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DA's pass went that way
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Inside Slant
No offense, but no offense - again.
With the St. Louis Rams coming to town on Sunday for the home opener, the Arizona Cardinals offense no doubt will need to produce more than the 12 points it did in its opening loss at the New York Giants.
It no doubt will need to rush for more than the 31 total yards and 1.5 yards a pop that it did last Sunday.
Cardinals coach Dennis Green has made rebuilding the offensive line among his top priorities since taking over in January, 2004.
But so far, the unit isn't playing any better than the overpriced, underachieving players who were their predecessors and sent packing by Green.
Green touted the Giants as "a real good defensive team," but that shouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle when confronted by a real good offensive team.
And that is what the Cardinals expected to have - a real good offensive team.
They have invested heavily in the offense, drafting starting center Alex Stepanovich and right guard Elton Brown in the past two drafts, and signing free agent tackle Oliver Ross last winter.
They drafted receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Bryant Johnson in the first round, and running back J.J. Arrington and receiver Anquan Boldin in the second round during the past three drafts. They signed free-agent quarterback Kurt Warner in 2005 free agency.
The group joins Leonard Davis, the second pick overall in the 2001 draft.
That's a lot of high-priced, reputedly high-quality talent.
"Obviously we need to run the ball and that is something that we just have to get better at," Warner said. "We don't have to do it first. We could pass the ball well like we did (against the Giants) but you have to be able to balance it out when they start dropping everybody back.
"We have to be able to be able to hit them with the ball and make some chunks to put us in better situations other than second and long, third and long. Offensively, we have to look at ourselves and improve across the board."
So why is the sum consistently less than the parts? Far less? The lack of production offensively last season grated at Green, who made his reputation as an offensive guru, a strong evaluator of talent. He was dedicated to reversing that during his second season in Arizona.
His doesn't sound like a collection that should produce one touchdown and two field goals, even against "a real good defense."
"We had a lot of opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them," Green offered.
The Rams serve up a defense against which the San Francisco 49ers surprisingly took full opportunity in the opener. And the Rams have to go on the road yet again.
And Warner may be buoyed by facing the team with which he twice was NFL Most Valuable Player, won a Super Bowl, and set numerous league offensive records.
That is the sort of production the Cardinals believed they were going to get from this unit.
And they still might.
It isn't Green's fault that Stepanovich broke his hand early in training camp and will be making his return this week. Stepanovich no doubt is better than the four others the team has paraded through the center position during his absence, but he'll be rusty.
"You can't win many games scoring 19 points (seven on an interception return by linebacker Karlos Dansby), there is no doubt about it," Green said. "We got stopped on the run and we didn't take advantage of the pass. We did OK on it, but just not enough.
"We're going to play again. The running game is one phase of the game, and it wasn't a very good one."
But it is the one that Green painstakingly has personally assembled.
SERIES HISTORY: 53rd meeting. The Rams hold a 28-22-2 lead in the series over the Cardinals. The Big Red prevailed in the last meeting, 29-7, last Dec. 19 in Tempe, Ariz. Prior to that, the Cardinals had dropped five in a row - including all of them since realignment put them into the NFC West with the Rams - and six of eight against the team that now rules the city that the Cardinals abandoned in 1988. One of the most significant games in the series from the Cardinals' perspective was a cliffhanging 20-17 victory in 1998 at St. Louis that helped them reverse a slow start to finish 9-7 and earn their first, and only, playoff berth since moving to Arizona.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Cardinals have tried to do their part to assist the thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who have been housed temporarily in Phoenix at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. ...Several Cardinals players visited the Coliseum to serve dinner and comfort the displaced people, many of whom have lost everything they own.
"I just can't imagine losing everything you have worked all of your life for, and I just can't imagine what they are going through," said RB Marcel Shipp, who was among a Cardinals contingent that included WR Anquan Boldin, TE Eric Edwards, G Rolando Cantu, LS Nathan Hodel, S Quentin Harris, T Ian Allen and QB Josh McCown.
