Speaker 1: Strap on the boots and scrape up the knuckles ahead.
Speaker 1: He got Jack. This is the Big Red Race presented
Speaker 1: by santan Ford in Gilbert. Mary's gonna score touchdown. Slim
Speaker 1: to the ground by Buddha Baker Like a torpedo. He
Speaker 1: came flying into the backfield. The Rage is brought to
Speaker 1: you by satan Ford in Gilbert. Are you Santanford State Farm?
Speaker 1: Talk to an agent today at eight hundred State Farm
Speaker 1: and buy Arizona Cardinals podcasts. Visit Hacy Cardinals dot Com,
Speaker 1: Slash podcasts, The Rods Rising Guard, Gilpertuizing Vision, Flurring, Rage
Speaker 1: taking over. Here's Paul CALVC. Get the popcorn ready, It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a show. And Ron will Fleet. It doesn't
Speaker 1: get any better than that. Unleash the far. Forget about
Speaker 1: the team that just clinch the NFC East, that is
Speaker 1: nine and one against the NFC. It's the opponent not
Speaker 1: listed on the Cardinals schedule that is the toughest foe
Speaker 1: of them all because you battle this opponent seven days
Speaker 1: a week. Again, We'll forget about the team of the
Speaker 1: number one scoring offense and the most takeaways. Who, by
Speaker 1: the way, I've only beaten three teams with winning records
Speaker 1: all year. Here's the thing the Cardinals right now, even
Speaker 1: if you test negative, Okay, if you're an Arizona Cardinal,
Speaker 1: you know what, you're still sick. You're sick right now,
Speaker 1: the three game losing streak, and you're sick of reading
Speaker 1: the headlines surging Cowboys against the sliding Cardinals or the
Speaker 1: skyrocketing Dallas Cowboys against skidding Arizona. We get all that, Okay, Yes,
Speaker 1: it is the Big Red Rage with Dennis Gardeck. By
Speaker 1: the way, who's going to join us in a matter
Speaker 1: of moments, all presented by Santan four and Gilbert. We
Speaker 1: are Santan Forward, Paul kelbc Ron Wolflee, and we do
Speaker 1: have headlines plenty going on this holiday week. Wolf what
Speaker 1: do you want to talk about first? Polly? That is
Speaker 1: a question that I will ask you on this holiday season. Well,
Speaker 1: Happy to year ball. The headline of the day obviously
Speaker 1: is going to be let's see if we're scoring at home.
Speaker 1: It was eight different old line combinations going into the
Speaker 1: Colts game, which made it nine, which now means you're
Speaker 1: going to end up with the tenth different old line
Speaker 1: combinations Sunday in Dallas because d J. Humphreys has been
Speaker 1: added to the COVID list. Yeah, that is really interesting,
Speaker 1: a great place to start, because that, to me is
Speaker 1: a huge question mark going forward the Arizona Cardinals. I think, Polly,
Speaker 1: They've got to get back to running the football and
Speaker 1: being a lot more balanced offensively. This is really what
Speaker 1: I'm going to be looking for in this Dallas Cowboys game,
Speaker 1: and doing it out of different personnel groups and doing
Speaker 1: it out of different positions. For Kyler Murray, well, he's
Speaker 1: under a center. Whether you put him in the gun,
Speaker 1: you put him in the pistol, whatever, it may be
Speaker 1: a lot more combinations. I think we're going to see
Speaker 1: a little bit more balance with the Arizona Cardinals going forward.
Speaker 1: But man, if you're going to bring balance, that means
Speaker 1: your offensive line is going to have to be big
Speaker 1: contributors in that. Yeah. DJ Humphreys was your rock at
Speaker 1: left tackle. Not only had he played every meaningful snap
Speaker 1: this year, but he's going to have a streak of
Speaker 1: forty seven straight games played ended on Sunday because he
Speaker 1: got added to the COVID list, And just when you
Speaker 1: got Rodney Hudson back at least you think he's tracking
Speaker 1: to be back so and that COVID list also includes
Speaker 1: Marcus Golden, who might be back on game day. We'll see.
Speaker 1: Devon Kannard has been added to that list, Sean Harlow,
Speaker 1: the new corners on the practice squad, Brion Borders. But
Speaker 1: every single day, and we talked to Cliff Kingsbury about
Speaker 1: this on his weekly TV show. If you're the head
Speaker 1: coach you have, you're just waiting for an email or
Speaker 1: a text and you're wondering, Okay, who is next? And
Speaker 1: so it's a miserable place right now. Obviously for a
Speaker 1: lot of coaches and a lot of teams. The Cardinals
Speaker 1: are far from the only team. In fact, they're probably
Speaker 1: one of the less impacted teams we have seen in
Speaker 1: The Colts, by the way, just came in and pulled
Speaker 1: it off, did they not, Wolf minus eight different starters
Speaker 1: and over a dozen significant players, and then they lost
Speaker 1: more during the course of the game, no doubt, Pauli.
Speaker 1: Once again, the Colts, listen, they You've got to give
Speaker 1: them an awful lot of credit for what they did.
Speaker 1: That is a tough, tough football team right there. To
Speaker 1: go out and play the way they did. You're talking
Speaker 1: about having four of their starting offensive linemen. They actually
Speaker 1: went into the game with three of their interior starters,
Speaker 1: and I mean two of them being Pro Bowlers, really
Speaker 1: good players at the center position, of course, and at
Speaker 1: the left guard position. You have the best blocking left
Speaker 1: guard on the face of the planet and Quenton Nelson,
Speaker 1: and they go down in this game, and then of
Speaker 1: course you lose your tackle. They were playing with four
Speaker 1: starters out of the game the vast majority of that game,
Speaker 1: and you give them a lot of credit. And it's
Speaker 1: what I think we need to see the Arizona Cardinals doing.
