azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist
TEMPE — Dennis Green found plenty of people to blame for the Cardinals' 23-12 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
His players.
His staff.
The dog who ate his game plan.
Funny, though, how he never got around to pointing the finger at the person most responsible for the Cardinals' 0-2 start.
Himself.
Arizona has scored just two touchdowns in its first two games, and the culpability lies with an offensive line that is in over its head.
A line that was thrown in the deep end before it knew how to swim.
Quarterback Josh McCown had to run for his life Sunday, and that's not just a figure of speech. He was sacked five times and chased out of the pocket nearly every time he dropped back to pass.
Green said there were at least 10 plays in which Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel came through the line untouched. It may be impossible to judge McCown's growth as a quarterback this season because he'll spend most of his Sundays just trying to stay in one piece.
“I just know it can't happen all the time, his getting hit by three or four guys on every play. It is not fair to him,” said center Alex Stepanovich.
An angry Green blasted his offense at halftime — “I'm going to fire some guys,” he yelled, according to one player — and lashed out again after the game.
“We're not on the same page. That's a shame because system-wise, style-wise, this is probably the best offense in the National Football League right now,” he said.
“It's hard to believe that we created it and we don't know how to run it. That's very frustrating for a football coach.. . . I'm just lucky that my emotions aren't worse or that the defensive players' emotions aren't worse because I just don't sense the intensity.. . .
“We're a long way from where I envision this offense. It's hard to believe we're that far (away).”
What did Green expect?
He cut his best offensive lineman from last year, center Pete Kendall, and replaced him with a rookie in Stepanovich.
He benched his second-best lineman, L.J. Shelton, and hasn't let him out of the doghouse. Shelton's lone action Sunday came on field goal attempts.
He moved Leonard Davis to left tackle, where he hasn't played since college, and at left guard is starting Reggie Wells, who had one career start before this season.
Did Green really believe that he could shuffle the offensive line, stick a rookie center in front of a quarterback with three career starts, and the offense would roll merrily along?
That's either arrogance or stupidity. Based on Green's comments about his offensive scheme, you can assume it's the former.
And now his personnel moves have come to pass.
Then again, maybe that's not the best choice of words.
Stepanovich, in particular, struggled against New England. But that's to be expected of a rookie making line calls against a Bill Belichick-coached defense.
“We were supposed to be protecting one way, and we were protecting backward,” said tackle Anthony Clement. “Things were just happening. As an offensive line, we screwed up.”
It was interesting — and instructive — to listen to Green's postgame monologue.
He praised Emmitt Smith. He defended McCown. The inference was obvious: It was the offensive line's fault.
Then there was this curious comment: Asked why the offense was struggling, Green said, “New staff.”
Hmm, wasn't one of Green's selling points in his job interview that he would “coach up” the underachieving Cardinals?
Instead, Arizona is 0-2 for the third time in four years and staring at 0-5 before its bye week.
But don't look at the head coach.
If Green were the captain on the Titanic, he'd blame the iceberg.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=28324
TEMPE — Dennis Green found plenty of people to blame for the Cardinals' 23-12 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
His players.
His staff.
The dog who ate his game plan.
Funny, though, how he never got around to pointing the finger at the person most responsible for the Cardinals' 0-2 start.
Himself.
Arizona has scored just two touchdowns in its first two games, and the culpability lies with an offensive line that is in over its head.
A line that was thrown in the deep end before it knew how to swim.
Quarterback Josh McCown had to run for his life Sunday, and that's not just a figure of speech. He was sacked five times and chased out of the pocket nearly every time he dropped back to pass.
Green said there were at least 10 plays in which Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel came through the line untouched. It may be impossible to judge McCown's growth as a quarterback this season because he'll spend most of his Sundays just trying to stay in one piece.
“I just know it can't happen all the time, his getting hit by three or four guys on every play. It is not fair to him,” said center Alex Stepanovich.
An angry Green blasted his offense at halftime — “I'm going to fire some guys,” he yelled, according to one player — and lashed out again after the game.
“We're not on the same page. That's a shame because system-wise, style-wise, this is probably the best offense in the National Football League right now,” he said.
“It's hard to believe that we created it and we don't know how to run it. That's very frustrating for a football coach.. . . I'm just lucky that my emotions aren't worse or that the defensive players' emotions aren't worse because I just don't sense the intensity.. . .
“We're a long way from where I envision this offense. It's hard to believe we're that far (away).”
What did Green expect?
He cut his best offensive lineman from last year, center Pete Kendall, and replaced him with a rookie in Stepanovich.
He benched his second-best lineman, L.J. Shelton, and hasn't let him out of the doghouse. Shelton's lone action Sunday came on field goal attempts.
He moved Leonard Davis to left tackle, where he hasn't played since college, and at left guard is starting Reggie Wells, who had one career start before this season.
Did Green really believe that he could shuffle the offensive line, stick a rookie center in front of a quarterback with three career starts, and the offense would roll merrily along?
That's either arrogance or stupidity. Based on Green's comments about his offensive scheme, you can assume it's the former.
And now his personnel moves have come to pass.
Then again, maybe that's not the best choice of words.
Stepanovich, in particular, struggled against New England. But that's to be expected of a rookie making line calls against a Bill Belichick-coached defense.
“We were supposed to be protecting one way, and we were protecting backward,” said tackle Anthony Clement. “Things were just happening. As an offensive line, we screwed up.”
It was interesting — and instructive — to listen to Green's postgame monologue.
He praised Emmitt Smith. He defended McCown. The inference was obvious: It was the offensive line's fault.
Then there was this curious comment: Asked why the offense was struggling, Green said, “New staff.”
Hmm, wasn't one of Green's selling points in his job interview that he would “coach up” the underachieving Cardinals?
Instead, Arizona is 0-2 for the third time in four years and staring at 0-5 before its bye week.
But don't look at the head coach.
If Green were the captain on the Titanic, he'd blame the iceberg.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=28324
