1
00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:10,440
Speaker 1: Welcome Bird Gang two takeaways, three sacks, thirty six percents

2
00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,560
Speaker 1: on third down, as well as season lows in passing

3
00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,080
Speaker 1: and total net yards allowed. The defense certainly did its

4
00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,520
Speaker 1: part this past Sunday, and without its full complement of stars,

5
00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,680
Speaker 1: we look back at the defense's performance and the job

6
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,080
Speaker 1: Vance Joseph has done through the season's first three months,

7
00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,640
Speaker 1: plus a look at where things stand in the NFC

8
00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,920
Speaker 1: West and the entire NFC. At Cardinals Cover two, Episode

9
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:41,200
Speaker 1: three sixty one and it starts now. Welcome to Cardinals

10
00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,160
Speaker 1: Cover two with Craig Grigolou and Mike Jarecki. Cardinals Cover

11
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:49,960
Speaker 1: two is presented by Hyunday, proud partner of the Arizona Cardinals,

12
00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:55,040
Speaker 1: and by Arizona Cardinals Podcasts. Visit acy Cardinals dot Com

13
00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,280
Speaker 1: Slash Podcasts. Murray rolls to the right, throws near site

14
00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 1: offense part pits into the up to the touchdown. Here's

15
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:08,960
Speaker 1: Craig Griolu and Mike Jarecki. December football is here. MJ.

16
00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,880
Speaker 1: What does that mean for a football fan, especially a

17
00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,040
Speaker 1: football fan of the National Football League. Well, depending on

18
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,880
Speaker 1: how you play in December, it's going to dictate if

19
00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: you're playing in January, and the Cardinals will have one

20
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,520
Speaker 1: game in January, that week seventeen game on January third.

21
00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:26,840
Speaker 1: But I get what you're saying. You want to be

22
00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,760
Speaker 1: playing past week seventeen. You want to be playing games

23
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 1: in January, not just a game, but several games in

24
00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:35,960
Speaker 1: the month of January. And you don't want to crawl

25
00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 1: in there. You have to build momentum over these next

26
00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 1: five weeks where you just I mean, obviously that goal

27
00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,320
Speaker 1: was to get in the playoffs. Every team goal is

28
00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:46,720
Speaker 1: to win the division. But right now that's not going

29
00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,600
Speaker 1: to happen. But you want to be playing good football.

30
00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,560
Speaker 1: You want to have momentum going into the postseason. First

31
00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,720
Speaker 1: day of December. Here on this Tuesday edition Cardinals Cover

32
00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 1: two presented by Hounday, proud partner of the Arizona Cardinals.

33
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:02,320
Speaker 1: We had a chance to hear from both Kelvin Beecham

34
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:06,559
Speaker 1: and dev Andre Campbell earlier and both brought up unprompted

35
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,080
Speaker 1: about December football, and I like what Campbell had to say, quote,

36
00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,440
Speaker 1: December football is where playoff football starts. This is where

37
00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,840
Speaker 1: you separate yourself. We control our destiny end quote is

38
00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:23,440
Speaker 1: referring to, as you said, having these five games left

39
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:27,239
Speaker 1: to go with the Rams coming up on Sunday. Yeah,

40
00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 1: I mean in the Cardinals, you know, they built up

41
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,880
Speaker 1: some equity, incredibility, you know, getting off to a good start,

42
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,400
Speaker 1: but it hasn't been the same over the last couple

43
00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,760
Speaker 1: of weeks. And you know we're gonna get into the

44
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,200
Speaker 1: matchup with the Rams just because you know, sin Sean

45
00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,480
Speaker 1: McVay has been there. They've been the hammer and the

46
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 1: Cardinals have been the nail. And it's got to change

47
00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,519
Speaker 1: at some point because if if you want to you know,

48
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,480
Speaker 1: win division games and win home games, this is going

49
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:55,560
Speaker 1: to go a long way considering you've got to play

50
00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:57,959
Speaker 1: these guys twice in the next five weeks. So this

51
00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:00,960
Speaker 1: is a very important matchup. But there's nothing like December

52
00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,359
Speaker 1: football when your team is playing for something. And let's

53
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:06,560
Speaker 1: be honest, Craig, the last few weeks they should have

54
00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,079
Speaker 1: fought when they got on the field that the playoffs

55
00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:13,720
Speaker 1: have already started. You there air for minimal loss. I mean,

56
00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,760
Speaker 1: it's it's so small when it comes to the marginal

57
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:18,840
Speaker 1: air for this football team at this point. Yeah, and

58
00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:23,120
Speaker 1: they are limping into December football with two straight losses

59
00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,079
Speaker 1: and three of the last four. But to Campbell's points,

60
00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:29,720
Speaker 1: everything that they want to accomplish this season is right

61
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,240
Speaker 1: in front of them. Take care of business over these

62
00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:35,560
Speaker 1: final five games, and yeah, you're playing into January and

63
00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,520
Speaker 1: we're talking about the postseason, something Cardinals fans have not

64
00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,240
Speaker 1: seen since twenty fifteen. So we will get more into

65
00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,520
Speaker 1: that as far as what it means for the Cardinals,

66
00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 1: as far as the NFC West, as we typically do

67
00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,880
Speaker 1: on Tuesdays, and of course looking at the rest of

68
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,080
Speaker 1: the NFC, because even though Sunday was not a good

69
00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:55,600
Speaker 1: day for the Cardinals, it did turn out to be

70
00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,560
Speaker 1: an okay day because they got some help. When we

71
00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,200
Speaker 1: start looking at the war board, and that's what we're at.

72
00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:04,480
Speaker 1: We're at the scoreboard watching parts of the season here

73
00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,320
Speaker 1: heading into week thirteen. A lot of the attention since

74
00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,200
Speaker 1: Sunday mj has been what went wrong, specifically the offense,

75
00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 1: with a little bit on special teams. How about we

76
00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,279
Speaker 1: focus today on what went rights and specifically the defense,

77
00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:22,400
Speaker 1: because there has been a lot of angst amongst the

78
00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,839
Speaker 1: fan base with defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to a certain extent,

79
00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,480
Speaker 1: I understand, you have to get a stop on third

80
00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,920
Speaker 1: and thirteen. You have to get the opposing team off

81
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,040
Speaker 1: the field. You can allow end of half scores, you

82
00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,320
Speaker 1: can't allow end of game scores. But by and large,

83
00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,240
Speaker 1: if you'd pull out and do a thirty thousand foot

84
00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,440
Speaker 1: view of this defense here in twenty twenty one, it's

85
00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,600
Speaker 1: remarkably improved from a year ago. And I think that

86
00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,240
Speaker 1: stems from having more of the system in place and

87
00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,160
Speaker 1: guys familiar with that system, so not a lot of

88
00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,400
Speaker 1: change like we've seen over the last couple of years.

89
00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,600
Speaker 1: And then I just think the job that Joseph has

90
00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,960
Speaker 1: done with the personnel that he has, because mg, it's

91
00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,640
Speaker 1: changed almost like on a week to week basis, who's in,

92
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:13,039
Speaker 1: who's out, who's hurt, who's on the reserve COVID nineteen list. Yes,

93
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:15,920
Speaker 1: every team is dealing with it, but I think Joseph

94
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,120
Speaker 1: has done a good job and handling that and managing

95
00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,240
Speaker 1: it and putting players in position to be successful. Yeah.

96
00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:24,680
Speaker 1: And you know Cardinal fans, you know, they watch a

97
00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,159
Speaker 1: game for three hours and then all of a sudden

98
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:29,080
Speaker 1: they want to fire this guy and that guy. Listen.

99
00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:32,080
Speaker 1: I mean, let's be honest. Going into the season, they

100
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,159
Speaker 1: had DeAndre Hopkins, They pretty much had the same starting

101
00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,360
Speaker 1: offensive line from a year ago. With the addition of

102
00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,880
Speaker 1: Calvin Beecham, they had, you know, basically the same skill

103
00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,320
Speaker 1: position players and to me, stability both with the head

104
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:48,159
Speaker 1: coach and the quarterback. And we'll get in what's happening

105
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks. But considering the defense,

106
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,320
Speaker 1: you know, they added at least four or five new starters.

107
00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,479
Speaker 1: They obviously drafted Isaiah Simmons with the eighth overall pick,

108
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:00,799
Speaker 1: and you know, it seems like he is making strides.