"My heart and my prayers go out to them and hopefully they can get back on their feet," Shipp said.
McCown said it is the moral duty of high-profile, well-to-do community members such as professional athletes to step forward.
"This is what being in our position is all about," McCown said. "It's nice to be able to bring some positive light to these kids and to bring a sense of love and kindness to these people who have gone through so much.
"It has been fun playing with the kids. It's fun because they don't quite understand who you are and then they see you on the video game and it is more realistic to them. That is what it is all about. Letting them have the experiences and just to be able to brighten their day for a little bit, makes it special."
—OLB Karlos Dansby not only had two interceptions in the opener, he made receiver-like acrobatic moves to snag both from QB Eli Manning.
Although the fourth receiver spot is not solid and Dansby once was a receiver, in high school, he is happy where he is, he said.
On the first pick, while hitting the ground, Dansby rolled to his feet and took it into the end zone 18 yards for a touchdown and the lead over the New York Giants.
The second was a one-handed grab as he was falling away.
"I got a chance to make a play," Dansby said. "I was a receiver, so it was natural."
Dansby, in his second season from Auburn and among four rookie starters for the team in 2004, also sacked Manning in the opener.
—The Cardinals, while continuing to struggle on the field, continue to e good corporate citizens off the field. They will participate in the "Fiestas Patrias" celebration on Friday and Saturday, leading up to their home opener against St. Louis on Sunday. They will offer giveaways and provide an inflatable quarterback toss - elements that they hope will be missing from their Sunday game plan.
"Fiestas Patrias" is presented by the Southwest Hispanic Culture Association to commemorate Mexican Independence. The Cardinals continue to be responsive to the large Hispanic population in metropolitan Phoenix.
—The Arizona Republic reports that 32,835 tickets have been sold for the Cardinals game at Mexico City on Oct. 2 against San Francisco, the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the United States.
The league and the team were hoping for a sellout at 104,000-seat Azteca Stadium, one reason why the Cardinals agreed to sacrifice one of their home games, which typically draw no more than 45,000 - and often far fewer than that.
But if they are to get there, they now have less than a month to move about 71,000 tickets south of the border.
—A bit of bright news in a disaster area: Cardinals coach Dennis Green has won seven of his 11 home openers as an NFL head coach. Among the setbacks, though, was a 23-12 drubbing in his only home opener with the Cardinals, suffered at the hands of Super Bowl champion New England last Sept. 19 at Sun Devil Stadium.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0.95 - Cardinals' average yardage per rush on their final 20 attempts in their opener after rookie RB J.J. Arrington opened the game with a 12-yard burst on his first pro carry.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It was just the design of the defense. They were doing certain things certain ways, and it's kind of the nature of the beast. One guy in this offense has a lot of success. It can be somebody completely different the next game. Larry did a great job running his routes and making plays." - Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, on WR Larry Fitzgerald's career highs of 13 catches - one for a TD - and 155 receiving yards in the opener.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
—Emphasis is high on special teams after the team gave up touchdowns on a kickoff return and a punt return in the opener, turning a game the Cardinals controlled into a rout against them.
"Everything kind of broke down," Coach Dennis Green said. "We had some pretty decent coverage on kickoffs and punts at different times, but we didn't do it consistently."
—Another thing the team did not do consistently well is run the football in their opener. After rookie starter J.J. Arrington sliced for 12 yards on his first pro carry, the team compiled 19 yards in their final 20 rushes - not even a yard a carry. The line was makeshift in the middle and inexperienced on the right side. The return of injured starting center Alex Stepanovich this Sunday will help, but he will be rusty. RG Elton Brown will make his second pro start. RT Oliver Ross, although experienced and effective during his days at Pittsburgh, will make his second start with his new team after having missed a large portion of preseason to a knee injury.
But even the normally upbeat Green lamented that the rushing game "is not going very well at all."
PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES
—WR Larry Fitzgerald, a 2004 first-round pick, had career highs with 13 catches and 155 receiving yards in the opener against the Giants.