Speaker 1: I think the Cardinal players have been talking about that
Speaker 1: very thing as well. Paul. I'm glad they're playing a
Speaker 1: team like the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys have won four
Speaker 1: games in a row. Now, we could sit there and
Speaker 1: we could talk about the fact they beat in New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints and they beat Washington exactly, Paul. But still
Speaker 1: they are playing better football. I think overall, from the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season. I think in all three phases,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about it. The Dallas Cowboys are playing
Speaker 1: better football. And I'm glad this good is this is
Speaker 1: exactly what I think the Cardinals need a challenge something
Speaker 1: to say, Okay, wake up and hopefully this will be
Speaker 1: the wake up game. Well, they've lost three in a row,
Speaker 1: the Ears in a Cardinals, five of their last eight,
Speaker 1: and Cliff Kingsbury on where it all starts the turnaround
Speaker 1: obviously haven't played as well as we were liked, and
Speaker 1: we just talked about being able to treat each practice
Speaker 1: rep lay a game rep. You know, don't let things slide,
Speaker 1: don't say hey, coach, I would have got it right
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We're way too far into this deal to
Speaker 1: be falling back in any habits like that. And so
Speaker 1: that's what we got to do. It starts on the
Speaker 1: practice fields and it's got to be able to carry
Speaker 1: over the game day. And we got a lot of
Speaker 1: work to do this week. Yeah, no doubt. I mean
Speaker 1: there's been some poignant comments this week, Kelvin Beecham telling
Speaker 1: the media we got to find a way to win
Speaker 1: situational football, which is kind of beating us down right now.
Speaker 1: That's Kelvin Beacham, one of the unquestioned team leaders. There
Speaker 1: was Cliff Kingsbury in the press conference saying we got
Speaker 1: to start treating practice like a game. So the games
Speaker 1: don't feel sped up to us, and he hinted a
Speaker 1: practice again right there will So you know, they got
Speaker 1: to figure out a way to amp things up, whether
Speaker 1: it's the urgency, whether it's the attention to detail, eleven penalty.
Speaker 1: He's against the Colts obviously, So you know, you can
Speaker 1: look at the film, and obviously there's a lot of
Speaker 1: critics out there right now to which Kyler Murray had
Speaker 1: something to say. Check this out what Kyler told the
Speaker 1: media yesterday. There's tons of people out there that don't
Speaker 1: have a clue what they're talking about. I mean, when
Speaker 1: you win, you know, all that stuff gets swept under
Speaker 1: the rug. So like I said last year, I mean
Speaker 1: we were winning, and you know we were still doing
Speaker 1: some of those same things. You gotta do the little things, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, no matter what you're doing in life. I mean,
Speaker 1: people don't have a clue. But you know, if you
Speaker 1: watch the film, you know what you're looking at. It's
Speaker 1: not far off. We're not far off, right, So Wolf,
Speaker 1: you do watch the film, you do know what you're
Speaker 1: looking at. What do you think about that comment? Yeah, listen,
Speaker 1: I think you don't want to panic that much. I
Speaker 1: do know, and you always have to remember this right here,
Speaker 1: PAULI and I remember this distinctly. Being a player, I
Speaker 1: have a player's mentality. It's never gonna leave me. I
Speaker 1: don't care how fat, how old I get, Paul, It's
Speaker 1: not going to leave me. That player mentality and the
Speaker 1: player mentality is. I got this. That is what you
Speaker 1: hope the player's mentality is. And guess what. The player
Speaker 1: always feels the best about any type of situation, any
Speaker 1: adversity that he faces, because he faces a lot of
Speaker 1: adversity on Sunday. It's a normal thing to go out
Speaker 1: in competition and compete, Paul, and face adversity on Sunday
Speaker 1: because you can do something about it. For all of
Speaker 1: us that are sitting here analyzing all of it, I
Speaker 1: don't know, Polly. You know, I know you're a sideline
Speaker 1: reporter and you don't splatter easily though I know that ball.
Speaker 1: But you know what, there might be a little panic
Speaker 1: coming from the CALVC compound. Might be a little bit
Speaker 1: of it. And for me as an analyst, even I'm
Speaker 1: looking at it going okay, boys, I guess we're played
Speaker 1: for keeps it. You know it's time to go, It's
Speaker 1: time to ball. Right now everybody. Can you imagine fans
Speaker 1: they're feeling the same way. Here we go, we've lost
Speaker 1: three in a row. To wake up, guys, let's start
Speaker 1: playing like we did in the first half of the season.
Speaker 1: And yet as a player, you're like, hey, hey, we
Speaker 1: got this settled down. Now you got to go prove it, Paul. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and look, there's been a lot of honesty. I mean,
Speaker 1: guys have been pretty forthright. When we're talking to Cliff
Speaker 1: Kingsbury after the game and he says, you know what,
Speaker 1: we continue to find ways to lose games. When he
Speaker 1: says later, mistakes are showing up that didn't we didn't
Speaker 1: see earlier in the season, Kyler after the game calling
Speaker 1: a quote bad football. We're pretty much killing ourselves. I mean,
Speaker 1: they know what's wrong. Yeah, what is your confidence level
Speaker 1: they can correct it? Yeah? No, My confidence level is
Speaker 1: they can correct it because of the talent that they have, Paul.
Speaker 1: They have the talent still. I know they're missing DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 1: I know they're missing JJ Watt. I know they've been
Speaker 1: missing Rodney Hudson. I know they've been missing James Connor. Paul,
Speaker 1: these are big misses too, And you've got to understand
Speaker 1: when I see this, this is an intangible problem because
Speaker 1: the talent is there, the tangible is there. For the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals, I think this is more in the ether.
Speaker 1: I could be dead wrong on this, Paul. This is
Speaker 1: just me being around the game for as long as
Speaker 1: I have looking in from the outside. I think it's
Speaker 1: inside the locker room, the intangibles. I think they're missing
Speaker 1: a lot of the leadership. And the reason being, Paul
Speaker 1: is listen, you can't lead if you're not playing. You can't, Paul,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry. You can sit there and raw root. You
Speaker 1: can cheer lead if you want to do that, but
Speaker 1: you can't lead because you're not doing. First, you've got
Speaker 1: to do and then say and right now, they've they've
Speaker 1: got guys that are key guys that can't do, like
Speaker 1: Rodney Hudson, James Connor, DeAndre Hopkins, j J. Watt yep,
Speaker 1: and you know what, well, those aren't just pro bowlers
Speaker 1: some of them. Yeah, but in a lot of ways,
Speaker 1: it's the Cardinal's identity. It's the Cardinals DNA, especially an offense.