109
00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:04,520
Speaker 1: So the offense should be carrying this football team, and

110
00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,600
Speaker 1: that hasn't happened. I mean they've shown flashes. I mean

111
00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:09,960
Speaker 1: when you're ranked where they are and they're still ranked

112
00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,320
Speaker 1: and they're second right now, and rushing to the football,

113
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,200
Speaker 1: they're still up there, maybe second, and they're behind the Chiefs.

114
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:17,960
Speaker 1: So that's you can hang your hat there. We're more

115
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,080
Speaker 1: about wins. The Chiefs are winning. I think they only

116
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,120
Speaker 1: have one loss and then points scored, and you go

117
00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,239
Speaker 1: look at the last two games, you know, six hundred

118
00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,640
Speaker 1: and twelve yards total. They haven't had a lot of

119
00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:32,720
Speaker 1: splash plays. So when I look at this, this is

120
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,240
Speaker 1: the time where you have to make adjustments and you know,

121
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,840
Speaker 1: hopefully the Cardinals realize what's at stake here, because you

122
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,120
Speaker 1: know how I feel about losing streaks, and you gotta,

123
00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:44,480
Speaker 1: you gotta, you gotta stop this losing streak. And you know,

124
00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,000
Speaker 1: you look at the hell mary play this team. They're

125
00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 1: lucky to be where they are right now. But again,

126
00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:51,960
Speaker 1: you gotta give them credit when they started off six

127
00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,160
Speaker 1: and three. Yeah, that run of three n row and

128
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,640
Speaker 1: four of the last five. But right now it's two

129
00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,640
Speaker 1: straight losses and three of the last four, and that's

130
00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:05,560
Speaker 1: certainly you want to see change. But it is going

131
00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,080
Speaker 1: to get harder, and that's where December football comes into play,

132
00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:13,080
Speaker 1: because the game slows down. Whether that's because of the weather,

133
00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,720
Speaker 1: especially if you're traveling to the East Coast, but teams

134
00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,760
Speaker 1: kind of there's just a different intensity level. And I've

135
00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,520
Speaker 1: never played it, but you just hear from other players

136
00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,160
Speaker 1: and you can kind of see it on the field

137
00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,120
Speaker 1: as well. Maybe the officials call it a little bit differently.

138
00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:31,360
Speaker 1: You let them play a little bit more, becomes more

139
00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:34,720
Speaker 1: physical because so much is at stake, and this is

140
00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,360
Speaker 1: going to be an interesting five game run, specifically from

141
00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,840
Speaker 1: a defensive standpoint, because I think this team has done

142
00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 1: numbers wise, they're an average defense, which I think we

143
00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,480
Speaker 1: would all accept heading into this season. At certain points

144
00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,080
Speaker 1: they've been very very good. Other points they've kind of

145
00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:55,880
Speaker 1: let the team down. But overall, this defense right now

146
00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,080
Speaker 1: and the three metrics that Vance Joseph always looks at,

147
00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,560
Speaker 1: score points allowed, red zone defense, and third down defense,

148
00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,560
Speaker 1: they are right there. They are fourteenth and scoring defense,

149
00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:11,040
Speaker 1: allowing twenty three and a half points per game, which

150
00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 1: is outstanding. There's a whole group of teams kind of

151
00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,480
Speaker 1: bunched in that area. So that's a top fifteen defense.

152
00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:21,520
Speaker 1: Third down their top fifteen allowing just under forty one

153
00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,360
Speaker 1: percent on third down. And then when teams get into

154
00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,560
Speaker 1: the red zone, Cardinals are fifth and allowing touchdowns just

155
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,680
Speaker 1: fifty two point six percent of the time. A Cardinals

156
00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,920
Speaker 1: defense is allowing an opponent to score a touchdown when

157
00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:38,640
Speaker 1: they get inside the twenty yard line. Yeah, and again, Vance,

158
00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,120
Speaker 1: one thing we've learned, and maybe you started maybe in

159
00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:43,880
Speaker 1: the second half of the season, maybe the month of December,

160
00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,040
Speaker 1: but the Cardinals are the most splitz team in the NFL.

161
00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,679
Speaker 1: And you know, we haven't fixated on losing Chandler Jones

162
00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,400
Speaker 1: and Corey Peters because every team has injuries, but we're

163
00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,800
Speaker 1: talking two captains on defense. But he brings pressure and

164
00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,720
Speaker 1: that's something that obviously when you out to the players.

165
00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,439
Speaker 1: The worst thing could have happened is bringing a new

166
00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,480
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, and we know that wasn't going to be

167
00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:09,040
Speaker 1: the case. But four coordinators in four years, and you're

168
00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,319
Speaker 1: starting to see his fingerprints on this defense and what

169
00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,520
Speaker 1: his you know, his blueprint is going in every week.

170
00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:16,960
Speaker 1: It's it's to you know, rush four or five, six

171
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,800
Speaker 1: and get pressure on the quarterback and hopefully your back

172
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,000
Speaker 1: end doesn't give up those big plays. But again, I

173
00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,319
Speaker 1: don't think he gets enough credit considering that you know

174
00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:28,840
Speaker 1: this this defense, you know, a couple of years ago,

175
00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:30,839
Speaker 1: they were the worst in football. Now I know that

176
00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,680
Speaker 1: it was different times, different coaching staff at defensive minded

177
00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:38,160
Speaker 1: head coach, different personnel, but they're heading shoulders where they were,

178
00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,280
Speaker 1: you know, maybe the first month or the second month

179
00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:44,080
Speaker 1: last year. From this point and here at this stage

180
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,640
Speaker 1: in the National Football League, with how good offenses are, Yes,

181
00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,679
Speaker 1: you always want your defense to be top five, top ten.

182
00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:53,679
Speaker 1: You want to be number one. I get that from

183
00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,880
Speaker 1: a coaching standpoint and a player standpoints. But in order

184
00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,240
Speaker 1: to win in the National Football League. You don't need

185
00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,680
Speaker 1: a top five defense. You need a top five, top

186
00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,120
Speaker 1: ten offense. But if your offense or if your defense

187
00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:11,400
Speaker 1: is just good, which I think this defense is, you

188
00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,839
Speaker 1: can be very, very successful. That's why it's kind of

189
00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,720
Speaker 1: been disappointing this season because the defense has held it's

190
00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:20,120
Speaker 1: into the bargain. The offense has been kind of up

191
00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:24,040
Speaker 1: and down. Yeah, and considering how many players they've shuffled

192
00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:25,800
Speaker 1: in and out, and you know that at one time

193
00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:28,760
Speaker 1: it was a safety position that was thin, and then

194
00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:30,680
Speaker 1: you look at the d line position. Then they got

195
00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:34,040
Speaker 1: hit with the you know, COVID and some injuries at linebackers.

196
00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:37,839
Speaker 1: So no excuses. But um, I do like the way

197
00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:40,679
Speaker 1: he calls the game. And there's there's a difference because

198
00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:42,640
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of times you have a plan

199
00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,160
Speaker 1: going in, this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna

200
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 1: try to take away this guy. Maybe this guy's gonna

201
00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:49,160
Speaker 1: you know, have a good game, but we're gonna, you know,

202
00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:51,400
Speaker 1: focus on on the guys that touched up all the most.

203
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,000
Speaker 1: But um, I like where they're at and obviously they

204
00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:57,760
Speaker 1: could be a lot better. Um you know, but I

205
00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,120
Speaker 1: will say this though, as a unit. You could see

206
00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,280
Speaker 1: there's a lot of trust in Vance Joseph, and that

207
00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:05,280
Speaker 1: goes a long way knowing that he's going to make

208
00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,800
Speaker 1: the right call, and the players are looking forward to

209
00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:09,760
Speaker 1: the call because it's going to give them an opportunity

210
00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,800
Speaker 1: to make place. They follow his lead, and it was

211
00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,559
Speaker 1: an interesting look. In the most recent edition of Cardinal's

212
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,080
Speaker 1: flight Plan, they had Vance Joseph. He wasn't miked up,

213
00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,800
Speaker 1: but a microphone caught him huddling around with his players.

214
00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,480
Speaker 1: He kept screaming, the mistakes are mine, The mistakes are mine.

215
00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,600
Speaker 1: The efforts is yours. The effort is yours, meaning if

216
00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,640
Speaker 1: something doesn't happen on the football field, then it falls

217
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,839
Speaker 1: on the defensive coordinator unless the players aren't doing their

218
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,959
Speaker 1: end of the job. And I think that is what

219
00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:49,840
Speaker 1: players appreciate. We want to be successful on the football field.

