Is Todd Bowles the new Russ Grimm

[Jay Cardinal]

Ok we all know new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is Bruce Arians' good friend. And we also know that he is replacing a heck of a coach in Ray Horton. Additionally, I doubt the Cards cut 5 of our top 6 defensive backs without the input of their new defensive coordinator.

My question is do you feel Todd Bowles will be held accountable for the defense, should they perform poorly? or will he be given a perpetual pass like Grimm?

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Makes one wonder if this will be the way it is.

 

[Buckybird]

Every HC has a buddy he basically will never fire.

 

[Vermont Maverick]

This is a good point. Unfortunately. By releasing our whole secondary, a built in excuse is in place.

 

[40yearfan]

Ok we all know new defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is Bruce Arians' good friend. And we also know that he is replacing a heck of a coach in Ray Horton. Additionally, I doubt the Cards cut 5 of our top 6 defensive backs without the input of their new defensive coordinator.

My question is do you feel Todd Bowles will be held accountable for the defense, should they perform poorly? or will he be given a perpetual pass like Grimm?

How could you possibly know this? Bowles has been on board for weeks. What would make you think he didn't have any input?

 

[CardsFan88]

Well Arians and him haven't been joined at the hip. He's under the Parcell's school and recently had jobs in Miami and Philly.

 

[asuhoopsnut]

How could you possibly know this? Bowles has been on board for weeks. What would make you think he didn't have any input?

Read his post again.

 

[40yearfan]

Read his post again.

Yep. I read without as with.

Sorry about that.

 

[WarnerHOF]

I don't like his demeanor. He looks like a really nice guy but he has the demeanor of a kid who gets his lunch money stolen everyday.

 

[football karma]

Russ had a far longer honeymoon. In fact, he actually had one.

 

[Stop Whining]

In case you forgot, "They're Cardinal decisions"

 

[Finito]

Wilson was old and even though it sucks its true he's slipped badly the last two years. Rhodes didn't want to be here so why make him stay. gay was below average. Toler did hurt though

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I think he's behind the 8 ball with fans and, unless the defense comes out of the gate strong from week 1, will be the whipping boy because everybody loved Ray.

I'm one to think Horton was overrated and given too much credit. I'm not saying Horton wasn't a good coach, but it was still the players who made the plays. If the players play up to their level, Bowles will be fine. I just think he'll be on a very short leash from the fans. I'm willing to give him a chance and remembering it took the Cards half a season to get it going under Horton.

Plus, I seem to remember teams being able to run on us at a pretty good clip when they wanted under Horton. I suspect we'll be better against the run and drop off against the pass under Bowles.

 

[Garthshort]

EVERYONE will be comparing the Bowles' defense to the Horton defense. I doubt there will ANY honeymoon period.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Plus, I seem to remember teams being able to run on us at a pretty good clip when they wanted under Horton. I suspect we'll be better against the run and drop off against the pass under Bowles.

This is what I am thinking also.

Still want to see a defense that can force some 3 and outs and not give up long drives on the first series of every game.

 

[cardpa]

I think he's behind the 8 ball with fans and, unless the defense comes out of the gate strong from week 1, will be the whipping boy because everybody loved Ray.

I'm one to think Horton was overrated and given too much credit. I'm not saying Horton wasn't a good coach, but it was still the players who made the plays. If the players play up to their level, Bowles will be fine. I just think he'll be on a very short leash from the fans. I'm willing to give him a chance and remembering it took the Cards half a season to get it going under Horton.

Plus, I seem to remember teams being able to run on us at a pretty good clip when they wanted under Horton. I suspect we'll be better against the run and drop off against the pass under Bowles.

As am I. With the changes being made it will take a little time to iron out all the wrinkles.

 

[JeffGollin]

Intriguing theory considering the similar juxtaposition between HC and coordinator, but in reality, as big a reach as expecting the new Pope to be a singing sensation because his new adopted name is the same as the first name of Francis Albert Sinatra.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Wilson was old and even though it sucks its true he's slipped badly the last two years. Rhodes didn't want to be here so why make him stay. gay was below average. Toler did hurt though

How so ?

How did Greg Toler become so good. He was battling William Gay for his spot last year.

Jerraud Powers won his position out right.

I think it is a push. We will see, but I don't see where we lost much.

The problem I see is at safety where we have no one at the moment except for an extremely old veteran, and Rashad Johnson who is solid but so far his highest achievement is starter in nickel packages.


As for Todd Bowles, this guy is going to get a lot of heat. He is following a defensive showing that the Cardinals have not seen in decades. He has little, and more like no shot at being better than last year, and how bad it ends up being is yet to be seen. But, I do know he is lining himself up to be a whipping post.

 

[GuernseyCard]

How so ?

How did Greg Toler become so good. He was battling William Gay for his spot last year.

Jerraud Powers won his position out right.

I think it is a push. We will see, but I don't see where we lost much.

The problem I see is at safety where we have no one at the moment except for an extremely old veteran, and Rashad Johnson who is solid but so far his highest achievement is starter in nickel packages.


