Record: 1-7.
Last game: Lost to Baltimore Ravens, 31-24, October 29, in Baltimore.
Coach: Jonathan Gannon, 1-7, first year.
Series record: Browns lead, 33-16-3.
Last meeting: Cardinals won, 37-14, October 17, 2021, in Cleveland.
League rankings: Offensive is 21st overall (fourth rushing, 28th passing), defense is 26th overall (26th rushing, 17th passing) and turnover differential is plus-1.
Things to watch
1. Jonathan Gannon has legitimate reason to say he doesn’t know who will start at quarterback, and the difference between Kyler Murray and rookie Clayton Tune is so vast that it will be a nuisance for the Browns to prepare for both. There is not a lot of enthusiasm to give Tune, a fifth-round rookie, his first NFL start on the road against Jim Schwartz’s defense. But the club also doesn’t want to play Murray before he is 100 percent recovered from his January ACL surgery. Murray has been off the club’s injury list for two weeks now, but the Cardinals know his legs are important to his game and also that an RPO game can befuddle Schwartz’s over-aggressive defensive scheme.
Kyler Murray could make his 2023 debut Sunday against the Browns. He had ACL surgery in January.
2. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is adding his own tweaks to the Kevin Stefanski offense which he worked under last season. Petzing uses a lot of multiple tight end sets and tries to run a play-action passing game. His problem is a tremendous void of playmakers with running back John Conner and tight end Zach Ertz on injured reserve. The feature back the past two games has been Emari Demercardo, an undrafted free agent from Texas Christian. Marquise (Hollywood) Brown is the top receiver (four TDs) and Tre McBride has replaced Ertz as the main tight end.
3. Although Gannon played a 4-3 base defense as coordinator of the Eagles, he’s running a 3-4 in Arizona. The Cardinals get their best pass rush from edge rushers Victor Dimukeje (4 sacks), Zaven Collins (3.5) and Dennis Gardeck (4).
4. Arizona’s best players on defense are safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson. Baker, a three-time All-Pro and five-time NFC Pro Bowler, has played two games in a row since missing four with a hamstring injury. Thompson has been a tackling machine with more than 100 tackles in each of the past two seasons. Derwin James of the Chargers is the only safety with more in that time.
Did you know … ?
1. The Cardinals are fourth in the league in rushing and have a team average of 5.1 yards, but their top two ground-gainers are James Conner and Joshua Dobbs, and Conner is on injured reserve for at least another week and Dobbs was traded to Minnesota for a sixth-round draft picks.
2. In two games against the Browns, Murray is 2-0, with 39 of 55 passing (70.9 percent) for 448 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a passer rating of 117.8. He also ran the ball 15 times for 62 yards.
3. In 2022, the Cardinals signed Murray to a five-year contract extension for $230.5 million, of which $103.3 million is fully guaranteed. The contract starts to gobble up the team’s salary cap in 2024. His salary cap number balloons from $16.1 million this year to $51.87 million in 2024.
4. The Cardinals have their own No. 1 pick in 2024 and Houston’s. So they figure to be a prime player in the 2024 draft, either to take one of the top quarterbacks or parlay that option into a slew of multiple picks via trade.
5. Before the Cardinals hired Gannon as their coach, their other finalists were Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.
Small world: Head coach Jonathan Gannon is a Cleveland native and was a three-sport star at St. Ignatius HS … Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was Browns quarterbacks coach in 2020 and 2022 … Quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork was the Browns Bill Willis Coaching Fellow in 2022 … Center Hjalte Froholdt played for the Browns in 2021-22.