220
00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,240
Speaker 1: We want to be put in position to be successful,

221
00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:54,880
Speaker 1: and I think Joseph does a good job of that.

222
00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,360
Speaker 1: And then of course, ultimately the onus falls on the

223
00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,400
Speaker 1: players to be in position where there's a supposed to

224
00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,360
Speaker 1: be to stop a run or stop a pass. Yeah,

225
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,640
Speaker 1: and probably we don't discuss it enough because when you're

226
00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:09,079
Speaker 1: the defensive coordinator. I mean, that's where the focus is.

227
00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,439
Speaker 1: But I think they got a good staff. I like

228
00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,280
Speaker 1: the fact that bringing Brinson Buckner back, and you know,

229
00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,600
Speaker 1: they definitely have improved when it comes to stopping the run.

230
00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,480
Speaker 1: And then you look at Billy Davis and you know

231
00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,480
Speaker 1: the secondary coaches, and I like to name them all,

232
00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,679
Speaker 1: but I think they got a good staff over there.

233
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,400
Speaker 1: And the fact is, these guys have been an NFL

234
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:31,679
Speaker 1: coach for a long time. They got great experience on

235
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,240
Speaker 1: our position coaches. Some have been coordinators in the past,

236
00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:38,600
Speaker 1: like Billy Davis three different teams, Arizona, Philadelphia, and San Francisco,

237
00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:42,199
Speaker 1: So I think, you know, he relies on his position

238
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:45,160
Speaker 1: coaches to teach technique during the week, they all come

239
00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,240
Speaker 1: together and make the game plan. But I think they

240
00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 1: got a good staff on defense, I really do. Well.

241
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:52,560
Speaker 1: You mentioned it when he was hired talking about Brentson Buckner,

242
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,200
Speaker 1: and it was a year earlier when the team announced

243
00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,920
Speaker 1: John Coogler as the offensive line coach, and then you

244
00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,080
Speaker 1: look back at last season and you could certainly pinpoint

245
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,920
Speaker 1: that Googler's hiring certainly was one of the better, if

246
00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,040
Speaker 1: not one of the best moves made in the offseason

247
00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:10,000
Speaker 1: what he did to that offensive line. Are you seeing

248
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,599
Speaker 1: the same thing with Buckner with respects to the defensive

249
00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:18,080
Speaker 1: line considering the amount of shuffling that's been happening up front. Yeah,

250
00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:20,400
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I was expecting more out of

251
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,960
Speaker 1: Jordan Phillips. You know, they give him a five year deal.

252
00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:25,400
Speaker 1: We know that he was a guy that you know,

253
00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,800
Speaker 1: had nine and a half sacks last year, Vance had

254
00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:30,600
Speaker 1: some intel when he was in Miami. I was expecting

255
00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:35,360
Speaker 1: more from him. Zach Allen. You know, I like Zach Allen.

256
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,760
Speaker 1: Problem is he's got the injury bug a little bit

257
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:40,719
Speaker 1: and we'll find out more there losing Corey Peters. So

258
00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,680
Speaker 1: based on who they're rolling out there, and they pulled

259
00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,360
Speaker 1: guys off the street and they have, you know, elevated

260
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,079
Speaker 1: some of the practice squad guys. And I'm kind of

261
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,120
Speaker 1: intrigued with Dogby, you know. So it's it's kind of

262
00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:55,120
Speaker 1: hard to grade him, but I know how he coaches

263
00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:58,960
Speaker 1: and he's no nonsense. So if you're not doing your job,

264
00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,520
Speaker 1: he's gonna and sometimes you know in training camp he

265
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,560
Speaker 1: was hard on you, Lucky Foe two and Rashard Lawrence

266
00:14:06,040 --> 00:14:08,920
Speaker 1: because he has to you know, break you down to

267
00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:10,760
Speaker 1: build you up. So I don't want to say it's

268
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,319
Speaker 1: an incomplete grade, but I know how he coaches and

269
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,319
Speaker 1: he's getting the most out of his players. Yeah, and

270
00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,640
Speaker 1: I think that's important. That might be the best thing,

271
00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,000
Speaker 1: because certainly you can only do so much with the

272
00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,320
Speaker 1: talent you have. But then, of course, if you uplift everyone,

273
00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:28,360
Speaker 1: and it is a unit, it's it's different than an

274
00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,040
Speaker 1: offensive a lot of which kind of works altogether. Sometimes

275
00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:33,840
Speaker 1: a defensive line, whether it's two guys at once, three

276
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:36,800
Speaker 1: or four, they're all doing a little bit something different.

277
00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,320
Speaker 1: And yeah, to a certain extent, you have to work

278
00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,280
Speaker 1: in tandem, but sometimes one guy will rush forward and

279
00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,680
Speaker 1: occupy two guys and then another guy's has a different

280
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:49,000
Speaker 1: assignment altogether. Yeah, I mean, you know, you look at

281
00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:51,080
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray and the offense. They don't come off the

282
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,160
Speaker 1: field listeners an injury. The wide receivers for the most part,

283
00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:57,800
Speaker 1: Hopkins plays the majority of the game, but they rotate

284
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,200
Speaker 1: at the wide receiver and tight end position. On defense,

285
00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:03,640
Speaker 1: you usually go with your secondary, unless you want to

286
00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 1: go nickel packers. Linebackers. You can bring in some pastors

287
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,200
Speaker 1: m D line. You have to have a rotation you

288
00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,200
Speaker 1: love to stick out, you know, three or four guys

289
00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:14,040
Speaker 1: and you're gonna play the whole game. That can't happen

290
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,320
Speaker 1: because you want to make sure these guys are fresh,

291
00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:17,880
Speaker 1: not only in a fourth quarter, you want to make

292
00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,560
Speaker 1: sure they're fresh in November and December. So that's one

293
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 1: position you're relying on rotation. And you know, obviously looking

294
00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:27,920
Speaker 1: at the depth chartum missing Corey Peters and Jordan Phillips

295
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,520
Speaker 1: and Zach Allen. Let's be honest, that's how the season

296
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,080
Speaker 1: started as starters. So I do give him credit. I

297
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,480
Speaker 1: just know how he coaches and he's getting the best

298
00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,400
Speaker 1: out of these players, and it's only going to get

299
00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,560
Speaker 1: better once once Um, you know, Phillips comes back while

300
00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,040
Speaker 1: we're on Josh Zach Allen. But I think if they

301
00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,280
Speaker 1: can get some of their guys back. Richard Lawrence is

302
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:48,520
Speaker 1: a guy that can you know, plug the middle. They

303
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,240
Speaker 1: think he could do more than just being defensive tackle

304
00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,920
Speaker 1: or nose tackle. And Lucky he was making progress. And

305
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,240
Speaker 1: you know, again these guys are rookies. But when you

306
00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:00,560
Speaker 1: get to after Thanksgiving, you know in college they played ten, eleven,

307
00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:02,680
Speaker 1: twelve games. Some of these guys have been in the

308
00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:05,240
Speaker 1: sholf for a few weeks, so hopefully we'll get some

309
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,800
Speaker 1: production of those guys before the offseason starts. Bird Gang.

310
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,480
Speaker 1: If you haven't already, we recommend you update to the

311
00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:14,280
Speaker 1: latest version of the Cardinals mobile app today. The update

312
00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:18,120
Speaker 1: features an all new redesign homescreen experience. Visit asy cardinals

313
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,840
Speaker 1: dot com slash app for more. Let's continue on that

314
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,480
Speaker 1: topic as far as the defensive line in the rotation

315
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,760
Speaker 1: and just the amounts of turnover that this defense has

316
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,200
Speaker 1: had this season. Just look at the available defensive lineman

317
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:38,600
Speaker 1: on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, Angela Blackson, Ravane Coley, Demato Petco,

318
00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:44,120
Speaker 1: Michael Dogby, Stacy McGee Zach Allen. Only one of those players,

319
00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,800
Speaker 1: Zach Allen, is a starter or was a Week one

320
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:50,920
Speaker 1: starter for this team, and a handful of those players

321
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 1: I just mentioned weren't even on the roster just a

322
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,000
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, a couple of months ago, And

323
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,000
Speaker 1: that certainly is something that every team has to deal with.

