00:00:01
Speaker 1: This podcast is presented by All Copy Products, proud partner of the Arizona Cardinals. Learn more at Allcopyproducts dot com.

00:00:10
Speaker 2: To the fifteen to ten Mary's Gonna Score Touchdown.

00:00:14
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cardinals Red Sea Report, presented by All Copy Products.

00:00:19
Speaker 2: Swam to the ground by Puda Baker like a torpedo. He came flying into the backfield. Hey sack, that's Callias Campbell.

00:00:26
Speaker 3: Who is the game?

00:00:27
Speaker 1: The Cardinals Red Sea Report is brought to you by All Copy Products. Visit Allcopyproducts dot com and buy Arizona Cardinals podcast. Visit Azycardinals dot com.

00:00:39
Speaker 2: Slash Podcast One Handed Cat to the Touchdown.

00:00:43
Speaker 1: Here's Paul Calvic and nine year NFL veteran Rob Frederickson.

00:00:49
Speaker 4: We start with a question.

00:00:50
Speaker 3: It's not a trick.

00:00:51
Speaker 4: Question goes something like this, when is it Tuesday a Friday when you play on Thurday night football? Because you're just two two days away from a prime time showdown with those stinking Seahawks who are coming to town. And you know what, sometimes sometimes it's a good thing, a really good thing, when you have no choice but to go ahead and just move on. Forget about the last game, the last result. Move on immediately to the next game. Sometimes there's not even time for game film, and maybe that's a good thing as well. It is the Red Sea Report, Paul Calvic, Rob Frederickson, soon to be joined by Danny Sirek no Craig Riolo. He's on assignment with his daughter, So all the best on that front.

00:01:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Paul, I mean you answered your own question off the top.

00:01:39
Speaker 4: First of all, I saved it from the pop quiz.

00:01:42
Speaker 3: Yeah. I was over here scrambling trying to think of what's the answer, what's the right answer over here? But you know, I think you're right, Paul. Coming off of that game against San Francisco, the loss, you know, came down to the very end, the manner in which they lost that game. Sometimes it is good to have a short week, have a quick turnaround. You don't have time to really get into the weeds on what happened, what didn't happen, what corrections need to be made. Yeah, you want to make the corrections, but it's got to be that that timeline has to be hyper condensed because it's basically forget about that game. We're onto Seattle. We got we don't have a lot of time. We have to prepare. We got a game Thursday night, so you know, in that respect, I think that's the silver lining in all of this is that the Cardinals can forget it, can flush that and move on to Seattle.

00:02:41
Speaker 4: There's so many takeaways, right, There's so many individual plays, individual moments in a game like that that you lose on a walk off sixteen to fifteen at the forty nine ers, And really it's all three phases. It's a miss field goal early, it's the offense with drops and untimely flags. It's the defense at the very end allowing the Niners to go ten plays sixty three yards for the thirty five yard game winning field goal in less than two minutes. You know, it was different things at different times, but above all, do you consider a lot of what you saw that went wrong? And there was a lot that went right, But do you consider it correctible?

00:03:17
Speaker 3: Oh? I think so. I think it's all correctible. A lot of the mistakes, especially the drop passes, for the most part, that's just that's a concentration thing. That's hey man, there's nothing more important than catching the ball. Then worry about getting hit or worry about where you're going to run. But first and foremost, it's securing the ball, looking at all the way into your hands. Hey, get down the jugs machine after practice this week and really focus on seeing that ball all the way through and tucking it in. Just little things like that. Offensively, you know, offensive line, making sure you're taking the right angles, first steps, just just you know, focusing on all that, making sure Kyler, you're going through all your progressions and your reads. You know, and I think he is. But techniques are the easiest thing and the thing that you revert to the most when you're coming off a loss like this. Is really focusing and honing in on your techniques as a football player, and that'll lead to better performance.

00:04:21
Speaker 4: And your zieldafro Hoole moments after the loss, the emotions were very raw in that locker room, There's no doubt about it. And here's the team captain starting center, just leaving there with your first loss of the season.

00:04:34
Speaker 5: I'm so grateful. We have an amazing defense. I'm grateful we have a bunch of guys on that offense that are willing to put in the work. Man, We're early in the season. We're only going to get better. We're going to get better every week. We're going to get better and we're going to come back on thirst. So we're going to put a good product out down that field. And I think the pause you can drop from this is we have a long season ahead. There's a lot of stuff to improve upon.

00:04:52
Speaker 4: You.

00:04:52
Speaker 5: It's a frustrating hell yeah, everybody's pissed off right now.