—SLB Karlos Dansby, a second-round pick in 2004, had a career-high two interceptions in the opener, including an 18-yard return or a touchdown, and a sack.
—C Alex Stepanovich, who had surgery on his right hand early in preseason, began snapping last week in practice and is likely to move back into the lineup Sunday. He started all 16 games as a rookie in 2004.
—FB James Hodgins has been placed on injured reserve after tearing an ACL in the opener. He was on IR and missed all of 2004 with a shoulder injury.
—MLB James Darling, starting in place of injured Gerald Hayes, suffered a strained knee in the opener and will miss at least two games, forcing a shuffling among the LBs that will have veteran Orlando Huff moving back inside, where he played at Seattle, and rookie Darryl Blackstock in his first pro start outside.
—C Shawn Lynch, who started the opener as the fifth center to work with the first team since the opening of training camp, was released, an indication that Alex Stepanovich will be back in the lineup. Lynch had never taken a snap in an NFL games before starting the opener against the New York Giants.
—MLB Lester Towns, released in the final cut down, was re-signed in the wake of knee injuries to the top two MLBs — Gerald Hayes and James Darling. Towns was out of football last season but previously spent four seasons at Carolina, where he appeared in 55 games, including 30 starts. He made more than 100 tackles each in 2000 and 2001.
—WLB Orlando Huff, who played inside at Seattle before signing on as a free agent and moving outside, will start in the middle against St. Louis.
—WLB Darryl Blackstock, a rookie third-round pick, will make his first pro start against the Rams.
—TE Teyo Johnson, a 2003 second-round pick by Oakland, was signed to bolster a very inexperienced group. Johnson (6-6, 260) caught 23 passes for 259 yards (11.3-yard average) and three touchdowns in 24 games that included six starts during two years with the Raiders.
—TE Andy Stokes was re-signed to the practice squad, less than a week after he was released to make room for CB Lamont Reid. The flurry of transactions reinforces Stokes' position as Mr. Irrelevant - he was he final player selected in the 2005 draft (255th overall in seventh round) by New England.
—S Jermaine Hardy was released from the practice squad.
—CB Lamont Reid was signed to the practice squad. He made it to the final cut down and was going to be signed to the practice squad but was claimed by the New York Jets. He lasted four days there.
—DE Antonio Smith was signed to the practice squad. He made All-NFL Europe with six sacks in 10 starts for Hamburg and was on the 53-man roster before the team was forced to cut him to cover for injuries at other positions.
—DE Tyler King was released from the practice squad.
GAME PLAN: The defense has been rebuilt the past two years with an emphasis on speed rather than size and it worked reasonably well against the bigger, stronger New York Giants in the opener (275 total yards). But in this weekend's matchup, it is speed on speed. The Giants wanted to smash, but the Rams will want the game to be a blur. Look for plenty of blitzing, designed both to get to QB Marc Bulger and run blitzes to attempt to stop Steven Jackson and/or Marshall Faulk before they get started.
The Cardinals' widespread injuries among their blockers produced a predictably miserable running game against the physical Giants. The return of C Alex Stepanovich coupled with a game of experience for rookie RG Elton Brown and free agent RT Oliver Ross with their new team won't hurt, nor will a small, less punishing foe. The team has to find a way to get it going on the ground, and one way might be to use its formidable passing game to spread the field to create open lanes.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Cardinals WLB Darryl Blackstock, a third-round pick, vs. Rams RBs Steven Jackson, who rushed for 50 yards in the opener, and Marshall Faulk, one of the best in the game. Knee injuries to the top two MLBs - Gerald Hayes and James Darling - forced the Cardinals to move starting WLB Orlando Huff to the middle and give the fledgling Blackstock his first pro start outside. He is a ferocious pass rusher but needs work defending the run. The Rams no doubt also will test him by throwing to their backs - the Giants had big success throwing to RB Tiki Barber in the opener. Although the Rams have built their reputation with the pass, their running game also has been formidable for years and always produces big yards against this team. If the Cardinals have to commit safeties to the run, that will only make the pass more dangerous against man-to-man coverage on their speedy receivers.