324
00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,760
Speaker 1: But then when it's just one position group and earlier

325
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,800
Speaker 1: it was the safety position and they're still kind of

326
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:06,200
Speaker 1: dealing with that as well with Jalen and Deante Thompson,

327
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:09,639
Speaker 1: the Thompson Twins still not quite ready to play, at

328
00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,639
Speaker 1: least as we stand here on this Tuesday, but not

329
00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,879
Speaker 1: really aware of who's going to be available for you

330
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,920
Speaker 1: on a Sunday morning. And I believe it was Dave

331
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,080
Speaker 1: Pass at one point it might have been Ron Wolfley

332
00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:25,800
Speaker 1: who made a joke, Hey, Brentson Buckler and Vance Joseph

333
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,000
Speaker 1: might have had to introduce themselves to some of these

334
00:17:28,040 --> 00:17:31,000
Speaker 1: players or name tags when they got into the locker

335
00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,720
Speaker 1: room in the position rooms because they had just arrived

336
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:35,679
Speaker 1: and they hadn't had a chance to say hello, how

337
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,080
Speaker 1: are you and get to know each other. It's hi,

338
00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,440
Speaker 1: this is what we do. Go do it? Yeah, And

339
00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes it works, and sometimes you get a

340
00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,119
Speaker 1: guy like Pecco who's you know, obviously been in the

341
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,640
Speaker 1: league a long time and Cincinnati where Vance was there

342
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,600
Speaker 1: and then he was in Denver. He's a guy that

343
00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,640
Speaker 1: he pull off the street. But he's a plugin playing guy,

344
00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:57,520
Speaker 1: just like Marcus Golden because of the experience in the

345
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,840
Speaker 1: familiarity with the coordinator. So that makes sense. But when

346
00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,639
Speaker 1: you start naming those guys, no disrespect, but those are

347
00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,440
Speaker 1: not household names. No, it is not. And you look

348
00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:12,360
Speaker 1: going back to how this season began and what you anticipated. Defensively,

349
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:15,040
Speaker 1: it began with Robert Offerd not even making it to

350
00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,280
Speaker 1: the regular season. There's one starter, and then Chandler Jones

351
00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:21,680
Speaker 1: gets hurt. There's another starter, Corey Peters gets hurt. That's

352
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,840
Speaker 1: three starters now done for the season. And then this

353
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:30,959
Speaker 1: interesting note from mic Colm Manager media relations stat whizz

354
00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:36,800
Speaker 1: Cardinals have nine players on IR eight our defensive players.

355
00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,520
Speaker 1: The only offensive player currently on injured reserve is tied

356
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,639
Speaker 1: end Darrell Daniels. Everyone else a defensive player, either on

357
00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,520
Speaker 1: hopefully to be able to return, or in the case

358
00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,760
Speaker 1: of Jones, Peterson offered, they're not coming back at all. Wow.

359
00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:53,800
Speaker 1: I mean, I know they've been hit, but that's wow.

360
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,720
Speaker 1: And again that's why we're talking about guys that you're

361
00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,600
Speaker 1: probably not familiar with. But I got to give the

362
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,800
Speaker 1: coaching staff credit because they get these guys ready, whether

363
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:05,399
Speaker 1: they get them out of Monday and they get it

364
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:07,320
Speaker 1: on the practice field on a Wednesday and they got

365
00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:09,800
Speaker 1: to fly out, they get them ready to play. And

366
00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:12,800
Speaker 1: so that again, that's why I'm encouraged with this defense.

367
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,440
Speaker 1: I mean, I know that you know, we look at

368
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:17,960
Speaker 1: how many points you give up. You know, you know

369
00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,119
Speaker 1: how I feel about sacks there. I'm so misleading. But

370
00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,879
Speaker 1: they've done a better job, you know in that front seven,

371
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,800
Speaker 1: you know when it comes to you know, look at

372
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,679
Speaker 1: Cam Newton last week. I mean we knew they were

373
00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:29,240
Speaker 1: gonna try to run the football. They didn't run for

374
00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:32,119
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty yards. Uh, they they forced a

375
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,880
Speaker 1: couple turnovers at defense. He only threw for eighty four yards. Um.

376
00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,320
Speaker 1: You know, they didn't have any really splash plays. I mean,

377
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,880
Speaker 1: Cam Newton was a big run but for the most part, so, um,

378
00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:45,520
Speaker 1: they're getting better. But it's just one of those deals

379
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,280
Speaker 1: where we watched the game and you have to make

380
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,760
Speaker 1: a stop and that and that Cam Newton run play.

381
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:53,520
Speaker 1: I think everyone in the world thought there's no way

382
00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:57,800
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniel's and Bill Belichick and let him throw that football. Um. So,

383
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,639
Speaker 1: but for the I go with you were kid. He

384
00:20:00,680 --> 00:20:02,960
Speaker 1: played over four quarters because we always talk about five

385
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,280
Speaker 1: or six place and you can do that every single

386
00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:07,000
Speaker 1: game and say this is the reason why they lost.

387
00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,159
Speaker 1: But they kept that offense in the game. Based on

388
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,280
Speaker 1: containing Cam Newton, he was a pedestrian eighty four yards

389
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,760
Speaker 1: passing a season low for the Cardinals defense as far

390
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,680
Speaker 1: as net passing yards allowed, and that was Cam Newton's

391
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,520
Speaker 1: worst game as a pro. His quarterback rating was below

392
00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,200
Speaker 1: twenty four. I mean below twenty four. It looks like

393
00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:30,120
Speaker 1: he was trying to throw a shot put out there

394
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,000
Speaker 1: and he's the one that comes away with the win.

395
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,320
Speaker 1: Despite turning the ball over twice, he was picked off,

396
00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,160
Speaker 1: he was sacked three times. He couldn't get the team

397
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:42,040
Speaker 1: to convert on third down. And this is all the

398
00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:44,600
Speaker 1: Cardinals defense doing. Yet at the end of the day,

399
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,240
Speaker 1: it is a team sport. You need all three phases

400
00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 1: to work together. And sometimes it's the offense, sometimes it's

401
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,440
Speaker 1: the defense. Sometimes it's special teams. And when one area

402
00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,360
Speaker 1: is not doing well, the other two have to pick

403
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,680
Speaker 1: themselves up and help out the other unit. And that

404
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,880
Speaker 1: was the case on Sunday. The defense did its job

405
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,960
Speaker 1: to get the offense back on the field and allow

406
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,159
Speaker 1: them to try to score, just didn't materialize. Some other

407
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:11,439
Speaker 1: numbers with respect to what is happening with this Cardinals defense,

408
00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:15,000
Speaker 1: and again credit to Mike helm aka stat Whiz for

409
00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:19,080
Speaker 1: these numbers with respects to the Cardinals defense, and yes,

410
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:23,800
Speaker 1: it's doesn't materialize and wins and losses. But this is

411
00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:27,760
Speaker 1: what this defense and specifically defensive coordinator Vans Joseph has

412
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:31,639
Speaker 1: dealt with this season. Twenty four different players have started

413
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:36,840
Speaker 1: at least one game Jacksonville twenty five. They're the only

414
00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 1: team that has had more. Sixteen different players for the

415
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,480
Speaker 1: Cardinals have at least one sec That total ranks number

416
00:21:43,520 --> 00:21:46,639
Speaker 1: one in the NFL. Nine different players with two or

417
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:50,040
Speaker 1: more sex That total ranks number one in the NFL,

418
00:21:50,560 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: Five different players with an interception. Three different players with

419
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:59,080
Speaker 1: at least two interceptions. Only the Colts, Chief, Saints, and

420
00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:05,200
Speaker 1: Buccaneers have more and that category. Those are impressive numbers. Hey,

421
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:07,959
Speaker 1: stat was always comes through for us here on Cardinals

422
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,440
Speaker 1: covered two in the Arizona Cardinals ball. But if you

423
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,000
Speaker 1: listen to the fan base, you know they gotta get

424
00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:15,399
Speaker 1: get rid of Vants every week. If the defense, you know,

425
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,080
Speaker 1: gives up a long drive, they gotta get rid of Vans.