00:04:55
Speaker 3: It's not good enough.

00:04:57
Speaker 5: Me included. I need to be better on some of my points. I need to be better with everything. There's so many things that we can all, you know, improve upon, small a little here and there. Thankfully we have a game on Thursday. Man, quick turn around, put this in the bag, move on and yeah on Seattle.

00:05:10
Speaker 4: There you go the old Belichick onto Cincinnati, onto Seattle's. And yes, there are areas where you definitely need to get better. Johnathan Gannon has been pretty forthright with the media this week, you know, saying, among other things, yeah, there are some issues with the offense. Yes, we need to get more efficient with the run game, and then he talked about we need more explosives in the past game. So but it gets tougher to get better. It gets tougher because you lost James Connor, who's more than a player. He really is a mindset. He is a mentality. And now, I mean, I think it's a legitimate question. Does the identity of this offense change in a lot of ways. It's a run first offense. He's your premier running back.

00:05:51
Speaker 3: Think about that.

00:05:52
Speaker 4: As we hear from Kyler Murray on losing James Connor to injury.

00:05:57
Speaker 6: It's unfortunate. Just's my teammate, you know, I feel like this as a brother of mine. Just you know, see him go down like that. You never want to see that. Understands part of the game, but it's it's you know, it's not ideal. You know, all the work that he puts in and just who he is as a person, you don't see him get hurt like that, you know.

00:06:15
Speaker 4: So it's yes, if you saw the game, you saw the respect that was paid by every single player and coach out on that field. The forty nine ers included Jonathan Ganninggay props to the forty nine ers Spread Warner, you know, for the respect and class they showed, because they know what a warrior James Connor is.

00:06:30
Speaker 3: You know, sometimes watching football and playing football, you lose sight of the fact that these are humans. These are human beings out there, and and watching it on TV, you could see when James Connor went down. You could see Kyler's reaction and you could tell it it It cut him deep because James Connor is more than a teammate. He's a he's a brother to Kyler, and this one stings. You know, obviously losing is tough, but to lose the leader, the heartbeat of the offense really and James Connor, you know that that's gonna double down in terms of just the toughness that this offense is already facing because they haven't been efficient, they haven't gotten things going in terms of the run game and continuity in the passing game, consistency, and to lose James Connor, that's gonna make it doubly tough for this Arizona Cardinals offense.

00:07:27
Speaker 4: We know that James Connor is one of the best and making people miss. I mean, there was that third and one in the first quarter where there was a free hitter and he spun away from the guy in the backfield somehow still picked up the first down. The first play of the second half was a nine yard run. I said after the game it was no doubt. In my mind, the halftime adjustment was more James Connor. They gave him the ball in the first two plays. Unfortunately, season ending foot injury on play number two. So what does that mean for the identity of the run game? How equipped is Trey Benson in year two to not just be part of a one to two punch but to be RB one effective immediately?

00:08:05
Speaker 3: You know, I think Trey Benson's ready. He's when he's had opportunities, when he's touched the ball, He's done some good things this year. Who's going to be RB two now? You know? Is that going to be Amari de Mercado? Is that going to be Knight?

00:08:21
Speaker 4: Damn Knight, Bam Knight, Michael Carter.

00:08:23
Speaker 3: And Michael Carter. You know, it's it's like this offense to me needs a shot of adrenaline in the worst way. And Michael Carter, for whatever reason, he's a guy that I think of like Greg Dortch. Whenever he touches the ball, something good happens. He makes people miss and he has that different gear. You know, I don't I don't know what his role is going to be, if there is going to be a role for him, But I just think this offense needs something different right now. It needs needs that shot of adrenaline.

00:08:55
Speaker 4: So there were a couple of things that Johnathan gan to share with the media this week. On the run game, he said he went back the forty nine Ers film the Cardinals called twenty four runs, and he deemed seventeen not efficient. So flat out it needs to be better. Too often second and ten, and he said that after the game. Too often you know it's second and long and it really reduces a your playbook and then b allows the defense to pin its ears back. And then he also made a couple of comments about, look, we need to be better mentally upfront. We know we need to know where guys are supposed to be when the ball is snapped and quote that was an issue against the forty nine Ers, So getting a hat on a hat, getting the right man on the right man blocking up front. Too often you saw plays destroyed before they even got going. And we know that's gonna be a big deal against Seattle. Here comes Leonard Williams and that defensive front that you struggled with a year ago.

