Somers: Kliff Kingsbury says Cardinals need to improve in a hurry, but is it possible?

The Cardinals plucked the usual reasons off the shelves to explain their 44-21 loss to the Chiefs in the season opener Sunday afternoon at State Farm Stadium.

They didn’t practice all that well leading up to the game, coach Kliff Kingsbury said. The attention to detail needed to be greater, quarterback Kyler Murray said. And the Chiefs, everyone agreed, are pretty good again.

Left unsaid by the Cardinals, but hardly anyone else who watched, was the possibility the Cardinals just aren’t very good right now and might not be this entire season.

Yes, it was just one game. But what if it’s the first of many similar ones to come?

The prospect of that is real, because the Cardinals looked not only ill-prepared to beat the Chiefs on Sunday, but also ill-equipped.

The Chiefs could have toyed with the Cardinals Sunday, allowed them to stay in the game, to believe they were close to them in talent, coaching and player evaluation and development.

Instead, they reminded the Cardinals how good you have to be to advance to four consecutive conference championship games, and how far the Cardinals are away from doing so.

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Chiefs fans announced their presence early, finishing the national anthem by substituting “the Chiefs” for “the Brave.”

Minutes later, the Chiefs began beating the Cardinals with maddening efficiency. They scored touchdowns on six of their first nine possessions. They led 14-0 at the end of their first quarter, 23-7 at halftime and 37-7 after three quarters.

“They beat us in every way,” Kingsbury said. “There’s no denying it, no hiding from it. We didn’t execute in any phase, and they played at a high level.”

Asked to explain why all that happened, Kingsbury said the Chiefs “are a really good team, and if you don’t show up — all of us, coaches, players, the entire group — and be dialed in and take advantage of any opportunities you have, that’s what is going to happen.”

The remedy is practicing better, Kingsbury said. “You can’t say you’re going to do it on game day and not do it in practice.”

The Cardinals played like a team that hadn’t practiced well, but if that was the only reason for turning in one the worst performances in a season opener in franchise history, the concern would not be so great. Practice habits can be addressed and improved.

What can’t be, not in September, are personnel issues, and the Cardinals have some severe ones, mostly on defense.

At one point, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had as many touchdown passes, three, as incompletions. He finished with five, touchdown passes that is.

Meanwhile, Murray was finding little space to throw and few open receivers to throw to.

About the best thing the Cardinals did all day on offense was avoid turnovers, but the Chiefs didn’t need the help.

Their touchdowns came after drives of 75, 86, 75, 75, 66 and 66 yards. Mahomes’ touchdown passes all came from inside the 10-yard line.

It’s as if the Chiefs made a conscious decision to highlight every weakness in the Cardinals' defense. From the off-season decisions not to adequately address the pass rush and cornerback positions, to recent injuries that depleted talent and depth along the defensive line and at cornerback.

With defensive lineman J.J. Watt out with a calf injury, the Cardinals starting defensive line was Zach Allen, Michael Dogbe and Rashard Lawrence. They are probably fine young men who can make a difference in their communities, but less so in NFL games. At best, they are solid, reliable, but not the cause of insomnia for offensive coordinators.

The Cardinals had no pass rush to speak of, and with recent injuries at cornerback, defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had to concoct nickel alignments that sometimes included more linebackers than corners.

Bad luck when it comes to injuries that caused part of that, but so did a front office that decided not to replace pass rusher Chandler Jones, or to adequately address the need at cornerback.

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The Cardinals needed defenders beyond safeties Budda Baker and Jalen Thompson to step forward Sunday, but it didn’t happen.

The Cardinals are hoping Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins, first-round picks in 2020 and 2021, will develop reliable players, if not stars this year,

 That development was not apparent on Sunday. Collins looked confused at times, and Simmons was beaten twice for touchdowns.

“I got a long ways to go,” Simmons said. “I’m a lot better than what I put out there. But like I said, you don’t win the Super Bowl based on week one. You don’t make your career based off one game.”

Simmons is right. Forming conclusions after one game should be done with caution. And teams that are blown out in week one can’t be written off. The Cardinals beat the Titans by 25 points in the opener a year ago, and Tennessee went on to win the AFC South. The Packers lost to the Saints by 35 points in week one last year and won the NFC North.

After week one, the Cardinals already were blowing the dust off cliches, vowing to take a look in the mirror and find a sense of urgency in practice this week.

“We’ve got to get a lot better in a hurry,” Kingsbury said.

There’s no arguing that. What remains questionable is whether they are capable of it.

Reach Kent Somers at Kent.Somers@gannett.com. Follow him on twitter @kentsomers. Hear Somers every Monday and Friday at 7:30 a.m. on The Drive with Jody Oehler on Fox Sports 910 AM.

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