426
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,359
Speaker 1: I totally disagree, and you're entitled to your opinion. I

427
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,959
Speaker 1: appreciate your passion, but I'm watching the same game at

428
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:30,080
Speaker 1: times because I definitely think, you know, again, I'm not

429
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,639
Speaker 1: saying they're carrying this football team, because when you're ranked

430
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,160
Speaker 1: number one in yards. You know, the offense has done

431
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:37,080
Speaker 1: a really good job. They were close to twenty nine

432
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 1: and three scoring points per game. Obviously what goes down

433
00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,960
Speaker 1: about twenty seven now, But this defense has played well

434
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:47,240
Speaker 1: enough to keep this this this team in games. And

435
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:50,440
Speaker 1: I think that's important because we're expecting this offense to

436
00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:53,200
Speaker 1: break out and they talk about it, and we haven't

437
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:57,199
Speaker 1: seen four straight quarters of high potent offense for different reasons,

438
00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: and negative plays pre and post penalties, you know, just

439
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,320
Speaker 1: just some bonehead stuff that happens at times. But if

440
00:23:06,359 --> 00:23:10,000
Speaker 1: this defense was ranked in twenties and thirties, I don't

441
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,720
Speaker 1: think Cardinals would have a winning record. No, and this

442
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:16,320
Speaker 1: defense again deserves a lot of credit for what they've

443
00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: accomplished given the circumstances. Is as far as the chuffling

444
00:23:20,040 --> 00:23:22,440
Speaker 1: of players and and out the number of injuries the

445
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: reserve COVID nineteen list, and then yeah, there have been

446
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: some hiccups to a tongue of Veloa played very very

447
00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 1: well in his first road start earlier this season. And

448
00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:34,200
Speaker 1: like it or not, I mean, you're not going to

449
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,920
Speaker 1: stop a Russell Wilson. It's almost impossible. He has to

450
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:42,680
Speaker 1: almost stop himself. Yet in that first game at State

451
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,840
Speaker 1: Farm Stadium, there were enough defensive stops in the second

452
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:48,720
Speaker 1: half and overtime for the Cardinals to get a win,

453
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: despite at the end of the day that defense allowing

454
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 1: thirty four points and an overtime win. So you can

455
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:57,840
Speaker 1: certainly make stats look however you want, but the bottom

456
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: line is these aren't excuses. This is just the reality

457
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty. And I think you need to really

458
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,440
Speaker 1: take a hard look at what this defense has accomplished

459
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:11,920
Speaker 1: through the numbers, and yes, also does it pass the

460
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:14,280
Speaker 1: eye test, because that also needs to be figured in

461
00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, and you know, you look at Devandre Campbell.

462
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: I thought he got out to a good start and

463
00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:22,119
Speaker 1: then you know, maybe, you know, maybe in October I

464
00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 1: didn't think he played us up to part then he

465
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:25,639
Speaker 1: had an injury, but I thought he was one of

466
00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 1: the better players on the field last week. You know,

467
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,680
Speaker 1: I thought Jordan Phillips would come in here and be

468
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,720
Speaker 1: a three down defensive lineman and Corey Peters, so you know,

469
00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:36,879
Speaker 1: maybe they didn't got the production from some of the

470
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:39,399
Speaker 1: free agents they thought. You know, Kennard Off got off

471
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: to a good start. He only played eleven snaps last week.

472
00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:45,399
Speaker 1: You know, they also have a sign Ritick and Marcus

473
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,920
Speaker 1: Golden now um, and they're also playing Isaiah Simmons, so

474
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,960
Speaker 1: that could be the reason why. But you know, when

475
00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,600
Speaker 1: you can come in here and we talk about frost

476
00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:58,800
Speaker 1: and turnovers and you know, to me, they did just

477
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: look like a defense where when they show up and

478
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,439
Speaker 1: they're on the field, they feel like they can win

479
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,240
Speaker 1: the majority of the battles. Again, you're gonna go against

480
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 1: really good quarterbacks, could play callers, so it's not easy.

481
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 1: But the fact is, at the end of the day,

482
00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:15,679
Speaker 1: what I can say is that they're getting the job

483
00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:18,560
Speaker 1: done absolutely. And those three players that they added in

484
00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,760
Speaker 1: the offseason that you mentioned, Phillips, Canard and Campbell. Early

485
00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,440
Speaker 1: in the season, they were leading this defense. Now there's

486
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: been a little bit of a drop off, specifically with Phillips,

487
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,960
Speaker 1: and Campbell had a dip. He had a calf injury,

488
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,080
Speaker 1: but he did play very well against the Patriots on Sunday.

489
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,320
Speaker 1: And then you look at a Drake Kirkpatrick, who rated

490
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,720
Speaker 1: very well according to Pro Football Focus on Sunday and

491
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 1: someone that a lot of people wanted out of town

492
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,200
Speaker 1: just one week earlier because of that taunting foul against

493
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 1: the Seattle Seahawks. Yeah, and it was a selfish play

494
00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 1: and hopefully he learns from it. You know, Cliff obviously

495
00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 1: will have that conversation he's already has. But a lot

496
00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:59,800
Speaker 1: of times you want to let the guys cool down.

497
00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 1: He knows he's going to let his team down. But

498
00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:04,199
Speaker 1: that was another good pickup. You get a veteran guy

499
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,240
Speaker 1: that has experience with the coaching staff. It settles things

500
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 1: down where Biber Murphy can play in the slot and

501
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 1: Patrick can play on the outside, you know. And so yeah,

502
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,600
Speaker 1: I mean, and then Jonathan Joseph he's getting a chance

503
00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:17,640
Speaker 1: to play. I mean, I know he's up there in age,

504
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:19,879
Speaker 1: but he's a really savvy veteran. He could play inside,

505
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: he could play outside, he could play man, he could

506
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,119
Speaker 1: play his own And you know, to me, when you

507
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,800
Speaker 1: look at their top four corners, you know they got

508
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,240
Speaker 1: some guys with experience. You know, you're not relying on,

509
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,159
Speaker 1: you know, a Chase Whittaker or Chris Jones where they

510
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,359
Speaker 1: lack experience and only takes time for a guy like

511
00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:37,760
Speaker 1: Whittaker in the future. But you got you know, when

512
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,080
Speaker 1: you look at your top four guys, Trey ker Patrick

513
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,360
Speaker 1: and Jonathan Joseph and Patrick Peterson. They got major experience

514
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,600
Speaker 1: and that can help you when you when it comes

515
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:50,439
Speaker 1: to you maybe having our young front where they're kind

516
00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 1: of still learning their positions and perhaps the best development

517
00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,119
Speaker 1: of this defense here though, so far this season, at

518
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,159
Speaker 1: least the second half of the season, has been the

519
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,479
Speaker 1: play of Isaiah Simmons. And we've talked about the defense

520
00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 1: and it's the first time we've brought up his name.

521
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:07,400
Speaker 1: Of course, we did a huge part of the show

522
00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,760
Speaker 1: last week after he had that great performance and a

523
00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,159
Speaker 1: loss against the Seattle Seahawks. But you look at what

524
00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:16,840
Speaker 1: Simmons has done now, and yeah, they slow played him.

525
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:19,440
Speaker 1: He's slowly come into his own. He didn't play a

526
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:21,399
Speaker 1: lot though on Sunday, and that might have been more

527
00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,639
Speaker 1: of a matchup thing than anything else. But he is

528
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 1: certainly making plays when his number has been called, and

529
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,959
Speaker 1: that's what you like to see. Because here we are

530
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 1: in December football. Let's go back to how we started

531
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:36,159
Speaker 1: this show. You need players to be making plays, and

532
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,920
Speaker 1: Simmons has made plays when he's been on the field.

533
00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:43,080
Speaker 1: Simmons sixteen snaps thirty percent, Murphy twenty thirty eight percent,

534
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 1: but you know, Banjo got more action and Drake Ko

535
00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:48,840
Speaker 1: Patrick was out there for close to eighty percent of

536
00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,080
Speaker 1: the snaps, and then Buddha Baker and Patrick Peterson a

537
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,480
Speaker 1: pretty much played the whole game. So you know, you

538
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 1: could see they're shuffling guys and a lot of times

539
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,360
Speaker 1: when Isaiah is going to be called upon, it's down

540
00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 1: and distant, and when they want to use some their

541
00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:04,640
Speaker 1: sub packages and if you don't, teams don't get into

542
00:28:04,720 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 1: third down. He may not get the forty snaps. But

543
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:10,760
Speaker 1: I like where he's at. I think he's definitely shown progress.