Speaker 1: To me, when you're missing DeAndre Hopkins, you haven't really
Speaker 1: effectively adjusted to not having that last eight games you're
Speaker 1: averaging twenty one points per game, whereas your first seven
Speaker 1: games it was thirty two points per game. So we'll
Speaker 1: talk to Dennis Gardeck when we come back. By the way,
Speaker 1: the Dave Pash Podcast, episode number twenty two available now
Speaker 1: featuring legendary Sun's announcer Al McCoy. Wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1: The Big Red Rage with Dennis Gardeck all presented by
Speaker 1: Santan Ford. In Gilbert shotgun Snap hurts a short set,
Speaker 1: steps up, being chased far side by Guardeck sacks up
Speaker 1: at the forty one yard line. Dennis Gardeck has become
Speaker 1: the sack machine. Shotgun Snap hurts with a short set
Speaker 1: in trouble, steps up, gets hit and sacked. Dennis Gardeck
Speaker 1: was there first. Somebody hit the stroll baby guard Deckie
Speaker 1: Doddackie god gig. That's Kyla Murray miked up last season
Speaker 1: and is a little shout out his salute to our
Speaker 1: special guest tonight on The Big Red Rage, presented by
Speaker 1: santan Ford and Gilbert. We are santan Ford. Well if
Speaker 1: I have come to learn as your pencil next sideline guy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: went out on that field. There's an extreme amount of chaos, right,
Speaker 1: and they're peeling guys off, and there's dudes pinballing around
Speaker 1: and especially on special teams right, and a play registers
Speaker 1: on the Richter scale, you know, the epicenter is usually
Speaker 1: number forty five. Our guest Dennis Gardeck, would you agree
Speaker 1: with that? Rounbul? There's no doubt about it. The barbarian Paul?
Speaker 1: What is good? Guard Deck? Dennis? How you doing? Thanks
Speaker 1: for joining us? Are we doing a Paul? How are you?
Speaker 1: What's going on? Dennis? How are you? Buddy? I'm doing excellent.
Speaker 1: How are you guys doing? And really appreciate you joining
Speaker 1: us right now? Let's just get right into it, shall we?
Speaker 1: How are you doing? How are you doing physically right now?
Speaker 1: Holding up at this point of the season. I'm doing great.
Speaker 1: You know. I was out those first couple of weeks
Speaker 1: with the hand injury. I knee was good to go.
Speaker 1: It was the hand injury kind of gave me some
Speaker 1: more time to really share some things up. And then
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks was kind of just getting
Speaker 1: back into that rhythm that I missed out with no
Speaker 1: training camp. But I feel great and I feel like
Speaker 1: I kind of have that competitive edge of not having
Speaker 1: those first couple games to grind through. When you say
Speaker 1: you feel great, I mean, be honest, be honest, where
Speaker 1: are you with the knee? Because for everything you did
Speaker 1: last year and those two sacks we just heard against
Speaker 1: the Eagles and it was a remarkable run when you
Speaker 1: were inserted on defense last year. The downer was that
Speaker 1: it ended with a season ending knee injury, and it
Speaker 1: was late in the season, obviously in December, so I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people wondered, Okay, what's realistic. What
Speaker 1: have you found in your recovery with the knee. Well,
Speaker 1: I was. I was really honest with the whole process
Speaker 1: and you know, um just understanding the injury and kind
Speaker 1: of the timing, and it was kind of hard, and
Speaker 1: letting myself kind of feel that, I think really helped
Speaker 1: me in my recovery process of being able, you know,
Speaker 1: to be a little bit angry about it. I knew
Speaker 1: I had given everything that I had, so I was.
Speaker 1: I was content with that season, but letting myself be
Speaker 1: a little angry, I think helped me attack my rehab
Speaker 1: a little bit more, a little harder, and everything went
Speaker 1: great as far as as training went with our training staff.
Speaker 1: They did a great job and kind of keeping me
Speaker 1: out of my own way and freaking out or doing
Speaker 1: anything crazy. And I feel like everything happened I was
Speaker 1: supposed to do. The hand was a bummer, um, but
Speaker 1: I think everything happened exactly how it was supposed to. So, Dennis,
Speaker 1: how what does that see mean to you? That means
Speaker 1: everything to be able to have that see on your chest.
Speaker 1: It means that the guys in the locker room see
Speaker 1: you as a leader. Um. That's not something that's voted
Speaker 1: on by you guys as media or as coaches or anything.
Speaker 1: That's that's strictly the guys in the locker room and
Speaker 1: everything that has to do with that fraternity of men
Speaker 1: carries a lot of weight. Yeah, for those who aren't
Speaker 1: familiar Dennis Gardeck as our guest. He signed by the
Speaker 1: Cardinals in twenty eighteen as an undrafted rookie free agent
Speaker 1: out of Sioux Falls. He was named a Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: alternate in his second year on special teams in two nineteen,
Speaker 1: then Wolf your Reference last year named a team captain
Speaker 1: for the first time, and in just ninety three defensive snaps,
Speaker 1: Dennis had seven sacks, seven tackles for loss, ten quarter
Speaker 1: pack hits and and so that is that it was
Speaker 1: just such a stunning, stunning perform when you got snaps.
Speaker 1: And now we're tracking towards Sunday, Dennis, and we mentioned
Speaker 1: off the top of the show when you're looking at
Speaker 1: the COVID list and you see Marcus Golden and you
Speaker 1: say see Devon Kennard, right, and both Vans Joseph and
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury has said it this week. Yes, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be calling Dennis gardex name. I mean, just tell us
Speaker 1: about your anticipation for Sunday. Um. Yeah, for me, it
Speaker 1: really doesn't change everything. Um, everything I've been practicing, I'm
Speaker 1: working on is still there now. I just I give
Speaker 1: more of a chance to showcase it. So, um, it's
Speaker 1: it's not oh now this situation arises itself and I
Speaker 1: need to prepare for it. It's it's been a process
Speaker 1: throughout the entire season, and now the opportunity presents itself.
