1st and 10: Cardinals Get Exposed By the Chiefs

First: The Cardinals loss this game in the offseason.

• Steve Keim failed to address glaring areas of need at cornerback and in the pass rush. He waited until final cuts to try and add a bandaid in Trayvon Mullen, who was injured and inactive for Week 1. He oddly believes Markus Golden and Dennis Gardeck are a good enough pass rushing duo to handle the job and continues to give Zaven Collins opportunities on a silver platter. Then Kliff Kingsbury failed to prepare his team for Week 1. His offense failed to make adjustments and the team came out playing like it was the fourth preseason game than the real deal. By the way, both received long term contract extensions in the offseason.

And 10:

1. Kliff Kingsbury needs a wheelbarrow too.

• According to Tyreek Hill Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel needs a wheel barrow for his play calling cajones, Kliff might need one for his press conference answers. When asked by local media what the first thing he thinks the Cardinals need to address, Kliff cited their practice habits and urgency. Imagine being the head coach of a team that went 1-5 during the most important time of the season, including absolute no shows against the Lions, Colts and Seahawks and then showing up after a WEek 1 disaster and stating your team needed better practice habits. Are you not the Head Coach, Kliff? Did you not watch your team fail down the stretch? Have you changed nothing?

1. Isaiah Simmons perfectly sums up the Cardinals current situation.

• The Cardinals rewarded two years of mostly underwhelming play by Simmons by giving him the green dot on defense. Simmons should've been wearing a scarlet letter after Sunday. Unable to handle the responsibilities of a classic ILB, the Cardinals moved him to their "star" backer position and essentially built their defense around the unproven former top 10 pick. He was unable to keep up with JuJu Smith Schuster in the slot, unable to contain Travis Kelce and repeatedly pick on by the Chiefs in space, where Simmons was supposed to be at his best. Simmons is not the answer but its too late for the Cardinals to figure that out.

1. The Cardinals offense is predictable.

• Instead of adjusting for the absence of DeAndre Hopkins, the Cardinals trotted out the same offensive game plan they always do. Why didn't the Cardinals throw the ball down field more? Why didn't Kyler use his legs more? These are questions Cardinals fans have repeatedly asked themselves during Kingsbury's tenure and the answer is now pretty clear: Because their head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach has no idea what he's doing.

1. Hollywood Brown did not make much of an impact.

• AJ Brown had 155 receiving yards. Davante Adams had 141. Tyreek Hill had 100 rushing and receiving yards. Hollywood Brown had 4 catches for 43 yards. All of these wide receivers were acquired via trade for at least a first round draft pick and one of them did not pay off immediate dividends: Brown. If Brown is not capable of being a true #1 WR, they overpaid for another team's player. Again.

1. Zaven Collins is not ready for prime time.

• The good news is I can recall at least two nice plays that Collins made on Sunday. He had great coverage down field on an incompletion and a tackle for a loss. The rest was the usual bag of Collins being late to arrive, out of position or otherwise confused as to what he should be doing. So far, Year 2 for Collins doesn't look much different than Year 1, only the Cardinals don't have an insurance policy for him this year.

1. The Cornerbacks are going to be a problem all season, just as everyone predicted.

• We all saw this coming from a mile away so how did Steve Keim not? Even if Trayvon Mullen comes back for the Raiders revenge tour, the team may be without Marco Wilson who limped off the field late against the Chiefs. Even with a full deck, the CB's were going to struggle. If they can't get healthy, the defense can't either.

1. The Cardinals draft class completely no showed Week 1.

• Zero meaningful snaps despite their being ample opportunity all over the roster: that's the total number of snaps the Cardinals rookie class had. With a dire need for healthy pass catches, 2nd round pick Trey McBride was inactive. With a desperate need for a pass rushing spark, Myjai Sanders was inactive and Cameron Thomas didn't play until garbage time. This would be surprising but unfortunately its par for the course for General Manager Steve Keim.

1. Greg Dortch was the silver lining for the Cardinals.

• Dortch led all Cardinals receivers in catches, yards and targets in Week 1. If he could stay on his feet, the Cardinals likely convert a critical 4th down at the end of the 1st half. All in all, its nice to know someone stood out for more right reasons than wrong. Dortch appears to be a guy who can stick and add some quality depth long term to the Cardinals receiving corps.

1. Under the Radar Stars:

• Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker for not being awful.

1. What's Next? @ Las Vegas Raiders

• Its a must win for the Cardinals, let's hope they have a good couple of practices this week!