Cardinals CB Antrel Rolle, the eighth player chosen in the 2005 draft, vs. Rams WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, two of the most dangerous in the league. Rolle had a tough initiation to the league against a big, strong receiver, Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants. Now it's this pair, who aren't as big and strong as Burress but are speedy. That will test Rolle's supposed lack of big-league foot speed, and will determine whether the team can afford to bring the safeties up in run support to cover the injuries at MLB and inexperience at WLB, or be forced to use them as a safety net for the corners against the pass.
INJURY IMPACT: The Cardinals may finally get some good news. Starting C Alex Stepanovich, who started every game as a rookie last year, but who has been sidelined with a fractured hand since early in the preseason, appears ready to return on Sunday vs. St. Louis. That certainly couldn't hurt a rushing game that opened with a putrid 31 yards (1.5 an attempt) at the New York Giants.
The news isn't as good in the backfield. FB James Hodgins, who missed last season on IR with a shoulder injury, blew out an ACL as lead blocker for J.J. Arrington's initial pro carry that netted 12 of the team's 31 rushing yards. Hodgins is lost for the season again, and again has been placed on IR. The team will miss his 264 pounds of blocking. Hodgins was like having an extra guard on the field.
TE Eric Edwards, attempting to return from a pectoral tear that sidelined him nearly all of camp and preseason, was shaky in his debut, dropping a wide-open pass and average at best on blocking assignments, causing the team to hit the wavier wire this week and sign Teyo Johnson to augment a very inexperienced group of TEs. But Edwards is expected to start against the Rams.
Starting MLB Gerald Hayes (knee) still is a month away from his return, and compounding the problem is that backup James Darling suffered a knee injury in the opener at New York Giants and will miss at least two games. That will force the team to move OLB Orlando Huff to the middle and start rookie Darryl Blackstock on the weak side.
No offense, but no offense - again.
With the St. Louis Rams coming to town on Sunday for the home opener, the Arizona Cardinals offense no doubt will need to produce more than the 12 points it did in its opening loss at the New York Giants.
It no doubt will need to rush for more than the 31 total yards and 1.5 yards a pop that it did last Sunday.
Cardinals coach Dennis Green has made rebuilding the offensive line among his top priorities since taking over in January, 2004.
But so far, the unit isn't playing any better than the overpriced, underachieving players who were their predecessors and sent packing by Green.
Green touted the Giants as "a real good defensive team," but that shouldn't be an insurmountable obstacle when confronted by a real good offensive team.
And that is what the Cardinals expected to have - a real good offensive team.
They have invested heavily in the offense, drafting starting center Alex Stepanovich and right guard Elton Brown in the past two drafts, and signing free agent tackle Oliver Ross last winter.
They drafted receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Bryant Johnson in the first round, and running back J.J. Arrington and receiver Anquan Boldin in the second round during the past three drafts. They signed free-agent quarterback Kurt Warner in 2005 free agency.
The group joins Leonard Davis, the second pick overall in the 2001 draft.
That's a lot of high-priced, reputedly high-quality talent.
"Obviously we need to run the ball and that is something that we just have to get better at," Warner said. "We don't have to do it first. We could pass the ball well like we did (against the Giants) but you have to be able to balance it out when they start dropping everybody back.
"We have to be able to be able to hit them with the ball and make some chunks to put us in better situations other than second and long, third and long. Offensively, we have to look at ourselves and improve across the board."
So why is the sum consistently less than the parts? Far less? The lack of production offensively last season grated at Green, who made his reputation as an offensive guru, a strong evaluator of talent. He was dedicated to reversing that during his second season in Arizona.
His doesn't sound like a collection that should produce one touchdown and two field goals, even against "a real good defense."
"We had a lot of opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them," Green offered.
The Rams serve up a defense against which the San Francisco 49ers surprisingly took full opportunity in the opener. And the Rams have to go on the road yet again.
