Arizona currently ranks last in each of the five major offensive categories: Points, Yards, First Downs, Net Yards per Attempt, and Yards per Carry. That is a remarkable run of futility due in no small part to the worst offensive line in football. Consider that through 15 games:

• Arizona has scored 201 points; Buffalo ranks 31st with 227 points.
• Arizona has gained just 3,667 yards, the fewest yards through 15 games of any team since 2008; Buffalo ranks 31st with 4,397 yards.
• Arizona has only 227 first downs; Miami is 31st with 235 first downs.
• Arizona averages 4.8 NY/A; Buffalo ranks 31st at 5.0.
• Arizona averages 3.8 YPC; the Bucs and Jets round out the bottom 3 at 3.9 YPC.

The Cardinals could conceivably move out of the cellar in a few of those categories, particularly YPC. But if not, Arizona would be just the 5th team since the merger to finish last in all 5 of these categories. Who were the first four?

The 2002 expansion Texans with a rookie David Carr were the last such team.  Houston went 4-12 and earned the 3rd pick in the 2003 draft, where the team drafted Andre Johnson.

The 1988 Lions with Rusty Hilger and Chuck Long went 4-12.  This offense was absolutely dreadful, but things would soon change: Detroit selected Barry Sanders  with the 3rd pick in the ’89 Draft.

The 1976 expansion Bucs with Steve Spurrier were the first such team.  We all know about how bad that initial Bucs team was: Tampa Bay  drafted USC RB Ricky Bell with the first pick in the ’77 Draft in an attempt to fix the offense, but it didn’t work.

That’s because the 1977 Bucs also join the list, with the three-headed quarterback monster of Gary Huff, Randy Hedberg, and Jeb Blount.  The Bucs earned the first pick, traded down with the Houston Oilers (who wanted Earl Campbell) and selected Doug Williams with the 17th pick.

For Arizona, there hope that was rookie quarterback Josh Rosen would be the most NFL-ready quarterback, and a player who would team with All-Pro RB David Johnson (returning from injury) and HOF WR Larry Fitzgerald to revitalize the Cardinals offense.  Instead, Rosen has been awful in just about every way possible as the Cardinals offensive line has been decimated by injuries; Rosen has the 5th-worst sack rate, the 2nd-worst completion percentage, a bottom-3 interception rate, the 2nd-worst touchdown rate, and a below-average yards per completion.  As a result, he ranks half a yard behind everyone in both NY/A and ANY/A. Yes, the offensive line has been awful, but there’s no mistaking how bad Rosen’s statistics truly are.

And it’s not like his superstar teammates have been much better. Johnson has finished with 10 carries and a sub-3.8 YPC average in 12 of 15 games this year, while posting the worst catch rate among all running backs with at least 40 targets.  And Fitzgerald is averaging a career-low 46.5 yards per game.

With a better (and healthier) offensive line, there will be hope for a Goff-like turnaround from Rosen in year two.  All we can say is he’s off to a good start at mirroring Goff’s NFL career.