544
00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,760
Speaker 1: And like I say, like I said, you give him

545
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 1: a full offseason, a preseason, this guy will be a

546
00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,200
Speaker 1: three down linebacker next year, starting next to Jordan Hicks. Well,

547
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,480
Speaker 1: keep in mind the Patriots officially only ran fifty one

548
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: plays as an offense, so not a lot of snaps

549
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:29,840
Speaker 1: to be had on that defense, especially if you're rotating

550
00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:32,439
Speaker 1: guys and out. Well, you look at Reddick, I mean,

551
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,159
Speaker 1: he's playing ninety six percent of the snaps. I mean, Golden,

552
00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:38,200
Speaker 1: he's not on any different snapcount, but he played thirty seven.

553
00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 1: But you're right, that's a great point. Usually teams have

554
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,160
Speaker 1: sixty five to sixty at offensive snaps, the Patriots only

555
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,960
Speaker 1: had fifty three. Bird Gang. Make sure you subscribe to

556
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher,

557
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: and SoundCloud. Listen to your favorite shows on the go

558
00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: like Cardinals Underground, The Big Red Raids, The Cardinals Red

559
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,360
Speaker 1: Sea Report, and of course this show, Cardinals Cover two.

560
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 1: Dasy Cardinals dot Com Slash podcast for more information as

561
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:06,600
Speaker 1: we continue here on this Tuesday edition of Cardinals Cover

562
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:10,400
Speaker 1: two presented by Unday, proud partner of the Arizona Cardinals.

563
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:13,480
Speaker 1: As we do each and every Tuesday, time to go

564
00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:17,600
Speaker 1: inside the NFC West. Where do things currently stand in

565
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,040
Speaker 1: the division? The Seahawks after their win last nights against

566
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:24,840
Speaker 1: the Eagles, they are number one in the NFC West

567
00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 1: with an eight and three record, the Rams in second place,

568
00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:31,000
Speaker 1: then the Cardinals and the forty nine ers at five

569
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 1: and six bringing up the rear. But just going back

570
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:37,400
Speaker 1: to what these teams did on Sunday mj and let's

571
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 1: start with that team that is now leading the division,

572
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,280
Speaker 1: in the Seahawks. It was not a great first quarter

573
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: performance by the Seahawks. They were stopped on fourth down twice.

574
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson did not look good, but they play four quarters,

575
00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:55,040
Speaker 1: not one quarter, and the Seahawks able to get the

576
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:58,200
Speaker 1: win on the road at Philadelphia. Never easy, even though

577
00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,760
Speaker 1: the Eagles aren't great this season. Twenty three seventeen the

578
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:05,080
Speaker 1: final Wilson by the way ten and two on Monday

579
00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,800
Speaker 1: Night Football. Now, yeah, he plays well in primetime, and

580
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:10,480
Speaker 1: you know the reason why they're in the driver's seat.

581
00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:12,640
Speaker 1: First of all, they got to eat wins, and they're

582
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 1: gonna play the Giants, Jets, and the Washington football team

583
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 1: and then they'll finish out with the Rams and the

584
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,280
Speaker 1: forty nine ers. So they're in the driver's seat. And

585
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,240
Speaker 1: when they got Chris Carson back last night, I'm like,

586
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 1: that's a really good one two punch between Carson and

587
00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,320
Speaker 1: then Carlos Hide. You know Carlos Hides a free agent

588
00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,560
Speaker 1: in the offseason. I did not know that. Do you

589
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:34,680
Speaker 1: know who the number one free agent running back is

590
00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,320
Speaker 1: based on? Unless I looked at yesterday? Is it Hide? Kenyan?

591
00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 1: Drake Kenyan Drake? Okay? I know Patrick Peterson was on

592
00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 1: a list high up as far as the top free

593
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 1: agent cornerbacks. He was, yes, and he was fourteenth overall

594
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 1: when he came did a top fifty. Yeah. Anyways, I

595
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,160
Speaker 1: don't want to digress, but they look like a different

596
00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,200
Speaker 1: team with Chris Carson and then the way that Dk

597
00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,800
Speaker 1: Metcalf's playing unless he's going against Jalen Ramsey or Patrick Peterson.

598
00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 1: If you're the Eagles last night, and I watched the

599
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:05,040
Speaker 1: press conference after, we're not give a lot of credit

600
00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:08,520
Speaker 1: to Darius Slay. He took full responsibility. He said, I

601
00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:11,360
Speaker 1: usually you get some of those fifty fifty balls, but

602
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,960
Speaker 1: they paid him a ton of money to come in

603
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:16,760
Speaker 1: there and cover those number one wide receivers. And then

604
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 1: Jim Schwartz before the game made a comment to Dk Metcalf,

605
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 1: I was in Detroit and you're not Megatron yet. Well,

606
00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:26,040
Speaker 1: if you look how many games they played, he's got

607
00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: better numbers than Megatron, and so he has a chip

608
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:31,120
Speaker 1: on his shoulder. But if you're the Philadelphia Eagles, knowing

609
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 1: that he grew up in Philadelphia, and you're watching your

610
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:37,600
Speaker 1: wideouts last night, and let's let's get this straight. Every

611
00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,480
Speaker 1: team passed on Metcalf at least twice, including the Seahawks. Okay,

612
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: and the reason why we were at the combine and

613
00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:47,040
Speaker 1: he had a neck injury. He didn't. He wasn't very

614
00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:49,120
Speaker 1: productive in college because of injuries, and he was a

615
00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 1: one trick pony. And Craig, you and I have talked

616
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,360
Speaker 1: on and off air. How much have I talked about

617
00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,640
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson working with DK Metcalf, He's become a much

618
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 1: better route runner. He's physical, he can get off press coverage.

619
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:04,920
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he's a freak out there. And I

620
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,880
Speaker 1: give credit to Russell Wilson because offseason workouts after practice.

621
00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,520
Speaker 1: I watch your videos they go on not that go

622
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,120
Speaker 1: on vacation together. But he'll meet Russell Wilson. We know

623
00:32:14,240 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson works out three hundred sixty. So give credit

624
00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:21,120
Speaker 1: to the Seahawks for recognizing it. But Wilson and give Metcalf,

625
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 1: he's put the work in. But I'm telling you at

626
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,920
Speaker 1: the combine there was major red flags about the neck injury.

627
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,720
Speaker 1: And he's a one trick ponies. But um, you look

628
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:32,800
Speaker 1: at it. I like where Seattle's offense is at and defensively.

629
00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,840
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not a big Carlos Dunlop fan. M

630
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:38,959
Speaker 1: he's got an injury right now, we'll see Holong he's out. Um.

631
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,880
Speaker 1: But when they get their secondary going, and um, you

632
00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: look at Jalen Jamal Adams, they got something going there.

633
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 1: And you look at that you know, Bobby Wagner and

634
00:32:48,760 --> 00:32:52,040
Speaker 1: kJ Wright. I think their defense will get better. I

635
00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: think we got a chance to see that last night.

636
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,240
Speaker 1: But I really like that one two punch. And so

637
00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 1: there's it's not going to be a surprise. They're gonna

638
00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 1: win the division and not just based on their schedule.

639
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 1: And they went through their you know, little rut there

640
00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:08,680
Speaker 1: where they lost three out of four. But Russell Wilson

641
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:11,040
Speaker 1: did enough last night. He didn't have to be Houdini. No,

642
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 1: especially when you've got Metcalf catching ten passes for a

643
00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:16,800
Speaker 1: career high one hundred and seventy seven yards. And to

644
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:19,360
Speaker 1: your point about Metcalf at the combine to where he

645
00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 1: is now, a couple of things. One he might have

646
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 1: fallen into the best situation, the fact that he was

647
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 1: passed over, passed over, passed over, and now all of

648
00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 1: a sudden, you've got that internal motivation to get better.

649
00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:32,480
Speaker 1: And perhaps he did hear all of the talk, so

650
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,320
Speaker 1: now he worked to get better. I'll give him all

651
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 1: of the credit. You wonder, though, hey, if he was

652
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:40,200
Speaker 1: a first round pick. Would he be having this type

653
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: of success. Sometimes it's all about where you land and

654
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:47,600
Speaker 1: what's the situation is. And yes, the Cardinals passed on

655
00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,400
Speaker 1: DK Metcalf, but the Seahawks also did pass on. Yes,

656
00:33:51,680 --> 00:33:55,200
Speaker 1: and the Seattle Seahawks once upon a time did pass

657
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:59,040
Speaker 1: on Buddha Baker, so that they passed on Russell Wilson

658
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,880
Speaker 1: at least two or three times. That's true, Yes, and

659
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: it's because they signed Matt Flynn and Pete Carroll. I

660
00:34:05,080 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 1: mean again, I'm sure a lot of owners went to

661
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:10,840
Speaker 1: their gms and head coaches to say, where'd you have

662
00:34:10,960 --> 00:34:14,879
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson. Let's pull off the draft grade. Oh he's

663
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,960
Speaker 1: too short. Oh we heard that about Kyler Murray. It

664
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,680
Speaker 1: goes back to what general manager Steve come always says,

665
00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:24,280
Speaker 1: when you're evaluating these draft prospects, you can't measure what's

666
00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,080
Speaker 1: in the head and you can't measure what's in the heart.