And Warner may be buoyed by facing the team with which he twice was NFL Most Valuable Player, won a Super Bowl, and set numerous league offensive records.
That is the sort of production the Cardinals believed they were going to get from this unit.
And they still might.
It isn't Green's fault that Stepanovich broke his hand early in training camp and will be making his return this week. Stepanovich no doubt is better than the four others the team has paraded through the center position during his absence, but he'll be rusty.
"You can't win many games scoring 19 points (seven on an interception return by linebacker Karlos Dansby), there is no doubt about it," Green said. "We got stopped on the run and we didn't take advantage of the pass. We did OK on it, but just not enough.
"We're going to play again. The running game is one phase of the game, and it wasn't a very good one."
But it is the one that Green painstakingly has personally assembled.
SERIES HISTORY: 53rd meeting. The Rams hold a 28-22-2 lead in the series over the Cardinals. The Big Red prevailed in the last meeting, 29-7, last Dec. 19 in Tempe, Ariz. Prior to that, the Cardinals had dropped five in a row - including all of them since realignment put them into the NFC West with the Rams - and six of eight against the team that now rules the city that the Cardinals abandoned in 1988. One of the most significant games in the series from the Cardinals' perspective was a cliffhanging 20-17 victory in 1998 at St. Louis that helped them reverse a slow start to finish 9-7 and earn their first, and only, playoff berth since moving to Arizona.
NOTES, QUOTES
—The Cardinals have tried to do their part to assist the thousands of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina who have been housed temporarily in Phoenix at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. ...Several Cardinals players visited the Coliseum to serve dinner and comfort the displaced people, many of whom have lost everything they own.
"I just can't imagine losing everything you have worked all of your life for, and I just can't imagine what they are going through," said RB Marcel Shipp, who was among a Cardinals contingent that included WR Anquan Boldin, TE Eric Edwards, G Rolando Cantu, LS Nathan Hodel, S Quentin Harris, T Ian Allen and QB Josh McCown.
"My heart and my prayers go out to them and hopefully they can get back on their feet," Shipp said.
McCown said it is the moral duty of high-profile, well-to-do community members such as professional athletes to step forward.
"This is what being in our position is all about," McCown said. "It's nice to be able to bring some positive light to these kids and to bring a sense of love and kindness to these people who have gone through so much.
"It has been fun playing with the kids. It's fun because they don't quite understand who you are and then they see you on the video game and it is more realistic to them. That is what it is all about. Letting them have the experiences and just to be able to brighten their day for a little bit, makes it special."
—OLB Karlos Dansby not only had two interceptions in the opener, he made receiver-like acrobatic moves to snag both from QB Eli Manning.
Although the fourth receiver spot is not solid and Dansby once was a receiver, in high school, he is happy where he is, he said.
On the first pick, while hitting the ground, Dansby rolled to his feet and took it into the end zone 18 yards for a touchdown and the lead over the New York Giants.
The second was a one-handed grab as he was falling away.
"I got a chance to make a play," Dansby said. "I was a receiver, so it was natural."
Dansby, in his second season from Auburn and among four rookie starters for the team in 2004, also sacked Manning in the opener.
—The Cardinals, while continuing to struggle on the field, continue to e good corporate citizens off the field. They will participate in the "Fiestas Patrias" celebration on Friday and Saturday, leading up to their home opener against St. Louis on Sunday. They will offer giveaways and provide an inflatable quarterback toss - elements that they hope will be missing from their Sunday game plan.
"Fiestas Patrias" is presented by the Southwest Hispanic Culture Association to commemorate Mexican Independence. The Cardinals continue to be responsive to the large Hispanic population in metropolitan Phoenix.
—The Arizona Republic reports that 32,835 tickets have been sold for the Cardinals game at Mexico City on Oct. 2 against San Francisco, the first NFL regular-season game to be played outside the United States.
The league and the team were hoping for a sellout at 104,000-seat Azteca Stadium, one reason why the Cardinals agreed to sacrifice one of their home games, which typically draw no more than 45,000 - and often far fewer than that.
