Mike LaFleur won his first game as Arizona Cardinals head coach on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The last Cardinals coach to do that was Don Coryell in 1973 - 14 years before LaFleur was born, the team site noted.
Arizona beat the Los Angeles Chargers 26-14, ending a streak of 12 previous head coaches who failed to win their debuts. Jacoby Brissett threw for 277 yards and a touchdown, Chad Ryland made four field goals, and the defense held Justin Herbert's offense to 268 yards and 14 points, according to azcardinals.com and ESPN's game coverage.
For a roster that added 18 new players and entered the week as a heavy underdog, the debut was less about nostalgia than about finishing drives and forcing turnovers.
How the debut was built
Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, the No. 3 overall pick, scored Arizona's first touchdown of the season on a 5-yard run, ESPN reported. Love finished with 41 yards on 11 carries and split work with Tyler Allgeier.
Trey McBride remained the offense's constant - a 27-yard catch on the first play of the game and the 3-yard touchdown reception that followed Simi Fehoko's blocked punt in the fourth quarter, per the Cardinals' site.
That blocked-punt sequence was the turning point LaFleur's staff pointed to. Facing fourth-and-1 at his own 40 early in the fourth, LaFleur punted. The defense held. Fehoko broke through. Two plays later, Brissett found McBride and Arizona led 23-14. Ryland's 49-yard field goal later made it 26-14.
Safety Andrew Wingard forced a fumble and intercepted a pass, the club reported, after a week of public criticism directed at the defense and coordinator Nick Rallis. "Everyone has been trashing this defense, trashing coach Rallis," Wingard said on azcardinals.com. The Chargers managed only 81 rushing yards. Brissett, asked about the unit afterward, said the defense "played a hell of a game."
Red-zone unfinished business
LaFleur and Brissett both flagged red-zone efficiency. Arizona reached the red zone four times and kicked field goals on three of those trips, the team site reported - a formula LaFleur said will lose more often than it wins over a full season. NFL game summary figures listed Arizona at 2-for-5 in the red zone (40%) while controlling the ball for 37:31.