667
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,719
Speaker 1: And I think Metcalf took it to heart that he

668
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,960
Speaker 1: was passed over and needed to work on some things.

669
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,040
Speaker 1: And it's certainly paying off right now for the Seahawks,

670
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:38,719
Speaker 1: who had eight and three, number one in the NFC West,

671
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,360
Speaker 1: number two overall in the NFC and will host the

672
00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:46,600
Speaker 1: Giants this coming week. With their win on Monday Night Football,

673
00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,319
Speaker 1: they knocked the Rams to second place, and the Rams

674
00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:51,640
Speaker 1: did themselves no favors, losing to the forty nine ers

675
00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,880
Speaker 1: at home, first home loss of the season for the

676
00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,120
Speaker 1: Rams twenty three twenty. At one point, the Rams trailed

677
00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:01,719
Speaker 1: seventeen to three, and all of the talk coming out

678
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:03,920
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles, and we'll get more into it as

679
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:07,760
Speaker 1: the week progresses. But Jared Goff and the turnover machine

680
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:11,800
Speaker 1: that he is. Three turnovers on Sunday, two interceptions, one fumble.

681
00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 1: Head coach Sean McVay called him out after the game, quote,

682
00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:17,560
Speaker 1: our quarterback has got to take better care of the

683
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,640
Speaker 1: football end quote. Now we softened that a little bit

684
00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,600
Speaker 1: the next day, saying he never considered benching golf, but

685
00:35:23,719 --> 00:35:26,120
Speaker 1: there is certainly an issue there when your quarterback can't

686
00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:30,000
Speaker 1: hang onto the football, not unlike Russell Wilson earlier this season,

687
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,359
Speaker 1: turning the ball over left and right. Yeah, I mean

688
00:35:33,520 --> 00:35:37,040
Speaker 1: to me, if golf is if he's getting protection and

689
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,520
Speaker 1: he's able to utilize his weapons between Robert Woods and

690
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 1: you know they're throwing Cooper Cup, who I think is

691
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:47,360
Speaker 1: one of the better slot wide receivers in football. I

692
00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 1: think Coldbez is in that same boat. But then you

693
00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: just look at you know, he's going to have a

694
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,120
Speaker 1: perfect game, He's going to have the great protection if

695
00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,520
Speaker 1: he if he's starting to get hit, he gets a

696
00:35:59,520 --> 00:36:02,880
Speaker 1: little addition in the pocket. And you know they also,

697
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,600
Speaker 1: you know, want to run two tight ends so they

698
00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:08,680
Speaker 1: can mass protection. They're going running back by a committee.

699
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,360
Speaker 1: It seems like between Henderson and Brown and cam Akers,

700
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:15,839
Speaker 1: you know, they seem like they ride the hot hand.

701
00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:19,960
Speaker 1: But I've been more impressed with their defense. They kept

702
00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:23,320
Speaker 1: the linebackers coach. He's only thirty six years old. You

703
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:25,760
Speaker 1: can see he relates with the players. Nothing against Wade Phillips.

704
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,800
Speaker 1: He obviously cut his teas as a really good defensive coordinator.

705
00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,640
Speaker 1: And then you bring in a guy like Jane Lyn Rams,

706
00:36:31,719 --> 00:36:33,920
Speaker 1: you can do so much in their secondary. So I

707
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,759
Speaker 1: think the Rams are the most complete team. But they're

708
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,520
Speaker 1: so up and down, and you know, they they can

709
00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:42,600
Speaker 1: score points, but they're not scoring like they used to

710
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,200
Speaker 1: in the past. Yeah, the defense that you talked about

711
00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: free takeaways, and they did have a score as well.

712
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,000
Speaker 1: And then you look at what they've got coming up

713
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,360
Speaker 1: on the schedule. Obviously they'll travel to play the Cardinals

714
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,680
Speaker 1: this week, and then they're home to the Patriots, home

715
00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,200
Speaker 1: to the Jets at the Seahawks home to the Cardinals.

716
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,320
Speaker 1: So not a that's not a walk in the park, No,

717
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:05,000
Speaker 1: especially even though you've got the Patriots at home. But

718
00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,799
Speaker 1: we know what can happen sometimes, especially with the Bill

719
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:10,080
Speaker 1: Belichick team of course the Jets, and then you had

720
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:14,320
Speaker 1: to travel to Seattle and then perhaps one of a

721
00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:17,719
Speaker 1: seating game if you will, Week seventeen, when they'll host

722
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Well, I like that because you know what

723
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,000
Speaker 1: Belichick did to Kyler Murray Belichick did to Jerikoff in

724
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,399
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. Hold them the three points, You're probably

725
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:28,640
Speaker 1: gonna see something in that. Now. I don't know if

726
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:31,200
Speaker 1: New could score enough points, but in this case, they

727
00:37:31,239 --> 00:37:33,080
Speaker 1: only had to score twenty one to beat the Cardinal

728
00:37:33,239 --> 00:37:36,280
Speaker 1: or twenty. Now, let's take a look at the forty

729
00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,839
Speaker 1: nine ers, because very quietly, all of a sudden, they

730
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:42,800
Speaker 1: have kind of re emerged as the playoff picture becomes

731
00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:45,680
Speaker 1: more and focused. The forty nine Ers, on a Robbie

732
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:49,319
Speaker 1: Gould forty two yard field goal as time expired, beat

733
00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: the Rams in La twenty three to twenty, snapping a

734
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:55,920
Speaker 1: three game losing streak and more importantly, a second straight

735
00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:58,480
Speaker 1: win over the Rams. And they've now swept the Rams

736
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,839
Speaker 1: and back to back See reasons I'm shocking. We talk

737
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,680
Speaker 1: about how many times the Cardinals have lost the Rams,

738
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,239
Speaker 1: but how about the Rams not having an answer for

739
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:11,320
Speaker 1: the forty nine Ers Without everybody, I mean, Jimmy Garoppolo,

740
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:14,800
Speaker 1: George Kittle, Bosa, I mean, you name it. This forty

741
00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:17,799
Speaker 1: nine Ers team might have been the most affected injuries

742
00:38:18,239 --> 00:38:21,520
Speaker 1: and reserve COVID nineteen list of any team in the NFL.

743
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:23,440
Speaker 1: Yet here they are at five and six. Yeah, and

744
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,520
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you're starting to see the national

745
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: media say don't fall asleep on the forty nine ers.

746
00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,120
Speaker 1: And they get Richard Sherman back. Yeah, I mean and

747
00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:34,440
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins, I mean, they're gonna have to make a

748
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: decision on the offseason when do they do with Garoppolo

749
00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:40,680
Speaker 1: and because of the contract. But yeah, and we know

750
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,880
Speaker 1: Kyle Shanahan very similar to McVeigh, great play callers. I

751
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:47,480
Speaker 1: love the motion in the shifting they get to confuse you.

752
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:53,120
Speaker 1: So I would not throw dirt on forty nine Ers,

753
00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:54,680
Speaker 1: even though I kind of put them out of the

754
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:56,960
Speaker 1: race a couple of weeks ago, just based on the injuries.

