There was a common thread early Sunday afternoon in Buffalo, as the Arizona Cardinals ripped apart an unsuspecting Bills defense. Kyler Murray stood in the pocket, patiently scanned the field and waited for his receivers to come open. It was an impressive display of poise, and it helped stake the Cardinals to a 17-3 second quarter lead.
It was also built, in large part, on a resolute offensive line. In the second half, that disappeared. So, too, did the Cardinals’ offensive success. After the break, that unit managed just three points on five drives.
There were plenty of reasons for the change in fortune, but it started with an injury to right tackle Jonah Williams. On the final play of the first quarter, he was protecting against a bull rush from Von Miller and collapsed without contact, grabbing his right knee.
Now, the Cardinals must learn how to protect Murray without Williams. On Wednesday, the club placed its right tackle on injured reserve, ruling him out for at least the next four games. Coach Jonathan Gannon did not speculate on how long Williams would be out, nor did he specify what part of the knee is injured. He added that the Cardinals do not yet know whether Williams will need surgery.
“That's life in the NFL,” Gannon said. “We'll figure out a plan and go to work.”
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The plan figures to start with right tackle Kelvin Beachum. Now in his fifth year with the Cardinals, the 13-year veteran has spent much of his career as a starter. Last season — his first as a backup since 2015 — he appeared in 11 games and allowed just two sacks. The pedigree is there.
But on Sunday, he struggled mightily.
The Cardinals allowed four sacks in the game. The first, with Williams still at right tackle, was barely a sack, as Murray scrambled out of bounds for no gain. The second was poor protection all around. The Cardinals’ offensive line did not adjust for two blitzing inside linebackers, leaving running back Emari Demercado one-on-one with one of them. Both left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and Beachum were beaten quickly off the edge, enabling Johnson’s defender to get home for the sack as the pocket collapsed on Murray from all sides.
The latter two sacks, though, could be pinned largely on Beachum. On the third sack, Greg Rousseau landed his hands on Beachum’s chest, then ripped the veteran’s arms away to get to Murray, who was stripped while going through his reads. On the final sack, Miller — like Rousseau — quickly landed his hands on Beachum and bull-rushed him into Murray, who tripped over Beachum’s feet for the sack.
For the game, Pro Football Focus gave Beachum a 47.1 pass blocking grade. No other Cardinals offensive lineman was below 61.0.
On Wednesday, Murray defended his own part in those sacks when asked whether he was being too patient.
“I'm not gonna rush through my reads or anything like that,” Murray said. “I'm trusting the pocket, trusting the guys up front. Obviously, they have good players as well. So sacks are gonna happen. But no, it's my job to go through the reads.”
In the first half, that worked. In the second half, it didn’t. The Bills’ three true sacks were all among the 16 fastest sacks in the league this weekend, lending credence to Murray’s confidence in his process.
That begs the question, though, of what this offensive line — and by proxy, this offense — will look like going forward.
Naturally, the players and coaches have all expressed their confidence in Beachum.
Murray said he is “very comfortable with him being in the game,” citing their experience together. Tight end Trey McBride, who often lines up next to the right tackle, said there’s no difference stylistically between Beachum and Williams, which should help the rest of the offensive line.
Still, there’s a reason the Cardinals signed Williams to a two-year, $30 million contract in the offseason. Against the Bills, that came through clearly in the first quarter, as Williams repeatedly stonewalled defenders.
It was a manifestation of the optimistic outlook on this offensive line, that despite its lack of star power, it was a unit that could excel because it didn’t have a weak link.
On Sunday against the Rams, the question will be whether the Cardinals can adapt better than they did in Buffalo.
Cardinals sign linebacker to active roster
Also Wednesday, the team signed linebacker Julian Okwara to the active roster from the practice squad, filling Williams' spot. The move leaves them with just eight active offensive linemen, including Jon Gaines II, who was a healthy scratch Sunday.
To fill Okwara's spot on the practice squad, the Cardinals signed offensive lineman Charlie Heck. The 27-year-old is a 6-foot-8, 315-pound veteran who played 41 games (21 starts) the past four seasons with the Houston Texans.
Heck started four games last year with Houston.
Okwara, 26, was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft out of Notre Dame by the Detroit Lions. He played in nine games last season for Detroit, starting once.
In other injury news, rookie cornerback Max Melton remains in concussion protocol.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Cardinals place Jonah Williams on IR, posing problems for offensive line
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