Speaker 1: Are you going to hit the what is it the strobe? Dennis?
Speaker 1: Is that what you do? There? Is it the strobe?
Speaker 1: Which one was it? Now? Turning the KNA was the
Speaker 1: first one that one got vetted out pretty soon. It
Speaker 1: was not at pe put me into that one pretty early,
Speaker 1: but he did appreciate the hidden the strobe. Um, we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. I call it blacking out on the
Speaker 1: field and the strobe is what kind of stuck. But
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. Well, here's what your defensive coordinator
Speaker 1: had to say today when your name came up during
Speaker 1: advance Joseph press conference. I think he's close to having
Speaker 1: a big game, you know. I mean, this guy, if
Speaker 1: he gets multiple opportunities, he will make some plays. So again,
Speaker 1: I mean he's he's one of the young guys I'm
Speaker 1: excited to watch on Sunday with more opportunity. You know,
Speaker 1: he wants a chance to prove again, you know, his
Speaker 1: his work to our football team true or false? Is
Speaker 1: that is that? Does that capsualize your mindset right now?
Speaker 1: What your coordinator just said, absolutely, I think you're proving
Speaker 1: You're proving your worth week in and week out. And
Speaker 1: just the faith he has in me again, along with
Speaker 1: the preparation that I've put in is kind of what
Speaker 1: gives me my edge on the field. Is that kind
Speaker 1: of gives me my teeth and I'm ready to go
Speaker 1: in part to his confidence in me to put me
Speaker 1: out there, and confidence in my preparation as well as
Speaker 1: film study and all of that. Dennis, let's talk about
Speaker 1: real football, shall we? Special teams? We all know if
Speaker 1: you can play special teams right now, honestly, you could
Speaker 1: play any position in the National Football League. Now, that
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you're going to be talented in terms of
Speaker 1: catching the football or throwing the football or running the football.
Speaker 1: It doesn't. It just means you're probably going to be
Speaker 1: really talented and very comfortable and knocking somebody's face off, correct, Dennis,
Speaker 1: I mean that's that's what special teams is all about.
Speaker 1: Talk to me about your special teams this year and
Speaker 1: how you feel it's going for the team. We got
Speaker 1: a veteran group that's kind of been banged up here
Speaker 1: and there. We're playing with a bunch of different pieces
Speaker 1: kind of throughout the season. I think we kind of
Speaker 1: caught our stride in terms of who we're playing with.
Speaker 1: We got some big guys coming back. We got Tanner
Speaker 1: and Yeke have both been activated their windows. It's an
Speaker 1: exciting time for special teams. So I'm really excited. Tell
Speaker 1: us about and Denis car deck is our guests. Tell
Speaker 1: us about the crazy punt return against the Colts. There,
Speaker 1: I was filling in for Dave pass right, Pauli pinchitter,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, you guys bust out
Speaker 1: that punt return and I'm calling Christian Kirk return and
Speaker 1: when all of a sudden it's Byron Murphy. And I
Speaker 1: felt a little better later when I saw the highlight
Speaker 1: and even the TV cameraman for Fox followed the wrong guy.
Speaker 1: But tell us about that boy, because man, that hit
Speaker 1: and you had Byron Murphy bring it all the way
Speaker 1: out to midfield. Yeah, that will. First of all, that's
Speaker 1: a tremendous effort by Byron to be able to run
Speaker 1: all the way back. I think he ran forty something
Speaker 1: yards back to catch the ball over his shoulder and
Speaker 1: then now he's got a run for the return and
Speaker 1: he got it back another forty plus yards. UM. So
Speaker 1: that's just a tremendous effort by Byron um And and
Speaker 1: our special teams coordinator Rogers has has a great phrase,
Speaker 1: it don't do the same thing every time, And they
Speaker 1: were kind of known for in the UM the plus
Speaker 1: DI the area, they'll always be kicking it that way, um,
Speaker 1: and we saw an opportunity and we've practiced it and
Speaker 1: that it was a success. Dennis. That goes right into
Speaker 1: your stance, right even your very stance, and how you
Speaker 1: stand like a personal protector. When Jeff Rogers says, don't
Speaker 1: don't do something the same way every time, that means
Speaker 1: right down to the individual on the field, correct exactly
Speaker 1: any any tendencies he's going to snip out. He's great
Speaker 1: at coming up with great game plans based on what
Speaker 1: he's seeing on the cap. I love that because, honestly, man,
Speaker 1: when he told me it didn't dawn on me. But
Speaker 1: what when he said it was so obvious to me.
Speaker 1: He said, look at the personal protector. How much of
Speaker 1: the time do you see the print? And it's so
Speaker 1: true because that's what I did. I was a personal
Speaker 1: protector calling out fran said you know this, here's how
Speaker 1: we're going to block this thing. And then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden when I get said, here comes the ball.
Speaker 1: It's a great timing device for a lot of teams
Speaker 1: that are trying to block a punt as well. I
Speaker 1: love the fact that he has our personal protector stands
Speaker 1: straight up and down and he does not move that
Speaker 1: to me, that's a little thing, Dennis. But that's who
Speaker 1: Jeff Rogers is, right. Absolutely, you got everything coached down
Speaker 1: to the detail. Yeah. So do you think the Dallas
Speaker 1: tackles are watching your film from last year, Dennis? Because
Speaker 1: there can't be a lot to go on necessarily this year,
Speaker 1: right and for you to come in last year and
Speaker 1: I'm looking at it right now. You came in because
Speaker 1: I remember vividly that empty MetLife Stadium and you came
Speaker 1: in and Chandler Jones at this season ending injury, and
Speaker 1: you came in and you had two sacks, and then
Speaker 1: at the Giants you had two more sacks and just
Speaker 1: eight snaps, and then you had two more snacks against
Speaker 1: sacks against Billy And I'm just curious, um, is you know,
Speaker 1: do you do it a little bit differently than a
Speaker 1: lot of pass rushers to what you guys are just
Speaker 1: talking about, and how much has that served you in
Speaker 1: your ability to get to the quarterback when you're out there?
