INDIANAPOLIS — Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Trey Benson didn’t necessarily wow the crowd behind eight carries for 21 yards in his team’s preseason opener loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Seeing about the same number of touches in the Cardinals’ 21-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday, Benson flashed his big-play potential and vision.
In just over a quarter of work, Benson averaged 4.8 yards per carry on his way to 43 yards on nine rushing attempts.
And it could have been much more.
Recording his fourth carry of the night, Benson nearly had a house call. After shaking multiple Colts defenders, the third-round pick turned up the field for a 19-yard gain. Had it not been for safety Nick Cross, Benson had a clear path to pay dirt.
It wasn’t only the Colts defenders Benson had to worry about, though.
On Benson’s final carry of the evening, the running back again made Colts defenders miss as he shifted his way 20 yards to Indianapolis’ two-yard line.
Unfortunately for Benson and the offense, his efforts were for naught thanks to a Christian Jones holding penalty. It was a tough series for Jones, who picked up three straight holding calls.
Benson, who entered the game listed as Arizona’s RB2 behind James Conner, won’t see the lost yardage on the stat sheet. He and the coaching staff will, however, see improved tape.
Much to clean up
While Jones was dinged for numerous penalties, he wasn’t the only one caught having mental lapses.
As a team, Arizona committed 11 penalties for 82 yards.
The sloppiness on display simply cannot happen if the Cardinals hope to improve their win-loss record from a year ago.
“I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. One of our modes of play is our brain and we didn’t use it tonight,” Gannon said. “That falls strictly on me.
“I thought we were ready to play physically, violence was on display, good effort and finish, but I just told them we’re not going to beat anybody making those kinds of mistakes and you can’t self-destruct and we did on all three phases. That falls on me and the coaches. We gotta get it cleaned up fast.”
Tune takes Round 2
For a second consecutive week, Clayton Tune outperformed Desmond Ridder, further solidifying his case for QB2.
Completing 80% of his throws (8-of-10) for 79 yards, Tune again looked comfortable operating the offense after getting the starting nod on Saturday.
He capped off a strong first half with a 12-yard touchdown run.
“I feel like I’ve put in some good work,” Tune said postgame. “There’s still work to be done. That’s my mindset. Go in, watch the tape, learn from it, come back next week ready to work and build on it.”
“I feel like I’m playing more on time, playing quicker, getting through my reads, seeing the defense and just being decisive,” the QB added.
Ridder on the other hand completed 60% of his passes (6-of-10) for 71 yards, though saw the majority of his yardage (42) come in the final series of the game.
A false start on Dennis Daley ended the drive and the game, leaving Ridder without another chance at finding the end zone.
“He had some good balls in there. I thought he made some plays with his legs,” Gannon said. “Would have liked to see the last play get off, but we couldn’t get it done.”
The Thomas twins
Saturday night was another strong showing from 2024 fifth-rounder Xavier Thomas.
Recording his second sack of the preseason along with two QB hits and a tackle for loss, Thomas had good pressure on Indianapolis signal callers.
For someone who said their legs were shaking on the first play of the preseason opener against the Saints, Thomas is looking more at home and appears to be trending up the depth chart.
“Today I pretty much knew what to expect and things like that. It’s always good to get more comfortable,” Thomas said postgame.
The rookie wasn’t the only Thomas who stood out on Saturday.
Third-year pro Cameron Thomas was also a factor in the backfield, getting to quarterback Sam Ehlinger for a sack and pressuring fellow signal callers Jason Bean and Valley native Kedon Slovis on multiple occasions.
The Cardinals still have question marks surrounding their pass rush after projected starter BJ Ojulari went down with a reported torn ACL during training camp, ending his season before it began.
Could either Thomas find a more prominent role in the rotation? A strong showing next week in Denver could press the issue.
Aside for the Thomas twins, Victor Dimukeje was another name getting added pressure against the Colts and narrowly missed out on a pair of sacks.
Give me that!
Kei’Trel Clark and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson provided an added boost in Arizona’s secondary on Saturday, each forcing a turnover and flipping the field in the Cardinals’ favor.
Clark put the hammer down on wide receiver Anthony Gould to force a fumble in the waning moments of the first quarter.
The second-year pro flew around the football field for most of the night, a positive development in a cornerbacks room where roles are still up for grabs.
“I thought he looked violent, physical. He had a couple good coverages in there, forced the fumble,” Gannon said. “He looked good in there and he played two spots today, so it was good to see.”
It was Taylor-Demerson, better known as Rabbit, who had the play of the evening.
With 1:51 left in the first half, Taylor-Demerson snagged a pass near the sideline intended for wide receiver D.J. Montgomery and managed to keep his feet inbounds.
Had it not been for the duo’s takeaways, the score would have looked a lot different in Gannon’s eyes behind the mountain of penalties.
“The takeaways were good. That’s the reason we stayed in the game,” Gannon said. “Without those takeaways, I think we get the brakes beat off of us, truthfully. I gotta watch the tape, but I know the interception was a phenomenal play. I thought he had a couple tackles in there. He looked good.”
