Through the first six weeks of the 2015 NFL season, the Cardinals rank as the 4^th best pass offense by Football Outsiders’ DVOA, while the Steelers rank as the league’s 11^th best pass defense. The Cardinals offensive success can be attributed to a combination of Carson Palmer’s return, the continued development of John Brown, and the improvement across the offensive line (along with a host of other factors), and last week’s matchup against the Steelers gives us an opportunity to look at a snapshot of the Cardinals’ pass offense, dissect it schematically, and see how they have found success.

(Cardinals: 0 – Steelers: 0) 1^st and 10 – 14:57 in the 1^st

 

• On the first play of the game, the Steelers show man coverage pre snap to counter the Cardinals empty backfield look. Once the ball is snapped the Steelers rotate from their pre snap man coverage look into Cover 3.
• The #1 and #2 receivers to the closed and open side of the formation run mirrored route concepts with the #1 receivers running curls and the two slot receivers—John Brown (open side) and Larry Fitzgerald (closed side)—running seam routes.
• With good position on John Brown, Ross Cockrell is in position to contest the pass, but isn’t able to effectively play the pocket of the receiver (rake between the arms to breakup the pass) and loses the clash against Brown for the ball; it’s an exceptional play by Brown.

(Cardinals: 0 – Steelers: 0) 3^rd and 2 – 10:14 in the 1^st

 

• In almost the exact formation (this time, the #3 receiver—Jermaine Gresham—to the top of the formation is in a two point stance) and personnel grouping—12 personnel—as the last play, the Cardinals come back on the following drive with Daniel Fells and Andre Ellington aligned as the #1 receivers at each side of the formation.
• John Brown and Larry Fitzgerald run post patterns in the middle of the field to draw in the safeties as the defense positions itself in Cover 2. Toward the open side of the formation, Andre Ellington runs a fade route into the soft spot of the zone and catches Mike Mitchell in over pursuit of the pattern run by Brown.

(Cardinals: 0 – Steelers: 0) 3^rd and 3 – 8:20 in the 1^st

 

• The Cardinals line up in 10 personnel (four wide recievers), while the Steelers counter with their dime package (five defensive backs).
• To the bottom of the screen, the Cardinals run a mesh combination to counter the Steelers man coverage, but the Steelers are well equipped to handle this schematically, with James Harrison and Bud Dupree left to wall off in breaking routes. The mesh combination allows the possibility for John Brown (#1) to be set free on a pick from Jaron Brown (#2), while it simultaneously allows for a high-low option between Jaron Brown (low) and Larry Fitzgerald (high (#3)).
• To the top of the screen, where the real action happens, Antwon Blake lines up pre snap over #2 (in the slot) Michael Floyd in press man and falls for a fake outside off the snap as Michael Floyd streaks into the end zone on a slant. What’s difficult to see from this angle is that Sean Spence tips the ball at the line of scrimmage.

(Cardinals: 10 – Steelers: 15) 1^st and 10 – 2:09 in the 3^rd

 

• John Brown lines up as the #1 receiver to the closed side of the formation (the side with the tight end) in a plus split (between two and three yards on top of the numbers). To counter, Antwon Blake lines up with an inside shade to try and take away any inside breaking routes; from a plus split with an outside release, a receiver is likely (as a generalization) to run a fade/go or a comeback.
• To counter the Steelers’ blitz, the Cardinals go max protect and leave their tight end and running back in to block the extra rusher.
• The Steelers line up in Cover 1, and Carson Palmer recognizes that it is unlikely that free safety Robert Golden will be able to help on the fade route to John Brown from each player’s respective position on the field.
• While Antwon Blake outruns John Brown’s fade route considerably at the top of the screen, Carson Palmer is able to recognize this poor coverage immediately and intentionally throw the pass short of his receiver; notice when Palmer starts to throw: Blake is several yards ahead of his man.

Against the Steelers, The Cardinals had the 4^th most receiving yards in a game of any team this season. However, what’s most important is how they accomplished this.

To this point, Carson Palmer has attempted to throw deep—20 yards or more downfield—on a higher percent of passes (24.4%) than all but three other quarterbacks. More importantly, Palmer has thrown for more yards in the air (passing yards minus yards after the catch) than any other quarterback. * The Cardinals are currently ranked as the 4^th ranked passing offense by Football Outsiders’ DVOA, because they have not only been able to throw deep in 2015, but because they’ve been able to do so effectively.

*Deep Passing and air yard data is provided by ProFootballFocus