Kliff Kingsbury wants Cardinals to end regular season stronger at home – AZCentral.com

The Cardinals have the NFL’s best record at 10-2, and are undefeated road warriors at 7-0 after they beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday. 

That’s cushioned them to be head and shoulders atop the NFC West, but the two losses from their five home games isn’t good enough to them.

Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury wants to turn a new leaf for their last three home games. That includes their second matchup against the division’s second-place Los Angeles Rams (8-4) on Dec. 13, Indianapolis Colts (7-6) on Christmas, and season-ending game against Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 9.

“With this team, we’ve really tried to stay in the moment, stay present and just keep rocking. We want to play well at home. That’s really our goal to be better at home,” Kingsbury said. “We haven’t been very good the last couple times in front of the Red Sea, and we want to make sure we come out and get that figured out and play at a high level.”

The Cardinals most recent home game was their 34-10 blowout loss to Carolina on Nov. 14, which remains a bad taste in their mouth.

Even though Arizona is the league’s fifth-lowest 11 turnovers this season, nine of those giveaways have been committed at home. In addition, as the league’s fourth-best scoring defense, the Cardinals have allowed 18.7 points per game, compared to over 20 in three of their five home games.

Kingsbury didn’t have an answer for reporters when he was asked about the turnovers at home this season.

Arizona’s defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said during the week after that loss, “If you’re going to be a dominant football team in this league, home games have to be your advantage, it can’t be your disadvantage.”

They have the chance to earn their first playoff spot in six years, get first-round bye if they maintain the NFC’s best record, and get home field advantage.

It would be a monumental collapse if the Cardinals get to the postseason after Kingsbury and the team’s landmark year just to play underwhelming and possibly get bounced out at home.

Rams in Cardinals’ way

The Rams are in the way of getting that home field advantage, and clinching the NFC West title.

“It’s pretty obvious to see that we haven’t been the same team at home that we’ve been on the road, and so we’ve talked about that,” Kingsbury said. “We’re gonna do some different things to try and address that and come out and play good. We’re not gonna make a huge deal out of it. We know they’re a very good football team, and they’ve been for a very long time, and we have our hands full.”

The Rams have upgraded their roster since the Cardinals routed them by 17 points on Oct. 3 in Inglewood. Los Angeles has added some big names to their offense and defense in Odell Beckham, Jr. and Von Miller, respectively, and their quarterback Matthew Stafford is tied with Minnesota Vikings’ Kirk Cousins for the league’s second-best passer rating at 106.3 to Kyler Murray’s 112.2.

Plus, L.A. got the win on Sunday over the Jacksonville Jaguars to snap their three-game skid, so they’ll be ready with a vengeance in Glendale next Monday.

“They continue to evolve just like everybody else. I think offensively, tremendous group of wideouts, (quarterback Matthew) Stafford has been a great player in this league for a long time, and Sean (McVay) always has a great plan,” Kingsbury said. “So they’ll continue to do what they do offensively. They’ve dropped him (Stafford) back a little bit more than they did previously, and he’s having a lot of success.

“Defensively, they’re gonna do what they do. They’re great upfront with those pass rushers. They got (Aaron) Donald coming at you and (Jalen) Ramsey roaming that secondary, so it’s a huge challenge. They looked great (Sunday) when you watch that film. It will take our best effort.”

Kingsbury’s update on injuries

Kingsbury said their starting running back Chase Edmonds (ankle), starting left guard Justin Pugh (calf) and long snapper Aaron Brewer (arm) could be back against the Rams. 

Brewer and Edmonds have been on the injured reserve since Nov. 11 and 13, respectively, and Pugh has missed practice since Nov. 5. The last game they played in was at San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 7.

“We’re always going to try to do what’s best for the player and be smart about it. As far as those three guys going, they’ve made significant progress,” Kingsbury said. “It will come down to Sunday whether they’re ready to go or not, but we need them back. They’re three huge contributors to us as a team and they’ve been really good for us since we’ve been here.”

Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.

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