Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
For as long as any of us fans can remember, these have been glaringly troubling patterns for the Cardinals:
1. Playing hard for one week to prove their salt as NFL players, and then playing soft the next week or two or three. Why?
That's the climate that has surrounded this team regardless of who the recent coaches have been.
Q: Are the coaches to blame?
A: Yes. They are. Motivation and preparation...are a coach's top two priorities. Vince Tobin was solid on preparation (not great, but solid), but was not a motivator. Dave McGinnis was the opposite...had motivational skills, but didn't have the foggiest idea as to how to prepare a team to win, and the lack of preparation leads to quick losses, and as Mac found out, even if certain players wanted to play hard to be loyal to him, they wouldn't. The physical and emotional toll of losing week after week are too great.
Dennis Green? Really hasn't been proficient at either, which is why the team still cannot win with stronger talent. Motivating through fear is anachronistic in today's NFL...Coaches todayhave to engage their players and appeal to their senses of purpose, skill and loyalty...while Bill Parcells appears to be a volatile coach on the outside, behind the scenes he is in his players' grills...not just to chastize them, but to build a positive rapport with them...it's a balance and a give and take.
Q: What kind of a coach can turn this stigma around?
A: The kind of coach who can give the players edges in motivation and preparation. It takes a certain charisma and/or integrity...but it also takes a high level of intelligence. For all of John Gruden's foibles, this coach has the charisma, the peremptory demeanor, the brass cajones (as we saw in his decision to go for the two points to win Sunday) and the knowledge/intellect to give his players the confidence that they can win. Tony Dungee is a man of integrity...plus a coach who is fastidiously committed to detail...he's custom made for winning in the NFL...just as Bill Bellichick is. Dick Vermeil? He has the heart of a lion...don't you think the players love knowing that he bleeds for them? Charlie Weis...will look you in the eye, tell you the truth and then give you the right play at the right time. These kinds of communication and preparation are what allows teams to win.
Q: Why do the Cardinals play hard and well one week, and then soft the next?
A: Football is the most physically punishing team sport. If the players feel they can get away with playing soft and still collect a fat paycheck, they will. The only way this can be stopped is if a coach truly gives his team the edge it takes for them to win on a consitent basis. Obviously, the players aren't all that worried about playing soft or rubbing Dennis Green the wrong way. Just ask Pete Kendall. He'll tell you that Dennis Green did him a favor. Yeah, the fringe players like Reggie Newhouse will worry...but not the established vets...not the Adrian Wilsons of the world who just signed lucrative extensions, and know that the signing bonus money is guaranteed, and know that if Green, out of spite, cuts him, that multiple teams will be lined up to acquire him the way they were for Kendall. Dennis Green has to somehow motivate the Adrian Wilsons...but he clearly doesn't have what it takes, not when Wilson is playing this poorly and lethargically, for a player of his abilities. Wilson has lost interest and he doesn't want to wake up Monday morning feeling extra sore...not if he can help it.
Q: What really motivates the players today?
A: #1:Money. Give players financial incentives to play well and hard...and, oh, they will.
#2. Highlight Reels. For the players when they make a highlight reel, it's like looking in the mirror and seeing Brad Pitt. Nothing stokes their egos more.
#3 Winning. A real panacea, no question.
#4 Pleasing the Fans. Notice how the Cardinals do play harder at home? Pleasing the fans is a motivation...even if there are only 31,000 of them in a 72,000 seat stadium.
#5 Pleasing the Coaches. When coaches have the players' respect and admiration...you bet...and with the special ones like Parcells, he can get his players to play hard day in and day out.
Q: Did the players respect and admire Vince Tobin?
A: Respect, yes. Admire, no. They respected his preparation, but he was not charismatic in the least.
Q: Did the players respect and admire Dave McGinnis?
A: Respect, no. Admire, yes. The players admired Mac's passion for the game, but he didn't give them any special knowledge about the game, and his preparation was poor.
Q: Do the players respect and admire Dennis Green?
A: Respect, yes, at first because of his track record...but now, no, for the same reasons they did not respect Mac...no edge in preparation. Admire, no. It's hard to admire a self-absorbed egomaniac.
Q: How do you know what the players think?
A: It's all in their faces on the football field and on the sidelines. The only player who seemingly has gone near Dennis Green on the sidelines this season was Josh McCown, who in the glow of an impressive win in Mexico tried to revel in the success with Green and Green basically threw a mock smile at McCown and turned away. Look at Kurt Warner's face on this week's tape. He's a paragon of ambivalence. Look at Adrian Wilson's face...there's not the fire there was in his eyes that there was at this time last year. It's obvious. These players are broken, as is their spirit. They avoid Green like the plague on the sidelines...they basically have rendered him useless. Even worse, he avoids them. Green stands there as listless as a barnacle.
