ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals saw running back Bam Knight carted off in the first quarter of Week 15 action against the Houston Texans.
Knight is officially questionable to return with an ankle injury after being tackled on his first carry of the game.
FOX’s broadcast says Knight hobbled to the sideline and was in obvious pain.
This article will be updated if more info becomes available.
Emari Demercado — who is just arriving back from injury himself — will look to carry the load with Michael Carter moving forward in Arizona’s backfield.
Cardinals’ Injury Struggles Continue
Knight had filled in admirably for a Cardinals running back room that has lost James Conner and Trey Benson previously this season, though Arizona’s ground game has taken a massive step back since last season.
The Cardinals, as a result, have shifted towards a more pass-heavy approach, creating an imbalance in their attack and generating easier looks for opposing defenses.
Within the last three weeks, Arizona’s thrown the ball more than any other team in the league while their rushing attemps per game ranks 31st.
“Stats in a bubble don’t tell the picture. They give you some information, but they don’t tell the picture. When we’ve been down what we’ve been down, you’re not going to run it. You’re not even going to try to run it because you can’t run, you’re running out of possession, so that plays a piece,” Jonathan Gannon said.
“But specifically, to your question, I always say when the defense knows you have to drop back, they have the advantage. Throughout a game, I do think the best offenses out there are pretty balanced. Then with saying that you want to stay balanced, but it also becomes who you have, what do you do well and (then) who are you playing and what do they do well? If they’re selling out to stop the run, why are we banging our head against the wall? Let’s throw it.
“If they’re putting two guys outside on certain receivers or playing shell concepts, you have to be able to try to run it because that should be the strength of a call there. When you’re in shell, the stress on a defense is the run game because you’re light in the box. So, it’s a little bit of both, I think. What you do well and what they do well, but there’s no doubt (that) you need to have efficient runs whenever you’re calling them to make sure that you’re staying ahead of the chains. I do believe that.
“Even with–not to go back to Sunday, but how many times did he throw it? Now the game got a little out of hand, so they’re kind of running it and then he got pulled, but when you look at his best games (and) their offense, he’s not throwing it more than 30 times, so it’s balanced is my point. It’s balanced.”