Speaker 1: Do what differently than just you're you know, maybe do
Speaker 1: you have a little bit more of an unorthodox type
Speaker 1: style that you know, you're you're obviously a different body
Speaker 1: type than a Chandler Jones or Marcus Golden. Is it
Speaker 1: just sort of that change up, and do you think
Speaker 1: Dallas tackles or maybe going back and looking at some
Speaker 1: of your film from last year. Yeah, I'm not underestimating
Speaker 1: the Dallas tackles at all. I'm sure they're going back
Speaker 1: and looking at everything they can to be prepared. NFL
Speaker 1: football players are not going to step out of the
Speaker 1: field feeling unprepared, so I'm sure they're looking at it.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they know exactly how they're going to set
Speaker 1: me um, they know how to stop me, and then
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go out there and make him question it.
Speaker 1: Love that man got to have that kind of mentality.
Speaker 1: That mentality, too, is something that I want to talk
Speaker 1: to you about specifically when we come back in the
Speaker 1: next beautiful part of the program. The mentality not only
Speaker 1: your mentality, because I think it's a special mentality, but
Speaker 1: the collective that is going on in that locker room
Speaker 1: right now. I want to talk to you a little
Speaker 1: bit more in depth about that when we come back
Speaker 1: to us. Yeah, we'll go to sense as to the
Speaker 1: pulse and vibe of this Cardinals team right now going
Speaker 1: into this game. What it's been like this week. What
Speaker 1: the locker room is like, where the confidence level is
Speaker 1: right now? And if you caught it on YouTube in
Speaker 1: the Cardinal's website, his video series How I Got Here?
Speaker 1: I mean, Dennis is a natural on camera. I think
Speaker 1: he has a post playing career. We're going to talk
Speaker 1: about that. It is the Big Red Rage with Dennis
Speaker 1: gardeck All presented by santan Ford and Gilbert We are
Speaker 1: santan Ford Cardinals show flits off the edge. Here comes
Speaker 1: Pooter racing and trying to corral Carcel West from behind
Speaker 1: and tracks them and backs them. Hag ties him from behind.
Speaker 1: Down goes Wentz and the Cardinals hold on. Third down.
Speaker 1: How about bad fasts Joseph flashing a little cover zero
Speaker 1: zero bring everybody hunts over the wall. Kyler is looking left,
Speaker 1: hats it, throws it towards the far sideline and there's
Speaker 1: the touchdown Antslan Wesley the big target on the far sideline,
Speaker 1: and that fast was right on the money. Kyler drops
Speaker 1: it in the bucket for six oh. That is big
Speaker 1: time right there by Kyler Murray. And that was what
Speaker 1: the Cardinals were doing earlier this year when they started
Speaker 1: seven to zero ten and two. Complimentary football, right Wolf,
Speaker 1: the offense and defense feeding off each other. Big play
Speaker 1: by the d the offense cashes it in, and so
Speaker 1: that is what the Cardinals are open to bring some
Speaker 1: more of, starting this Sunday in Dallas after the Christmas
Speaker 1: Night loss BA Humbug to the Colts twenty two sixteen.
Speaker 1: Dennis Gardeck is our guest, and Dennis earlier today, zach
Speaker 1: Ertz told the media, and I'm quoting loosely, we're still
Speaker 1: the same team we were when everybody was saying we
Speaker 1: were the best team in the NFL. We got to
Speaker 1: play with the same confidence and swagger. Do you agree
Speaker 1: with that? And how far would that go and how
Speaker 1: close do you think the Cardinals are to recapturing that? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with zach Um. There's no panic in this
Speaker 1: football team, and I think that comes from the amount
Speaker 1: of trust we have in each other as players, as
Speaker 1: well as the coaching staff in getting us prepared and
Speaker 1: creating game plans for us to win. So I think
Speaker 1: that's going to be incredible to our future success. So, Dennis,
Speaker 1: it's so odd because you look at it, of course,
Speaker 1: and the numbers seven and zero. First of all, seven
Speaker 1: and oz is how you how you started the season
Speaker 1: ten and two after twelve weeks of the season. That number,
Speaker 1: to me, Dennis, is even more impressive than the seven
Speaker 1: and oz And it's only because twelve weeks of football,
Speaker 1: we knew you weren't gonna go undefeated. Everybody knew the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals weren't going to go undefeated. For the most part.
Speaker 1: Seven and oh, that's a great start, there's no doubt
Speaker 1: about it. But we knew adversity was coming at some
Speaker 1: point in time, just the way everyone faces adversity across
Speaker 1: the league. The ten and two number, to me was
Speaker 1: the That was the eye opener. You don't get to
Speaker 1: ten and two, especially because you played three games without
Speaker 1: your franchise quarterback and without DeAndre Hopkins, and you won
Speaker 1: two of them. And there you are at ten and
Speaker 1: two season. That was the most impressive number to me.
Speaker 1: Now you're ten and five. How do you get back
Speaker 1: to winning? That is the question that everybody is asking.
Speaker 1: What do you think this team has got to do
Speaker 1: to start winning? I think we continue to fight, continue
Speaker 1: to put in the work that we have been doing,
Speaker 1: and on Sunday, when we do it right, the Chips
Speaker 1: will fall or they will and eventually we will catch
Speaker 1: that stride and we will continue to win again and
Speaker 1: that will carry us on. It feels good to do
Speaker 1: it because you know, as a player you have control, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, this is the great thing about it. As
Speaker 1: a player, you know there's something, Dennis, you can do
Speaker 1: about it. There's something you have control over the situation. Now,
Speaker 1: you can't make your teammate go out and play great,
Speaker 1: but you can go out and play great. It's one
Speaker 1: of the it's one of the great gifts I think
Speaker 1: of playing in the National Football League is having that
Speaker 1: kind of confidence and walking out in between the white lines. Dennis,
Speaker 1: do you still think there was confidence in your teammates
Speaker 1: inside that locker room? Absolutely? And that's where that no
Speaker 1: panic mentality comes from. I think you're hitting on a point,
Speaker 1: but I want to drive it home a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Is you can do what's in your control. The no
Speaker 1: panic side of thing is controlling what we can control.