755
00:38:57,040 --> 00:38:59,960
Speaker 1: But they're gonna either player spoiler role. They're gonna try

756
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,279
Speaker 1: to go on a winning streak here because they don't

757
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 1: feel the pressure. The pressure is gone. They're not expected

758
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,359
Speaker 1: to get back to the super Bowl. And you look

759
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:13,040
Speaker 1: at their record. I mean, they're upcoming games. Okay, they

760
00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:18,200
Speaker 1: got Buffalo, Washington football team, at Dallas, at Arizona, and

761
00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:20,720
Speaker 1: then Seattle, so I think that's a little bit tougher

762
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:24,000
Speaker 1: on paper, including the Buffalo game. I don't know about

763
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:27,319
Speaker 1: Washington and Dallas, but then Arizona and Seattle, so it's

764
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,120
Speaker 1: not a walk in the park for them. I think that,

765
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:32,760
Speaker 1: you know, Cardinals may have a more favorable remaining schedule

766
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:37,239
Speaker 1: than the forty nine ers have. You look at that

767
00:39:37,480 --> 00:39:42,000
Speaker 1: schedule those five games, three home, two road, but in

768
00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:46,960
Speaker 1: reality they're all road games because as we mentioned yesterday,

769
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,359
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers have relocated their day to day

770
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:53,439
Speaker 1: operations here to Arizona. They'll play at least their next

771
00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,520
Speaker 1: two home games the Bills and Washington at State Farm

772
00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 1: Stadium at Santa Clara County announced new COVID nineteen or

773
00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,800
Speaker 1: lad restrictions, So we'll see what happens. They're due to

774
00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,239
Speaker 1: arrive sometime this week to prepare for that Monday night

775
00:40:06,280 --> 00:40:09,319
Speaker 1: football game against the Bills, and then they'll just kind

776
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,759
Speaker 1: of happen. To wait and see it. Believe, Kyle Shanahan said,

777
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,360
Speaker 1: they're just prepared. You prepare for the worst, and the

778
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:18,480
Speaker 1: worst would be to complete the season here in Arizona,

779
00:40:18,560 --> 00:40:20,880
Speaker 1: which is not going to be easy around the holidays,

780
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,080
Speaker 1: when you're telling your players and your coaches you can't

781
00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:25,800
Speaker 1: go home to visit family, family can't come and visit you,

782
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,720
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, it's these five games. Because

783
00:40:28,800 --> 00:40:30,160
Speaker 1: you want to make the playoffs, you want to be

784
00:40:30,239 --> 00:40:32,520
Speaker 1: playing in January, and they've already dealt with so much

785
00:40:32,600 --> 00:40:36,279
Speaker 1: this season. Now they've got to uproot everything to a

786
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 1: brand new location and try to have some semblance of

787
00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:42,799
Speaker 1: normality here in the month of December. Well, I mean,

788
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:44,719
Speaker 1: we can all chalk it up to twenty twenty, but

789
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,320
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's unfortunate that they're not allow to

790
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:51,680
Speaker 1: play in northern California based on certain numbers when it

791
00:40:51,719 --> 00:40:55,400
Speaker 1: comes to COVID, and it's not like Arizona is you know,

792
00:40:55,680 --> 00:40:59,160
Speaker 1: we're spiking again. I think it's a great gesture from

793
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:02,200
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals ownership standpoint. I think it's the right

794
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 1: thing to do. Obviously, the league is, you know, they

795
00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 1: didn't want to miss any games. And it's interesting that

796
00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,720
Speaker 1: the Bills in Washington are two teams that are coming

797
00:41:11,800 --> 00:41:14,600
Speaker 1: back to the desert. Yeah, they were. They knew they

798
00:41:14,640 --> 00:41:16,360
Speaker 1: were gonna have to make their way back west, and

799
00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,960
Speaker 1: maybe that they don't have to go as far west,

800
00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,520
Speaker 1: just back to where they've already been once before talking

801
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,960
Speaker 1: about the Bills and Washington. By the way, forty nine

802
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,800
Speaker 1: Ers owner Jed Yorke took to Twitter yesterday, thank you

803
00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: Michael Bidwell and the Arizona Cardinals for all of your help.

804
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:34,880
Speaker 1: Very appreciative of Arizona welcoming us during these unprecedented times

805
00:41:35,320 --> 00:41:38,520
Speaker 1: and tweets. So certainly you wish the best for the

806
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers. Of course, certainly not when they play

807
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:44,680
Speaker 1: the Cardinals coming up in Week sixteen. But you look

808
00:41:44,760 --> 00:41:47,840
Speaker 1: at the NFC picture overall, here are the top seven

809
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,320
Speaker 1: teams that would make the playoffs and our favorite phrasing

810
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:56,800
Speaker 1: if the season ended today, Saints, Seahawks, Packers, Giants, Rams,

811
00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 1: Buccaneers and Cardinals one game back, the Vikings, Bears and

812
00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:05,400
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers. Okay, so we'll know more about the

813
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:08,239
Speaker 1: forty nine Ers obviously in the next couple of games.

814
00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:10,239
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a tough opponent, even though they're going

815
00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:13,759
Speaker 1: to be playing at a neutral site. I'm running to

816
00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:16,480
Speaker 1: throw dirt on the Bears. Um. You know, they started

817
00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:20,600
Speaker 1: off what five and one? Correct? And I like their defense,

818
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:23,560
Speaker 1: but their quarterback play and you know, it looks like

819
00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:26,399
Speaker 1: you know, you look at Alan Robinson and he wants

820
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,080
Speaker 1: a new contract, and they may go back to Nick Foles,

821
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,279
Speaker 1: and you could see, uh, you know, Matt Naggie was

822
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,560
Speaker 1: very upset. He called his team out. So I don't

823
00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,600
Speaker 1: know where're going to go from there. And I'm a

824
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:37,719
Speaker 1: I'm a bit big Mike Zimmer fan, And you know,

825
00:42:37,840 --> 00:42:40,839
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, He's numbers on the road versus home are

826
00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 1: kind of interesting. We'll see what happens with Delvin Cook.

827
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:47,360
Speaker 1: But Zimmer's teams get better as a season progresses. And

828
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:50,839
Speaker 1: I'm going to look at Minnesota's remaining schedule right here,

829
00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:55,920
Speaker 1: looks like they got this weeks. This is week thirteen,

830
00:42:55,960 --> 00:43:01,120
Speaker 1: So Jacksonville, Tampa Chicago, New Orleans, and Detroit. Three of

831
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,919
Speaker 1: those road games at Tampa Bay, at New Orleans, at Detroit. Yeah,

832
00:43:06,160 --> 00:43:09,919
Speaker 1: but if there's one team that's a team, I would

833
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:11,960
Speaker 1: say it's in your shadow. Nothing against the forty nine

834
00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:14,640
Speaker 1: ers or nothing the Bears. But I think Minnesota has

835
00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,920
Speaker 1: the talent and they have the players and the coaching

836
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,760
Speaker 1: to possibly get into postseason. Yeah, those are the teams

837
00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,600
Speaker 1: that are lurking in the cardinals rear view mirror. As

838
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,560
Speaker 1: they say, objects appear closer than they really are, and

839
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:28,920
Speaker 1: they certainly are because getting a lot closer. Cardinals are

840
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:31,839
Speaker 1: not doing themselves any favors and what has happened over

841
00:43:31,880 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 1: the past couple of weeks and losing back to back games.

842
00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,640
Speaker 1: But as we discussed, as Devandre Campbell said earlier today,

843
00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,440
Speaker 1: the Cardinals control their own destiny. Everything they want is

844
00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 1: in front of them as long as they take care

845
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:45,880
Speaker 1: of business beginning this Sunday against the Rams and not worrying.

846
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,600
Speaker 1: I mean, we can scoreboard watch, but the players and

847
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:53,080
Speaker 1: coaches eyes forward and only as far as the next

848
00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:55,239
Speaker 1: day's practice. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't do any good

849
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,239
Speaker 1: for the players to start looking at the schedule. They

850
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,520
Speaker 1: know what the schedule is I mean, they're obviously when

851
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:02,880
Speaker 1: they travel and they're at home, so you know the

852
00:44:03,239 --> 00:44:05,200
Speaker 1: next game is the biggest game and out and the

853
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,200
Speaker 1: next one will be the next biggest game. And if

854
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:09,120
Speaker 1: you want to be in the postseason, you have to

855
00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:13,600
Speaker 1: start winning these games. Starting this week, Week thirteen, Cardinals

856
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:17,040
Speaker 1: Rams two oh five kickoff and we'll get into more

857
00:44:17,160 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 1: in depth on the Rams and what has been going

858
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,160
Speaker 1: on with the Rams offense, defense, and special teams as

859
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 1: this week continues. On that note, we will put a

860
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:27,880
Speaker 1: lid on this edition of Cardinals Cover two, presented by

861
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:31,120
Speaker 1: a Hunday proud partner of the Arizona Cardinals. As always,

862
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,640
Speaker 1: special thanks to our executive producer, Jim I'm a hundred

863
00:44:33,800 --> 00:44:36,080
Speaker 1: for Mike Jarecki. I'm Craig Rio Loup. We'll talk to

864
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:38,359
Speaker 1: you next time we're on Cardinals Cover two