But if they are to get there, they now have less than a month to move about 71,000 tickets south of the border.
—A bit of bright news in a disaster area: Cardinals coach Dennis Green has won seven of his 11 home openers as an NFL head coach. Among the setbacks, though, was a 23-12 drubbing in his only home opener with the Cardinals, suffered at the hands of Super Bowl champion New England last Sept. 19 at Sun Devil Stadium.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0.95 - Cardinals' average yardage per rush on their final 20 attempts in their opener after rookie RB J.J. Arrington opened the game with a 12-yard burst on his first pro carry.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It was just the design of the defense. They were doing certain things certain ways, and it's kind of the nature of the beast. One guy in this offense has a lot of success. It can be somebody completely different the next game. Larry did a great job running his routes and making plays." - Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, on WR Larry Fitzgerald's career highs of 13 catches - one for a TD - and 155 receiving yards in the opener.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
—Emphasis is high on special teams after the team gave up touchdowns on a kickoff return and a punt return in the opener, turning a game the Cardinals controlled into a rout against them.
"Everything kind of broke down," Coach Dennis Green said. "We had some pretty decent coverage on kickoffs and punts at different times, but we didn't do it consistently."
—Another thing the team did not do consistently well is run the football in their opener. After rookie starter J.J. Arrington sliced for 12 yards on his first pro carry, the team compiled 19 yards in their final 20 rushes - not even a yard a carry. The line was makeshift in the middle and inexperienced on the right side. The return of injured starting center Alex Stepanovich this Sunday will help, but he will be rusty. RG Elton Brown will make his second pro start. RT Oliver Ross, although experienced and effective during his days at Pittsburgh, will make his second start with his new team after having missed a large portion of preseason to a knee injury.
But even the normally upbeat Green lamented that the rushing game "is not going very well at all."
PLAYER/PERSONNEL NOTES
—WR Larry Fitzgerald, a 2004 first-round pick, had career highs with 13 catches and 155 receiving yards in the opener against the Giants.
—SLB Karlos Dansby, a second-round pick in 2004, had a career-high two interceptions in the opener, including an 18-yard return or a touchdown, and a sack.
—C Alex Stepanovich, who had surgery on his right hand early in preseason, began snapping last week in practice and is likely to move back into the lineup Sunday. He started all 16 games as a rookie in 2004.
—FB James Hodgins has been placed on injured reserve after tearing an ACL in the opener. He was on IR and missed all of 2004 with a shoulder injury.
—MLB James Darling, starting in place of injured Gerald Hayes, suffered a strained knee in the opener and will miss at least two games, forcing a shuffling among the LBs that will have veteran Orlando Huff moving back inside, where he played at Seattle, and rookie Darryl Blackstock in his first pro start outside.
—C Shawn Lynch, who started the opener as the fifth center to work with the first team since the opening of training camp, was released, an indication that Alex Stepanovich will be back in the lineup. Lynch had never taken a snap in an NFL games before starting the opener against the New York Giants.
—MLB Lester Towns, released in the final cut down, was re-signed in the wake of knee injuries to the top two MLBs — Gerald Hayes and James Darling. Towns was out of football last season but previously spent four seasons at Carolina, where he appeared in 55 games, including 30 starts. He made more than 100 tackles each in 2000 and 2001.
—WLB Orlando Huff, who played inside at Seattle before signing on as a free agent and moving outside, will start in the middle against St. Louis.
—WLB Darryl Blackstock, a rookie third-round pick, will make his first pro start against the Rams.
—TE Teyo Johnson, a 2003 second-round pick by Oakland, was signed to bolster a very inexperienced group. Johnson (6-6, 260) caught 23 passes for 259 yards (11.3-yard average) and three touchdowns in 24 games that included six starts during two years with the Raiders.
—TE Andy Stokes was re-signed to the practice squad, less than a week after he was released to make room for CB Lamont Reid. The flurry of transactions reinforces Stokes' position as Mr. Irrelevant - he was he final player selected in the 2005 draft (255th overall in seventh round) by New England.