Speaker 1: I'm going to make my plays, I'm going to do
Speaker 1: my job and trusting that all eleven people on the
Speaker 1: field are doing That's that's where the success comes from. Yes,
Speaker 1: Cardinals linebacker Dennis cardk Is our guest. All right, So
Speaker 1: Dallas in the last game car rushed Washington fifty six
Speaker 1: to fourteen. I know you've seen the numbers. They're in
Speaker 1: the number one scoring offense in the league, Umber one
Speaker 1: in total offense, which is yards per game. You tell
Speaker 1: us what stands out the most from watching the game film?
Speaker 1: They got great receivers. Um, an incredible tale on that quarterback. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, big strong, physical offensive line. We got to
Speaker 1: work cut out for us. Um. I trust Dances the
Speaker 1: game plan, and we're gonna go out there and um
Speaker 1: put up a fight. Dennis, Yeah, go ahead on Vance's
Speaker 1: game plan. How tough is it when you have so
Speaker 1: many different parts, especially the secondary. Right, you're missing two
Speaker 1: of your top three corners, and now there are different
Speaker 1: parts in the front seven. And Zaban might even be
Speaker 1: playing out of position, right, I mean he might be
Speaker 1: on the outside and be in that rotation. Um, how
Speaker 1: much of a challenge is just communication? Because I hear
Speaker 1: guys talk about that, and you know how key that
Speaker 1: is when offenses are trying to exploit you, you know,
Speaker 1: and and change plays and and so forth. I mean,
Speaker 1: you guys all have to be playing the same defense
Speaker 1: at the same time does that get to be a challenge.
Speaker 1: But there's a lot of moving parts. Well, I think
Speaker 1: it starts with the coaching, and we're coached that everyone
Speaker 1: is a starter, and the standard is the standard, UM,
Speaker 1: and that that starts with the headman on down UM.
Speaker 1: So so yes, obviously there's gonna be UM some things
Speaker 1: that we're working through, but the standard is the standard
Speaker 1: and UM the final product out there. UM is an
Speaker 1: NFL football team playing an NFL football team, Dennis. When
Speaker 1: you look at the Dallas Cowboys offense on tape, do
Speaker 1: you see similarities between the Cowboys offense and our offense? Oh? There.
Speaker 1: It is a copycat league. There's there's going to be
Speaker 1: things that every every team is exploiting and doing in
Speaker 1: different areas. But they do have some nuance, UM and
Speaker 1: just just understanding not only how they play, but how
Speaker 1: they're going to attack us, what they've seen on film
Speaker 1: and being able to be prepared for kind of how
Speaker 1: their game planning us is really what's going on throughout
Speaker 1: the week. Here's your defensive coordinator, advanced Joseph today to
Speaker 1: the media. Little scattering report on Dak Prescott dagged us
Speaker 1: so much at the line of scrimmage. I mean he is.
Speaker 1: He's doing a great job of putting his team into
Speaker 1: the best place. So you have to have a great
Speaker 1: scheme to disguise coverages and disguise looks to make the
Speaker 1: down fair for you. You know, if you don't, he
Speaker 1: will put his team in the best play possible, and
Speaker 1: that's the first second and they're down, and especially in
Speaker 1: the red zone. The more I listen to your defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator advance, the more I come to realize it's really
Speaker 1: a complex scheme you guys are running, isn't it. I mean,
Speaker 1: you have pre snap looks and you snapped to something
Speaker 1: else after the ball is in play, And I mean
Speaker 1: it's probably a lot more complex than we realize what
Speaker 1: you guys are running out there. Yeah, but it's also
Speaker 1: very simple at the At the same time, BJ has
Speaker 1: a a phrase, I like the teason all about but
Speaker 1: easy for us, hard for them. And it's a way
Speaker 1: of simplifying our calls and making it very simple for us,
Speaker 1: and then while they're kind of having to go through
Speaker 1: a bunch of gymnastics and figure all that stuff out.
Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I think you guys
Speaker 1: were doing earlier in the season, Dennis Is, I think
Speaker 1: your defense was really feeding off your offense, and your
Speaker 1: offense was feeding your defense. And I say that because
Speaker 1: earlier in the season, the Arizona Cardinal's offense, whether they're
Speaker 1: running it or throwing the ball, they were scoring points,
Speaker 1: scoring a lot of points and getting up on teams.
Speaker 1: And now suddenly teams were one dimensional against you guys.
Speaker 1: And I think this is just my observation watching you play.
Speaker 1: I think this defense's strength is against the pass in
Speaker 1: order to get to the quarterback, getting pressure on the quarterback,
Speaker 1: the coverage downfield. You guys were in the top five
Speaker 1: defensive quarterback rating teams in the National Football League for
Speaker 1: the first ten weeks of the season, top five Elite
Speaker 1: in terms of defensive quarterback rating. And you know that
Speaker 1: number takes everything into account, the pass rush, the coverage,
Speaker 1: how buttoned up you are on the back end the
Speaker 1: Menelaire's incredible number to take a look at. And that
Speaker 1: was the way you guys were playing, and I thought
Speaker 1: that fed into the strength of your team. That's kind
Speaker 1: of what the Dallas Cowboys do as well. They score
Speaker 1: points and try to make the opposing team one dimensional.