Q: Does coaching have anything to do with injuries?
A: When teams like the Cardinals have a preponderence of them seemingly year after year, the answer is yes. The players aren't faking injuries...but injuries can often be a by-product of the climate...a product of a lack of proper conditioning and physical and mental preparation...and a manifestation of the anguish and frustration of losing.
Q: When did this season, full of high expectations, start to slide?
A: Between the third and fourth pre-season games. After a stirring, up-tempo performance in the first two pre-season games, there was a conspicuous difference in the players' approach, tempo and body language in the last two. Save the team's spontaneous excitement in Mexico and spots of spirited play at home, this team has been disappointingly lethargic. The tempo was lost...and like anything in team sports, tempo and discipline and the will to win can't be turned off and on like a faucet.
Q: How much are the Bidwills to blame?
A: Unfortunately, they deserve a good deal of the blame. They hired an underqualified head coach in Dave McGinnis. And they took a major risk on Dennis Green. Argue this all you want, but there were good reasons why Green was not be heavily pursued by NFL teams during his two-year hiatus from coaching. Neither Al Davis nor Daniel Snyder ever had any serious interest in Green. His interviews with them were perfunctory at best.
But the Bidwills are also to blame for trying to win NFL football games with weak guards and defensive tackles. They should have the football people in place who understand what wins NFL football games. Obviously, neither Dennis Green nor Rod Graves understand what it takes to run the football and stop the run. They had the cap space to address all the major needs on this team and they failed miserably.
And the Bidwills are to blame for not learning from past mistakes...like hiring offensive coordinators who have never called a play in an NFL game. As predictable and unimaginative as Marc Trestman was, at least he had experience as a play caller in the NFL, and, was it purely coincidence that he was the last Cardinal OC to get this franchise to the playoffs?
Q: Will the Bidwills stick with Dennis Green?
A. No way. Not a chance. They will learn from this mistake because they know they have too much at stake in trying to fill the new stadium to not do everything possible to give the franchise a fresh burst of optimism going into next season.
1. Playing hard for one week to prove their salt as NFL players, and then playing soft the next week or two or three. Why?
That's the climate that has surrounded this team regardless of who the recent coaches have been.
Q: Are the coaches to blame?
A: Yes. They are. Motivation and preparation...are a coach's top two priorities. Vince Tobin was solid on preparation (not great, but solid), but was not a motivator. Dave McGinnis was the opposite...had motivational skills, but didn't have the foggiest idea as to how to prepare a team to win, and the lack of preparation leads to quick losses, and as Mac found out, even if certain players wanted to play hard to be loyal to him, they wouldn't. The physical and emotional toll of losing week after week are too great.
Dennis Green? Really hasn't been proficient at either, which is why the team still cannot win with stronger talent. Motivating through fear is anachronistic in today's NFL...Coaches todayhave to engage their players and appeal to their senses of purpose, skill and loyalty...while Bill Parcells appears to be a volatile coach on the outside, behind the scenes he is in his players' grills...not just to chastize them, but to build a positive rapport with them...it's a balance and a give and take.
Q: What kind of a coach can turn this stigma around?
A: The kind of coach who can give the players edges in motivation and preparation. It takes a certain charisma and/or integrity...but it also takes a high level of intelligence. For all of John Gruden's foibles, this coach has the charisma, the peremptory demeanor, the brass cajones (as we saw in his decision to go for the two points to win Sunday) and the knowledge/intellect to give his players the confidence that they can win. Tony Dungee is a man of integrity...plus a coach who is fastidiously committed to detail...he's custom made for winning in the NFL...just as Bill Bellichick is. Dick Vermeil? He has the heart of a lion...don't you think the players love knowing that he bleeds for them? Charlie Weis...will look you in the eye, tell you the truth and then give you the right play at the right time. These kinds of communication and preparation are what allows teams to win.
Q: Why do the Cardinals play hard and well one week, and then soft the next?
