azdad1978
Championship!!!!
By Scott Bordow, Tribune Columnist
September 12, 2005
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The first sign of recovery — whether it be an addict or a football coach — is admitting you have a problem.
Cardinals coach Dennis Green, for whatever reason, refuses to do that with regard to his running game.
After Arizona averaged a paltry 3.2 rushing yards per carry in the preseason, Green shrugged his shoulders and said the Cardinals would just have to throw the ball more.
And after the Cardinals' running backs produced just 20 yards on 18 carries in Sunday's 42-19 loss to the New York Giants, Green was incredulous that we scoundrels in the media thought that might be, you know, a problem.
“You guys always keep talking about the running game. It was one phase of the game,” Green said.
So it was, and it's true the Cardinals stunk in plenty of other phases.
The special teams allowed two touchdowns, one on a punt return, another on a kickoff return.
The defense gave up 121 rushing yards on only 25 carries.
Green, who continues to be a better coach during the week than he is on Sundays, inexplicably went for a two-point conversion early in the third quarter with the Cardinals trailing, 21-19.
Why do coaches insist on going for two when the game is so young? Arizona blew the conversion attempt, and when New York scored minutes later to take a nine-point lead, the Cardinals needed two scores to go ahead.
Finally, it might be nice if Arizona's coaches rediscovered Anquan Boldin. Yes, Larry Fitzgerald is a great talent (he had 13 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown Sunday), but there were long stretches of the game in which Boldin (four receptions, 62 yards) was invisible.
That's no way to treat a former Pro Bowl player — or someone the team just rewarded with a $23 million contract extension.
But the chorus to this same, sad song we've heard for 17 years was Arizona's inability to run the ball.
It didn't matter if J.J. Arrington or Marcel Shipp was in the backfield. Heck, it wouldn't have mattered if Gale Sayers were running the toss sweep.
There was nowhere to run and, for an offensive line that lived down to its preseason showing, nowhere to hide.
The 20 yards on 18 carries averages out to 1.1 yards per carry. The Cardinals couldn't even do that, however, when they had a first-and-goal at the Giants' 1-yard line in the third quarter.
Consecutive runs by Shipp and fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo went nowhere, and Kurt Warner was forced to throw to Fitzgerald for a touchdown on third down.
“You can't win very many games scoring 19 points,” Green said.
You also aren't going to win many games when you're asking a 34-year-old quarterback to throw the ball 46 times, as Warner did Sunday.
To put that in perspective, Warner has attempted more passes in a game just four times in his career.
One of the reasons Warner became a star in St. Louis was because he had Marshall Faulk behind him. Defenses had to respect the Rams' running game.
By the second quarter Sunday, the Giants were treating Arizona's rushing attack as if it were Rodney Dangerfield.
New York had a green light to rush the passer, and if that continues, Warner will be fortunate if he's not in a body cast by midseason.
“It just puts so much pressure on everybody (when the running game doesn't work),” Warner said. “It puts pressure on the guys up front, it puts pressure on your receivers running down the field on every single snap.
“It's just not the way to win football games in the NFL. You can't sit back there and try to do that snap in and snap out and expect to be successful against good teams.”
We saw that Sunday. If things don't change, we'll see it the rest of the season.
But a problem?
Now, why would you think that?
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=47846
September 12, 2005
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The first sign of recovery — whether it be an addict or a football coach — is admitting you have a problem.
Cardinals coach Dennis Green, for whatever reason, refuses to do that with regard to his running game.
After Arizona averaged a paltry 3.2 rushing yards per carry in the preseason, Green shrugged his shoulders and said the Cardinals would just have to throw the ball more.
And after the Cardinals' running backs produced just 20 yards on 18 carries in Sunday's 42-19 loss to the New York Giants, Green was incredulous that we scoundrels in the media thought that might be, you know, a problem.
“You guys always keep talking about the running game. It was one phase of the game,” Green said.
So it was, and it's true the Cardinals stunk in plenty of other phases.
The special teams allowed two touchdowns, one on a punt return, another on a kickoff return.
The defense gave up 121 rushing yards on only 25 carries.
Green, who continues to be a better coach during the week than he is on Sundays, inexplicably went for a two-point conversion early in the third quarter with the Cardinals trailing, 21-19.
Why do coaches insist on going for two when the game is so young? Arizona blew the conversion attempt, and when New York scored minutes later to take a nine-point lead, the Cardinals needed two scores to go ahead.
Finally, it might be nice if Arizona's coaches rediscovered Anquan Boldin. Yes, Larry Fitzgerald is a great talent (he had 13 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown Sunday), but there were long stretches of the game in which Boldin (four receptions, 62 yards) was invisible.
That's no way to treat a former Pro Bowl player — or someone the team just rewarded with a $23 million contract extension.
But the chorus to this same, sad song we've heard for 17 years was Arizona's inability to run the ball.
It didn't matter if J.J. Arrington or Marcel Shipp was in the backfield. Heck, it wouldn't have mattered if Gale Sayers were running the toss sweep.
There was nowhere to run and, for an offensive line that lived down to its preseason showing, nowhere to hide.
The 20 yards on 18 carries averages out to 1.1 yards per carry. The Cardinals couldn't even do that, however, when they had a first-and-goal at the Giants' 1-yard line in the third quarter.
Consecutive runs by Shipp and fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo went nowhere, and Kurt Warner was forced to throw to Fitzgerald for a touchdown on third down.
“You can't win very many games scoring 19 points,” Green said.
You also aren't going to win many games when you're asking a 34-year-old quarterback to throw the ball 46 times, as Warner did Sunday.
To put that in perspective, Warner has attempted more passes in a game just four times in his career.
One of the reasons Warner became a star in St. Louis was because he had Marshall Faulk behind him. Defenses had to respect the Rams' running game.
By the second quarter Sunday, the Giants were treating Arizona's rushing attack as if it were Rodney Dangerfield.
New York had a green light to rush the passer, and if that continues, Warner will be fortunate if he's not in a body cast by midseason.
“It just puts so much pressure on everybody (when the running game doesn't work),” Warner said. “It puts pressure on the guys up front, it puts pressure on your receivers running down the field on every single snap.
“It's just not the way to win football games in the NFL. You can't sit back there and try to do that snap in and snap out and expect to be successful against good teams.”
We saw that Sunday. If things don't change, we'll see it the rest of the season.
But a problem?
Now, why would you think that?
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=47846