Speaker 1: So that now all of a sudden, Guys like Micah Parsons,
Speaker 1: Randy Gregory, DeMarcus Lawrence can kind of tee off and
Speaker 1: rush opposing quarterbacks. I see a grand scheme similarity between
Speaker 1: the Cowboys and the Cardinals. Am I out of my mind? No? No,
Speaker 1: that's I feel like that the goal of any defense
Speaker 1: is to make them one dimensional because obviously, once you
Speaker 1: know exactly what they're going to be doing, it makes
Speaker 1: your job a lot easier. You know. Dennis Gardeck is
Speaker 1: our guests, and for those who haven't seen it, all right,
Speaker 1: he has his little side job, a little side hustle,
Speaker 1: and he's hosting a video series you tell us about it,
Speaker 1: give us a quick synopsis for those who haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: It's called How I Got Here? And you feature the
Speaker 1: nutrition staff at the Cardinals, the strength coaches, Spanish broadcast
Speaker 1: Rolando Conto, the former Cardinal. For those who haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: I'm going to dial it up. What can they expect? Yeah? So,
Speaker 1: How I Got Here actually started during the rehab process
Speaker 1: with my ahl I was having You can't just small
Speaker 1: talk when you're rehabbing them. There every single day for
Speaker 1: multiple hours a day, so you really get to know
Speaker 1: the men and women around you. And I was talking
Speaker 1: with one of our trainers, Jess Heffel, and she was
Speaker 1: voted most athletic her senior year or something like that,
Speaker 1: and I just thought it was the craziest thing, like,
Speaker 1: you know that here she is this great athlete in
Speaker 1: high school and now she's I wasn't even voted most
Speaker 1: athletic in my senior class. UM. But that kind of started, like, man,
Speaker 1: everybody's got a story. Everybody's got something, like there are
Speaker 1: some incredible stories in our building, UM. And and I've
Speaker 1: kind of been highlighted for you know, division to this
Speaker 1: and that undrafted special team. But it's not just me.
Speaker 1: It's that there isn't a person in our building, UM
Speaker 1: that has just a regular run of the male story
Speaker 1: like oh, nothing surprising there. Everybody has something, UM. And
Speaker 1: that was the goal behind how I got here, is
Speaker 1: to kind of uncover and and honestly it's it's for
Speaker 1: the guys in the in the building as well, Like
Speaker 1: you can learn something about these people that you're saying, Hi,
Speaker 1: how you doing and just kind of going about your day,
Speaker 1: you can learn something about them. Dennis. When you look
Speaker 1: at your career right now, where do you see it ending?
Speaker 1: How long do you want to play? I'm going to
Speaker 1: play until they kick me out, they rip it off
Speaker 1: your back. Is that what you say? Yeah, yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: playing until they kick me out. No, I'm continuing to
Speaker 1: improve and finding finding ways to learn about offenses, which
Speaker 1: I think is very important, finding ways to do my
Speaker 1: job better. I feel like I'm still learning and growing,
Speaker 1: and I'm excited. I'm excited for my future and where
Speaker 1: it's headed. But as far as a date and how
Speaker 1: long I want to play, it's until they kick me out.
Speaker 1: That's awesome, dude. And as far as this Sunday goes,
Speaker 1: describe your excitement level at getting extended action against the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Tell us about that. Yeah, I'm just excited for the
Speaker 1: opportunity to showcase all this work I've been putting in
Speaker 1: throughout the year, a long offseason, all of that. Um,
Speaker 1: I'm just excited for the opportunity. Wells, thank you man,
Speaker 1: really appreciate your time this evening. It's good to see
Speaker 1: you excel on the small talking because if you want
Speaker 1: to see someone fail at small talk, ron wolf Lee
Speaker 1: is your god. He's just he's worse I am. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just know that you. He might be the only guy
Speaker 1: in the building who would not be a good sum Okay,
Speaker 1: that's okay, Thank you, appreciate, thank you both for having me. Okay,
Speaker 1: there you go. Always great to connect with Wolf. You know.
Speaker 1: The other thing is you know your nickname, by the way,
Speaker 1: you know the rare nickname that's stuck the barbarian. He
Speaker 1: actually enjoys it back with more on the big red
Speaker 1: rage first and ten on the Cardinal twenty snapped to
Speaker 1: Murray drops back the throat, looking deep, airing it out
Speaker 1: middle of the field. He's got Kirk. It's caught up
Speaker 1: the courting Kirk and the thirty the twenty fifteen ten
Speaker 1: by touchdown an eighty yard strike Kyler Murray to Christian
Speaker 1: Kirk two touchdowns for Kurk Now in the game. Oh baby,
Speaker 1: that was huge right there. Kyler Murray saw Christian Kirk
Speaker 1: and he just ran the go rob What a great throw.
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray laid it out there and Christian Kirk what
Speaker 1: got it by his fingertips. And I still remember Christian
Speaker 1: Kirk's explanation after the game that he just kept sprinting
Speaker 1: and sprinting even though he saw it. He just he
Speaker 1: waited because he knew how close it was gonna be,
Speaker 1: and he didn't shoot his hands out to the very
Speaker 1: last moment because he didn't want to break stride and
Speaker 1: boom there. You see what was amazing though, in that
Speaker 1: Jack stopping to the Cowboys last year on Monday Night
Speaker 1: Football Round, willfully welcome back into the Big Red Rage
Speaker 1: presented by Santan Ford and Gilbert is At Kyler improved
Speaker 1: his seven and all all time as a starter in
Speaker 1: the Cowboys Stadium High School, Oklahoma in the NFL, But
Speaker 1: he didn't have a great game, at least not on
Speaker 1: the stat sheet. He was nine to twenty four passing.
Speaker 1: He misfired an eight of his first eleven. Remember he
Speaker 1: missed Larry in the back of the end zone, the
Speaker 1: most confounding throw I've seen in his entire career. He
Speaker 1: had one completion in the second after after they took
Speaker 1: a big lead, started to run the ball. So we'll see,
Speaker 1: and I'll be I'll be honest with you. After watching
Speaker 1: him meet the media this week, there was a little
Speaker 1: bit of an edge tool and I think an angry
Speaker 1: Kyle is a good Kyle. I'm with you on that
Speaker 1: BALLI I think he's going to be locked in Sunday.
Speaker 1: I mean, why not? What is wrong? It's the game
Speaker 1: of football, after all. What is wrong with a quarterback
Speaker 1: even having a little something something dripping out of the
Speaker 1: side of his neck. Isn't that right? Tom Brady the
Speaker 1: guy who just got fine for smashing the Microsoft surface tablet, right, so,
Speaker 1: you know, and walking over to the same sideline and
Speaker 1: saying something we can't repeat on the air. Paully, I've
Speaker 1: said there's many many times to you. I've said there's
Speaker 1: many times. I mean, can you imagine you're a basketball
Speaker 1: player at Polly, I mean, you're a little guy. I
Speaker 1: understand that that was a point guard. You'd have to
Speaker 1: you'd have to be the point. But imagine to that
Speaker 1: point if Steve Nash walked up to you and was
Speaker 1: your teammate and said, Paul, what are you doing? You're
Speaker 1: killing us, right, I mean, imagine the impact of that. Again.