—S Jermaine Hardy was released from the practice squad.
—CB Lamont Reid was signed to the practice squad. He made it to the final cut down and was going to be signed to the practice squad but was claimed by the New York Jets. He lasted four days there.
—DE Antonio Smith was signed to the practice squad. He made All-NFL Europe with six sacks in 10 starts for Hamburg and was on the 53-man roster before the team was forced to cut him to cover for injuries at other positions.
—DE Tyler King was released from the practice squad.
GAME PLAN: The defense has been rebuilt the past two years with an emphasis on speed rather than size and it worked reasonably well against the bigger, stronger New York Giants in the opener (275 total yards). But in this weekend's matchup, it is speed on speed. The Giants wanted to smash, but the Rams will want the game to be a blur. Look for plenty of blitzing, designed both to get to QB Marc Bulger and run blitzes to attempt to stop Steven Jackson and/or Marshall Faulk before they get started.
The Cardinals' widespread injuries among their blockers produced a predictably miserable running game against the physical Giants. The return of C Alex Stepanovich coupled with a game of experience for rookie RG Elton Brown and free agent RT Oliver Ross with their new team won't hurt, nor will a small, less punishing foe. The team has to find a way to get it going on the ground, and one way might be to use its formidable passing game to spread the field to create open lanes.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
Cardinals WLB Darryl Blackstock, a third-round pick, vs. Rams RBs Steven Jackson, who rushed for 50 yards in the opener, and Marshall Faulk, one of the best in the game. Knee injuries to the top two MLBs - Gerald Hayes and James Darling - forced the Cardinals to move starting WLB Orlando Huff to the middle and give the fledgling Blackstock his first pro start outside. He is a ferocious pass rusher but needs work defending the run. The Rams no doubt also will test him by throwing to their backs - the Giants had big success throwing to RB Tiki Barber in the opener. Although the Rams have built their reputation with the pass, their running game also has been formidable for years and always produces big yards against this team. If the Cardinals have to commit safeties to the run, that will only make the pass more dangerous against man-to-man coverage on their speedy receivers.
Cardinals CB Antrel Rolle, the eighth player chosen in the 2005 draft, vs. Rams WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, two of the most dangerous in the league. Rolle had a tough initiation to the league against a big, strong receiver, Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants. Now it's this pair, who aren't as big and strong as Burress but are speedy. That will test Rolle's supposed lack of big-league foot speed, and will determine whether the team can afford to bring the safeties up in run support to cover the injuries at MLB and inexperience at WLB, or be forced to use them as a safety net for the corners against the pass.
INJURY IMPACT: The Cardinals may finally get some good news. Starting C Alex Stepanovich, who started every game as a rookie last year, but who has been sidelined with a fractured hand since early in the preseason, appears ready to return on Sunday vs. St. Louis. That certainly couldn't hurt a rushing game that opened with a putrid 31 yards (1.5 an attempt) at the New York Giants.
The news isn't as good in the backfield. FB James Hodgins, who missed last season on IR with a shoulder injury, blew out an ACL as lead blocker for J.J. Arrington's initial pro carry that netted 12 of the team's 31 rushing yards. Hodgins is lost for the season again, and again has been placed on IR. The team will miss his 264 pounds of blocking. Hodgins was like having an extra guard on the field.
TE Eric Edwards, attempting to return from a pectoral tear that sidelined him nearly all of camp and preseason, was shaky in his debut, dropping a wide-open pass and average at best on blocking assignments, causing the team to hit the wavier wire this week and sign Teyo Johnson to augment a very inexperienced group of TEs. But Edwards is expected to start against the Rams.
Starting MLB Gerald Hayes (knee) still is a month away from his return, and compounding the problem is that backup James Darling suffered a knee injury in the opener at New York Giants and will miss at least two games. That will force the team to move OLB Orlando Huff to the middle and start rookie Darryl Blackstock on the weak side.