As for Todd Bowles, this guy is going to get a lot of heat. He is following a defensive showing that the Cardinals have not seen in decades. He has little, and more like no shot at being better than last year, and how bad it ends up being is yet to be seen. But, I do know he is lining himself up to be a whipping post.

I read that the first words out of Keim's mouth when he met Bowles was "don't screw it up". He knows that he has to deliver.

 

[Duckjake]

I think he's behind the 8 ball with fans and, unless the defense comes out of the gate strong from week 1, will be the whipping boy because everybody loved Ray.

I'm one to think Horton was overrated and given too much credit. I'm not saying Horton wasn't a good coach, but it was still the players who made the plays. If the players play up to their level, Bowles will be fine. I just think he'll be on a very short leash from the fans. I'm willing to give him a chance and remembering it took the Cards half a season to get it going under Horton.

Plus, I seem to remember teams being able to run on us at a pretty good clip when they wanted under Horton. I suspect we'll be better against the run and drop off against the pass under Bowles.

That could go either way concerning Horton. Did the defense improve because the Cardinals added Daryl Washington, Sam Acho, Patrick Peterson, and Dan Williams or does Horton get credit because he did it with those guys being rookies or 2nd year players and with Rhodes out most of the last half of 2011 when the defense was making its amazing turn around?

My take on the defense was that they were set up in a fashion where opponents could move the ball between the 20s and then they'd be shut down once they got into the Red Zone. (The Cards "3 and out" Defense where teams were getting FGs instead of TDs.) The Cards had the 3rd best Red Zone defense last season and 2nd best in 2011 based on % of TDs allowed.

As for teams running the ball easily on the Cards D where were you when I was concerned about it last year and the only responses I got were along the lines of it's what we want because running the ball means longer drives and more chances for the offense to make a mistake.

 

[JeffGollin]

How did Greg Toler become so good. He was battling William Gay for his spot last year.....

Toler was injured for most of the early season. Gay won the spot by default.

Even when Toler returned to action, he still wasn't full-speed until late in the season.

I will always remember that one incredible play where he flew over the sidelines to bat the ball thru his legs in order to keep it in bounds. (I've always believed that if a player can execute a play that well once, he can be coached to be that good in the future).

 

[Catfish]

There will be a lot of local fans comparing Bowles defense to Hortons. Probably no real honeymoon for Bowles because of that.

I do recall BA talking about it being very important to get off the field on defensive third downs this year. He called it situational football. So far, I believe that those who were pushing for Toler to be our #2 CB, can take some comfort in that Powers has 42 starts vs. Toler's 11 at CB. Cason is still unsigned, and also bodes well as a #2 CB if we are able to sign him. Bell is a solid safety, (even if unspectacular), and Rashod Johnson played very well the last 4 or 5 games of 2012, so we are not going to be terrible at safety. We most likely will draft one as there are some very good ones in this draft, and Fleming is always a possibility at free safety.

Yes, we lost talent, but Wilson's really good days are behind him, and we really couldn't afford to keep Rhodes at his 6 mil. dollar salary. We are still not finished in free agency either, and the first round has pretty much dried up. I believe we are in pretty good position to score a pretty talented player or two as FA goes on. It is becoming a buyer's market, and we are certainly one of the buyers with about 10 mil left to venture on free agency now that the cuts have been made.

I look for our defense this year to be more balanced, (more able to stop the run), which we couldn't do very well last year under Horton, and we should be pretty solid in pass coverage as well, even though we will not be quite so talented at safety as 2012. Let's not forget, D-Wash can run and cover, even with the best slot receivers and TE's in the business on passing downs. He will be very valuable to us this year, especially in that mode.

 

[PDXChris]

I am unable to answer this until I konw Bowles perference in music.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

Todd Bowles was put into a bad situation last year. First of all he is a 3-4 guy and has been since going back to his playing days, but was thrown in to coordinating a 4-3 defense mid season last year. Not sure if he was trying to implement more of his 3-4 philosophies or if he was running a straight up 4-3 defense. Either way it was a terrible situation for him to succeed and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he fared much better here with the right philosophies and players to run his defense.

Remember the first 6 or 7 weeks of the 2011 season when a lot of fans were asking for Horton's head on a stick? That just shows that it takes some time to implement a defensive system in the NFL and because of that I am willing to be patient with Bowles even considering the fact that the defense was already good last year.

 

[Duckjake]

Todd Bowles was put into a bad situation last year. First of all he is a 3-4 guy and has been since going back to his playing days, but was thrown in to coordinating a 4-3 defense mid season last year. Not sure if he was trying to implement more of his 3-4 philosophies or if he was running a straight up 4-3 defense. Either way it was a terrible situation for him to succeed and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he fared much better here with the right philosophies and players to run his defense.

Remember the first 6 or 7 weeks of the 2011 season when a lot of fans were asking for Horton's head on a stick? That just shows that it takes some time to implement a defensive system in the NFL and because of that I am willing to be patient with Bowles even considering the fact that the defense was already good last year.

Horton had the added obstacle of being perceived as yet another crony from Pittsburgh. Of course now we have even more cronies from Pittsburgh. We've taken their coaches. We've taken their players. I sure wish we could get some of their winning seasons.