Speaker 1: I just this is the Cardinals have got to get
Speaker 1: back to playing that special brand of football, and that
Speaker 1: means I want to see the balance. I want to
Speaker 1: see the balance offensively, Paul. And you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: so glad you brought that up because this Dnamy earlier
Speaker 1: this week that what we saw to Kyler in Week
Speaker 1: one at Tennessee was the angry Kyler. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: can say it from the sideline because they said it
Speaker 1: after the game, and they name names. Kyler lit up
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins and Rondale Moore in the first half of
Speaker 1: the Tennessee game for making mental errors. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: And let me tell you that set a tone. It
Speaker 1: really did when players are holding players accountable. When the quarterback,
Speaker 1: the face of the franchise, he's holding guys accountable all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, you tell me, is a player? I
Speaker 1: mean that urgency just bubbles up a little bit more. No, No,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about it, Bully, it does. And that's
Speaker 1: exactly what Kyler's got to do. But once again, Kyler's
Speaker 1: got to be buttoned up as well. Kyler. It all
Speaker 1: starts with your franchise quarterback. It's the reason why they
Speaker 1: get the inordinate amount of money and credit. I might
Speaker 1: add that they do. They impact so many other people.
Speaker 1: Their play impacts the defense, Paul, not the offense. It
Speaker 1: impacts the defense as well, and how the defense goes up.
Speaker 1: It's just human nature. If you look out there and
Speaker 1: see your quarterback making horrible reads and horrible throws. You're like,
Speaker 1: what is going on? Right? You're filled with doubts. And
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that's what Kyler's doing it. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that at all. Heed my words and hear them well.
Speaker 1: I'm speaking generally. If you watch your franchise quarterback go
Speaker 1: out there and light it up, man, it fills you
Speaker 1: with this way, this is we're gonna win this game.
Speaker 1: And again, it's not a conscious thought that you have.
Speaker 1: It's just a confidence level that you're playing with. The
Speaker 1: Cardinals need to get back to being balanced offensively and
Speaker 1: running the ball and doing it well in between the tackles.
Speaker 1: And I think getting Rodney Hudson back, and I think
Speaker 1: James Connor if he's able to go, Oh my goodness, Polly,
Speaker 1: if James Connor is able to go and Chase Admonds,
Speaker 1: we can get them in tandem in the backfield once
Speaker 1: again running the ball at a north south kind of
Speaker 1: way and then taking some shots down the field via
Speaker 1: Christian Kirk or a J. Greene. Get back to doing that, man,
Speaker 1: Bring the balance back to this offense. That's what I'm
Speaker 1: looking for first in Dallas. You mentioned Rodney Hudson the
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals this year with their Pro Bowl caliber center,
Speaker 1: they're eight and two. Without him, they're two and three. Hello.
Speaker 1: Here's Cliff Kingsbury on the return of Rodney Hudson. Rodney
Speaker 1: has been huge for us. When you look at the
Speaker 1: games that he's played in, he played really well offensively,
Speaker 1: and he's the security blanket for all of us, really
Speaker 1: the coaching staff in the line of skill position players.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's kind of the glue that's made it
Speaker 1: all stick together. So it's a big deal to get
Speaker 1: him back, and we'll ease him back in the next
Speaker 1: few days, trying to get his conditioning going, make sure
Speaker 1: he feels up to speed, and hopefully by game day
Speaker 1: he's ready to roll. It's Cliff said later to the media.
Speaker 1: Ronnie Hudson is rarely wrong, meaning when he's making the
Speaker 1: calls and they're adjusting things. And how many times early
Speaker 1: in the season was Ronnie Hudson responsible for an audible
Speaker 1: or a pass protection set that was key to a
Speaker 1: big play. Yeah, no doubt about it. And once again
Speaker 1: I also think too, you've got to make the Cowboys
Speaker 1: one dimensional, Paul, I mean if you can make them
Speaker 1: one dimensional. I think that might actually help the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals in one of the ways to make them one
Speaker 1: dimensional offensively, Paul is for the Cardinals offense to go
Speaker 1: out and be balanced and control the ball a little
Speaker 1: bit more. Everyone tries to do that to the Arizona Cardinals, right,
Speaker 1: why not do it to the Dallas Cowboys as well?
Speaker 1: Be ballanced, be able to run the ball a little
Speaker 1: bit better, and now all of a sudden score points
Speaker 1: when you get those red zone opportunities. Maximize those score
Speaker 1: points and make the Cowboys play catch out. Yeah, think
Speaker 1: about it. They're number one in scoring offense thirty plus
Speaker 1: points a game, number one in total offense and makes
Speaker 1: total sense. And guess what you are banged up in
Speaker 1: your secondary the Cardinals right now, if you want a number.
Speaker 1: They have allowed twenty one touchdowns to receivers, the most
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and the Cowboys might have the most
Speaker 1: talented receiver room in the league. Hey, take a journey
Speaker 1: through Cardinal's history. Watch Cardinals Folk Tales on YouTube dot
Speaker 1: com slash Azy Cardinals. You also check out the original
Speaker 1: podcast by searching Cardinals Folk Tales wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: Ron will play on Paul Kelvci special. Thanks Jim i'mandro
Speaker 1: and Cody Fincher and Dennis Gardek as well. This has
Speaker 1: been the Big Red Rage Number one. You've been listening
Speaker 1: to The Big Red Rage presented by Santanford in Gilda
Speaker 1: Are You Santanford State Farm Talk to an Agent today
Speaker 1: at eight hundred State Farm, and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts
Speaker 1: visit acy Cardinals dot com Slash podcasts. This has been
Speaker 1: an exclusive presentation of Arizona Cardinals Football Club.