LoyaltyisaCurse
IF AND WHEN HEALTHY...
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 12, 2005 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
It is only one week, one loss, one plane ride wasted.
Nevertheless, Dennis Green's honeymoon is over.
It ended on a cathartic Sunday for New Yorkers, where victims of 9/11 were memorialized in lower Manhattan; Randy Johnson and the Yankees shut out the Red Sox in the Bronx; Roger Federer and Andre Agassi slugged it out in Flushing Meadows; and the plodding Giants rolled up 35 points . . . in the second half.
It ended with the Cardinals assuming a familiar position on the road, a problem of non-competitiveness that Green allegedly fixed in his first season on the job.
Like it or not, those same old Cardinals are back, if only on the scoreboard and the standings page.
"We made a lot of mistakes today," Marcel Shipp said.
Green's honeymoon officially ended with another special-teams debacle, and if you're keeping score, Arizona State and the Cardinals combined to yield four touchdowns within 24 hours in this relatively simple phase of the game.
The most embarrassing moment came after the Cardinals had finally snagged momentum in the second half. Inexplicably, rookie Antrel Rolle was flagged for an offside penalty on the ensuing kickoff, forcing a redo.
Ever notice what happens in baseball when a fielder drops a foul ball, giving the hitter an extra swing? The next pitch always ends up in the bleachers, and in a comic twist seemingly patented by the Cardinals, there was the Giants' Willie Ponder racing downfield with a touchdown return moments later.
"Honestly, I don't think I was offsides," Rolle said. "But if the referees call it, it doesn't matter what I think."
The honeymoon ended with the Cardinals having no timeouts left with more than 20 minutes left in the game, meaning they could not challenge Plaxico Burress' touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, one that Green felt was "out of bounds."
And as crazy as it sounds, it ended with Green refusing to comment on Larry Fitzgerald's breakthrough game because of the spectacular overall failure, only to single out the backup quarterback for an irrelevant tackle.
"Josh McCown probably had the most determined play of the game when he tackled the guy on an interception," he said.
All of these things can be forgiven, forgotten and chalked up to a maddening NFL trend. In 18 years, the Cardinals have opened on the road 17 times. The only exception came in 2001, when their road opener against Washington was canceled due to the epic tragedy that occurred in New York five days earlier.
OK, we know September is extremely hot in Arizona. But December is extremely cold in Chicago, and they don't make the Bears play all road games in the final month, do they?
Whatever, that nuisance will be fixed next season when the new stadium opens in Glendale. Yet what made Sunday's loss so ominous is the stuff that's unfixable, or in this case, the complete absence of a running game.
When Green first took over the Cardinals, he claimed his first mission was to fix the broken engine (the offensive line). Two years later, it's worse than when he started. Other than the return of center Alex Stepanovich, there are no magic cures available. So, where to go from here?
"Play again," Green said. "Play again ... you guys keep talking about the running game. The running game was one phase of the game and it wasn't a very good one. Special-teams coverage was another phase of the game that was not a good one. Pass defense was another phase of the game, particularly on third down, that was not a good one."
Yeah, but other than David Macklin, no one's really concerned about the secondary. Special teams can be fixed with better tackling and better concentration. This offensive line, meanwhile, has to grow up and improve at warp speed, something that usually doesn't happen in the NFL.
"We have to be able to run the football," Kurt Warner said. "It's tough against a good defensive front to be sitting back there passing every snap."
No, it's impossible. In this league, if you can't run, you can't hide. And if Green doesn't find a remedy soon, a bite of that playoff apple will elude the Cardinals once again.
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The Arizona Republic
Sept. 12, 2005 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.
It is only one week, one loss, one plane ride wasted.
Nevertheless, Dennis Green's honeymoon is over.
It ended on a cathartic Sunday for New Yorkers, where victims of 9/11 were memorialized in lower Manhattan; Randy Johnson and the Yankees shut out the Red Sox in the Bronx; Roger Federer and Andre Agassi slugged it out in Flushing Meadows; and the plodding Giants rolled up 35 points . . . in the second half.
It ended with the Cardinals assuming a familiar position on the road, a problem of non-competitiveness that Green allegedly fixed in his first season on the job.
Like it or not, those same old Cardinals are back, if only on the scoreboard and the standings page.
"We made a lot of mistakes today," Marcel Shipp said.
Green's honeymoon officially ended with another special-teams debacle, and if you're keeping score, Arizona State and the Cardinals combined to yield four touchdowns within 24 hours in this relatively simple phase of the game.
The most embarrassing moment came after the Cardinals had finally snagged momentum in the second half. Inexplicably, rookie Antrel Rolle was flagged for an offside penalty on the ensuing kickoff, forcing a redo.
Ever notice what happens in baseball when a fielder drops a foul ball, giving the hitter an extra swing? The next pitch always ends up in the bleachers, and in a comic twist seemingly patented by the Cardinals, there was the Giants' Willie Ponder racing downfield with a touchdown return moments later.
"Honestly, I don't think I was offsides," Rolle said. "But if the referees call it, it doesn't matter what I think."
The honeymoon ended with the Cardinals having no timeouts left with more than 20 minutes left in the game, meaning they could not challenge Plaxico Burress' touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, one that Green felt was "out of bounds."
And as crazy as it sounds, it ended with Green refusing to comment on Larry Fitzgerald's breakthrough game because of the spectacular overall failure, only to single out the backup quarterback for an irrelevant tackle.
"Josh McCown probably had the most determined play of the game when he tackled the guy on an interception," he said.
All of these things can be forgiven, forgotten and chalked up to a maddening NFL trend. In 18 years, the Cardinals have opened on the road 17 times. The only exception came in 2001, when their road opener against Washington was canceled due to the epic tragedy that occurred in New York five days earlier.
OK, we know September is extremely hot in Arizona. But December is extremely cold in Chicago, and they don't make the Bears play all road games in the final month, do they?
Whatever, that nuisance will be fixed next season when the new stadium opens in Glendale. Yet what made Sunday's loss so ominous is the stuff that's unfixable, or in this case, the complete absence of a running game.
When Green first took over the Cardinals, he claimed his first mission was to fix the broken engine (the offensive line). Two years later, it's worse than when he started. Other than the return of center Alex Stepanovich, there are no magic cures available. So, where to go from here?
"Play again," Green said. "Play again ... you guys keep talking about the running game. The running game was one phase of the game and it wasn't a very good one. Special-teams coverage was another phase of the game that was not a good one. Pass defense was another phase of the game, particularly on third down, that was not a good one."
Yeah, but other than David Macklin, no one's really concerned about the secondary. Special teams can be fixed with better tackling and better concentration. This offensive line, meanwhile, has to grow up and improve at warp speed, something that usually doesn't happen in the NFL.
"We have to be able to run the football," Kurt Warner said. "It's tough against a good defensive front to be sitting back there passing every snap."
No, it's impossible. In this league, if you can't run, you can't hide. And if Green doesn't find a remedy soon, a bite of that playoff apple will elude the Cardinals once again.
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