A: Football is the most physically punishing team sport. If the players feel they can get away with playing soft and still collect a fat paycheck, they will. The only way this can be stopped is if a coach truly gives his team the edge it takes for them to win on a consitent basis. Obviously, the players aren't all that worried about playing soft or rubbing Dennis Green the wrong way. Just ask Pete Kendall. He'll tell you that Dennis Green did him a favor. Yeah, the fringe players like Reggie Newhouse will worry...but not the established vets...not the Adrian Wilsons of the world who just signed lucrative extensions, and know that the signing bonus money is guaranteed, and know that if Green, out of spite, cuts him, that multiple teams will be lined up to acquire him the way they were for Kendall. Dennis Green has to somehow motivate the Adrian Wilsons...but he clearly doesn't have what it takes, not when Wilson is playing this poorly and lethargically, for a player of his abilities. Wilson has lost interest and he doesn't want to wake up Monday morning feeling extra sore...not if he can help it.
Q: What really motivates the players today?
A: #1:Money. Give players financial incentives to play well and hard...and, oh, they will.
#2. Highlight Reels. For the players when they make a highlight reel, it's like looking in the mirror and seeing Brad Pitt. Nothing stokes their egos more.
#3 Winning. A real panacea, no question.
#4 Pleasing the Fans. Notice how the Cardinals do play harder at home? Pleasing the fans is a motivation...even if there are only 31,000 of them in a 72,000 seat stadium.
#5 Pleasing the Coaches. When coaches have the players' respect and admiration...you bet...and with the special ones like Parcells, he can get his players to play hard day in and day out.
Q: Did the players respect and admire Vince Tobin?
A: Respect, yes. Admire, no. They respected his preparation, but he was not charismatic in the least.
Q: Did the players respect and admire Dave McGinnis?
A: Respect, no. Admire, yes. The players admired Mac's passion for the game, but he didn't give them any special knowledge about the game, and his preparation was poor.
Q: Do the players respect and admire Dennis Green?
A: Respect, yes, at first because of his track record...but now, no, for the same reasons they did not respect Mac...no edge in preparation. Admire, no. It's hard to admire a self-absorbed egomaniac.
Q: How do you know what the players think?
A: It's all in their faces on the football field and on the sidelines. The only player who seemingly has gone near Dennis Green on the sidelines this season was Josh McCown, who in the glow of an impressive win in Mexico tried to revel in the success with Green and Green basically threw a mock smile at McCown and turned away. Look at Kurt Warner's face on this week's tape. He's a paragon of ambivalence. Look at Adrian Wilson's face...there's not the fire there was in his eyes that there was at this time last year. It's obvious. These players are broken, as is their spirit. They avoid Green like the plague on the sidelines...they basically have rendered him useless. Even worse, he avoids them. Green stands there as listless as a barnacle.
Q: Does coaching have anything to do with injuries?
A: When teams like the Cardinals have a preponderence of them seemingly year after year, the answer is yes. The players aren't faking injuries...but injuries can often be a by-product of the climate...a product of a lack of proper conditioning and physical and mental preparation...and a manifestation of the anguish and frustration of losing.
Q: When did this season, full of high expectations, start to slide?
A: Between the third and fourth pre-season games. After a stirring, up-tempo performance in the first two pre-season games, there was a conspicuous difference in the players' approach, tempo and body language in the last two. Save the team's spontaneous excitement in Mexico and spots of spirited play at home, this team has been disappointingly lethargic. The tempo was lost...and like anything in team sports, tempo and discipline and the will to win can't be turned off and on like a faucet.
Q: How much are the Bidwills to blame?
A: Unfortunately, they deserve a good deal of the blame. They hired an underqualified head coach in Dave McGinnis. And they took a major risk on Dennis Green. Argue this all you want, but there were good reasons why Green was not be heavily pursued by NFL teams during his two-year hiatus from coaching. Neither Al Davis nor Daniel Snyder ever had any serious interest in Green. His interviews with them were perfunctory at best.
But the Bidwills are also to blame for trying to win NFL football games with weak guards and defensive tackles. They should have the football people in place who understand what wins NFL football games. Obviously, neither Dennis Green nor Rod Graves understand what it takes to run the football and stop the run. They had the cap space to address all the major needs on this team and they failed miserably.
And the Bidwills are to blame for not learning from past mistakes...like hiring offensive coordinators who have never called a play in an NFL game. As predictable and unimaginative as Marc Trestman was, at least he had experience as a play caller in the NFL, and, was it purely coincidence that he was the last Cardinal OC to get this franchise to the playoffs?
Q: Will the Bidwills stick with Dennis Green?
A. No way. Not a chance. They will learn from this mistake because they know they have too much at stake in trying to fill the new stadium to not do everything possible to give the franchise a fresh burst of optimism going into next season.
The one thing we all have in common is we are all just "bone tired" of bad, losing football.
