azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Sept. 28, 2004 12:00 AM
Let's talk about who really dropped the ball Sunday.
Was it quarterback Josh McCown, whose three fumbles cost the Cardinals in a 6-3 loss to Atlanta?
Or was it coach Dennis Green, whose pride seems to interfere with the team's ability to improve the offensive line?
The line of accountability forms to the left, gentlemen. Sunday's loss was a group effort, and it has become clear by the look on Green's face that he didn't realize the depth of repairs needed in this extreme makeover.
The team has shifted from perspiration to desperation mode, folks.
Warning sign 1: Green trumpets the hiring of offensive consultant Carl Hargrave, a defensive coordinator from an NAIA school who never has been an NFL coordinator.
Warning sign 2: Green takes over play calling in the Falcons game.
Suddenly, with New Orleans on the horizon, the Cardinals are in danger of starting 0-4 for the first time in 18 years.
This is foreign territory for Green, too. He hasn't started 0-3 as a head coach since 1984, when he was trying to pump life into a floundering Northwestern program. It can't be easy for a man who rebuilt Stanford in three years and suffered only one losing season with Minnesota in 10 tries. In his debut with the Vikings, he went 4-0 in the preseason and then 11-5 with a playoff invitation.
"You make it seem like it's easy to go 9-7," he said.
No.
"Good, because that success on 9-7 seasons is very tough. It really is."
Fair enough, because Green worked hard to excel in the NFL, where he managed eight playoff trips with Minnesota. But success often breeds a sense of infallibility, and the fear here is that Green's pride could interfere with sound judgment, such as acknowledging he has made questionable decisions regarding the offensive line.
L.J. Shelton was on the field only in special-teams situations Sunday even though Green suggested earlier in the week that he might play more. Did Green consider using him on the line?
"Yeah, we did. I think but, we didn't and, you know, I think that, you know (we) . . . considered it," he said.
Ohhhh-kaaay.
Yes, the dismissal of Pete Kendall is a tired subject, but it's hard to ignore when Jets running back Curtis Martin says in the New York papers that Kendall, starting for the Jets at left guard, is "one of the best acquisitions this year" and that "he gives the line a swagger."
Sure, McCown shouldn't have fumbled, but a porous offensive line and a tight end, Freddie Jones, who doesn't always seem to take pride in his blocking, didn't help McCown's cause.
Credit Green with using Monday's news conference to clarify that McCown is still his quarterback. No one can fault the coach for pulling the third-year player Sunday or for sticking with him.
McCown, meanwhile, said he feels bad because "what should be talked about (is the defense shutting down Michael Vick) but instead we're talking about my fumbles and the quarterback change. That's the stuff that bothers me. That's the stuff that hurts me."
It is a shame. Because there were highlights, from the defense's stand to McCown's 13 consecutive passes to the efforts of receivers Bryant Johnson and Karl Williams.
But they're easy to overlook when the team is 0-3, and they will continue to be overlooked until the team starts winning.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0927boivin0928.html
Let's talk about who really dropped the ball Sunday.
Was it quarterback Josh McCown, whose three fumbles cost the Cardinals in a 6-3 loss to Atlanta?
Or was it coach Dennis Green, whose pride seems to interfere with the team's ability to improve the offensive line?
The line of accountability forms to the left, gentlemen. Sunday's loss was a group effort, and it has become clear by the look on Green's face that he didn't realize the depth of repairs needed in this extreme makeover.
The team has shifted from perspiration to desperation mode, folks.
Warning sign 1: Green trumpets the hiring of offensive consultant Carl Hargrave, a defensive coordinator from an NAIA school who never has been an NFL coordinator.
Warning sign 2: Green takes over play calling in the Falcons game.
Suddenly, with New Orleans on the horizon, the Cardinals are in danger of starting 0-4 for the first time in 18 years.
This is foreign territory for Green, too. He hasn't started 0-3 as a head coach since 1984, when he was trying to pump life into a floundering Northwestern program. It can't be easy for a man who rebuilt Stanford in three years and suffered only one losing season with Minnesota in 10 tries. In his debut with the Vikings, he went 4-0 in the preseason and then 11-5 with a playoff invitation.
"You make it seem like it's easy to go 9-7," he said.
No.
"Good, because that success on 9-7 seasons is very tough. It really is."
Fair enough, because Green worked hard to excel in the NFL, where he managed eight playoff trips with Minnesota. But success often breeds a sense of infallibility, and the fear here is that Green's pride could interfere with sound judgment, such as acknowledging he has made questionable decisions regarding the offensive line.
L.J. Shelton was on the field only in special-teams situations Sunday even though Green suggested earlier in the week that he might play more. Did Green consider using him on the line?
"Yeah, we did. I think but, we didn't and, you know, I think that, you know (we) . . . considered it," he said.
Ohhhh-kaaay.
Yes, the dismissal of Pete Kendall is a tired subject, but it's hard to ignore when Jets running back Curtis Martin says in the New York papers that Kendall, starting for the Jets at left guard, is "one of the best acquisitions this year" and that "he gives the line a swagger."
Sure, McCown shouldn't have fumbled, but a porous offensive line and a tight end, Freddie Jones, who doesn't always seem to take pride in his blocking, didn't help McCown's cause.
Credit Green with using Monday's news conference to clarify that McCown is still his quarterback. No one can fault the coach for pulling the third-year player Sunday or for sticking with him.
McCown, meanwhile, said he feels bad because "what should be talked about (is the defense shutting down Michael Vick) but instead we're talking about my fumbles and the quarterback change. That's the stuff that bothers me. That's the stuff that hurts me."
It is a shame. Because there were highlights, from the defense's stand to McCown's 13 consecutive passes to the efforts of receivers Bryant Johnson and Karl Williams.
But they're easy to overlook when the team is 0-3, and they will continue to be overlooked until the team starts winning.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0927boivin0928.html
