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Mike McCoy's out because of failure to get Cardinals, Rosen rolling

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals fell to 1-6 after an embarrassing 45-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in prime time on Thursday night. Arizona coach Steve Wilks summed up the game with one word: "Unacceptable." He might as well have been talking about the entire season.

For the sixth straight game, the offense wasn't just bad. It was abysmal. The Cardinals had just 83 yards of offense at halftime and finished a sixth consecutive contest with less than 300 yards (223). It has become a broken record that won't stop spinning.

That's why Mike McCoy's time as Cardinals offensive coordinator is over. He will be replaced by quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich, the team announced Friday.

Consider:

  • Quarterback Josh Rosen threw two pick-sixes in the first quarter, becoming the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to accomplish the feat. He finished with five turnovers, with another interception and two fumbles. He's one of three players in the Super Bowl era to be sacked six times, have five turnovers and throw two pick-sixes, according to Elias.

  • The run game was almost nonexistent, in part because the Cardinals trailed 14-0 early. But also because McCoy's playcalling has consistently showed a lack of creativity. After Thursday's game, 49.2 percent of the Cardinals' runs have been up the middle. Against the Broncos, the Cardinals had 20 runs; of those, 18 were between the tackles and 10 were straight up the middle.

  • The Cardinals are averaging 220.9 total yards per game this season, the fewest by any team through seven games since the 2009 Oakland Raiders, who also averaged 220.9 with JaMarcus Russell at quarterback.

At one point in Thursday's game, the Cardinals were 0-for-7 on third down, extending their streak of third-down failures to 18 straight, which dated back to the end of Arizona's Week 5 win over the 49ers.

Rosen said there's a lot to fix.

"We've got a lot to learn," he said, "especially when we check out the tape."

Firing McCoy has as much to do with the future as it does the Cardinals' current offensive ineptitude.

There were times, in between the interceptions, when Rosen showed flashes. There was his pass to Larry Fitzgerald in the first half that was thrown only where Fitzgerald could catch it. There was Rosen's 14-yard run on a broken play that moved the Cardinals into the red zone.

But Rosen needs grooming. That wasn't coming from McCoy, despite his success with the likes of Peyton Manning in Denver and Philip Rivers in San Diego. Rosen has the second-lowest completion percentage (55.0) among rookie quarterbacks this year who have thrown at least 100 attempts. All three of his interceptions on Thursday came when he was hurried. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Rosen took 2.5 seconds or less on all three of his picks.

"It was frustrating," Rosen said. "You just wish you had some certain decisions back here and there."

Rosen also struggled against a four-man rush, seeing defensive schemes he didn't know how to handle. Against a four-man rush, he completed 50 percent of his passes, threw two of his three picks and was sacked all six times.

"I 100 percent have a lot to learn," he said. "More to learn than I would've wished for, but we have a lot to learn. Me, in particular."

Heading into Week 7, the offense was ranked last in yards per game, rushing yards per game, rushing yards per play, first downs per game, third down conversions, third down conversion percentage, red zone dives and time of possession.

But none of this came to a surprise to the thousands of Broncos fans who took over State Farm Stadium on Thursday.

McCoy, who was fired by the Broncos as offensive coordinator after Week 11 last season, had the 31st-ranked offensive efficiency last season -- and the 31st this season heading into Thursday night. In 2016, the Chargers were ranked 17th in offensive efficiency; McCoy was the head coach then, while Ken Whisenhunt called plays.