00:09:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, through three games for the Arizona Cardinals, it's not as if the defenses are going up against are jamming the box every play with eight guys in the box, They're not back in a too deep shell. And the Cardinals are still not able to be consistent in the run game and get positive yardage. So that's certainly an area that has to be improved, has to be fixed if they want to maintain any semblance of balance in this offense.

00:10:16
Speaker 4: We also saw Kyler run it a little bit against the forty nine ers. Maybe that's part of things. We'll talk more about the offense, we'll talk more about the passing game. Moments ago, Michael Wilson met with the media and he said, among other things, Hey, we're all competitive, we all want to help the team. I'm sitting here with three catches in three games for twenty one yards. It quote hurts my soul end quote. So there's definitely a willingness in that locker room. There's definitely frustration that maybe you see the Cardinals come out and inflict on the Seahawks on thirty Thursday night. Hey, learn more about Cardinals twenty twenty five season tickets, premium seeding, and the all new luxury field seating experiences today For all your Cardinals ticket info, go to Azycardinals dot com slash tickets. All right, the offense had their chances. Is it a breakout opportunity on Thursday night? If so, what needs to happen? Just getting rolling? It is a Cardinals red sea report. Paul kelvyc and Rob Ferderickson back right after this.

00:11:18
Speaker 2: Murray barking out the call takes the staff. It's a bootleg of the right, a throat to the right. McBride goes up high in the corner of the end zone on the far side and thanks to catch for a touchdown and the Cardinals eight point after away from time the game. Great response by Kyler Murray.

00:11:35
Speaker 3: That is how you go make a play.

00:11:38
Speaker 7: Trey McBride runs the out route to the back pylon, falls a little underthrown, but high. Trey McBride goes and gets the ball.

00:11:46
Speaker 4: He didn't wait for the ball to come to him.

00:11:48
Speaker 7: He goes and gets it and scores a touchdown.

00:11:51
Speaker 4: And that was a touchdown. In response to the forty nine ers scoring their first touchdown to the game that tied it at thirteen down the stretch, they went the Cardinals with a safety to take the lead. Fifteen thirteen and then the forty nine ers with the walkoff game winning fuel goal. Cardinals suffered their first loss of the year, second straight Division game, straight ahead on Thursday Night Football. We're getting everybody ready here on the Cardinals Red Sea report Paul Calvic, Rob Frederickson soon to be joined by Danny Serek who was in the reporting on the Kyler Murray press conference. And it was interesting Kyler Sota had the same vibe as Yell Refrohold after the game and it goes something like this, the offense is feeling a little guilty right now for letting down the defense. Rabbit had an interception, Cardinals went three and out. Cardinals Kalais Campbell. He drew the holding penalty which resulted in the safety. Cardinals could not convert in that third down pass as a Jones to finish the game. The four minute offense, the four minute mechanics, and I'm guessing Rob, based on the first three games, if you gave the offense one area it wants to improve, finish right, Finish drives, Finish games.

00:12:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. I mean you can't rely on your defense and week in and week out to to solidify a victory. You know, the Arizona Cardinals. Defensively, I don't think you could ask much more of them on Sunday. Just to give up sixteen points to San Francisco, you gotta come away with a win when you do that, and you gave your your spotted, your offense two points with the safety. So defensively, you know, I'd love the improvements that have happened. But offensively, yeah, just inconsistent. And you know what you talk about Kyler, I can't put this on him. I cannot put the you know, and I know there's a lot of people around that, you know, if Kyler Murray walked on water, they'd say, yeah, because he can't swim. You know, they just will never give him credit. But I thought Kyler played fairly well. Yeah, he missed a few throws, he underthrew a couple balls, but for the most part, I thought Kyler played pretty solid.

00:13:53
Speaker 4: If you give him the four drops, and I do count four, yeah, between a Mari de Murcado, the one wide open mark Aarison Junior, the one in the end zone that Marv expects himself to catch, and then the Zay Jones at the end which he's made plenty of times in his career. He's a guy who's had more than twelve hundred yards receiving in a season. He's been a big time playmaker. You give him those four, which in the NFL you should fully expect to be completions, totally different game. Cardinals win that game.

00:14:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely. Now, look, the J Jones I would have been a tough catch because the defender did a great job of getting his arm in there. And and but still you expect your receiver to be strong through the through the catch to the ground. You expect I know Za expects to make that catch, Marv. Marv. The first one he's just lost concentration, I think. And then the one in the end zone. He wasn't even supposed to be there, right, That wasn't intended for him, That was intended for J. Jones. But he went up and made a made a good catch initially, but just lost it on the way down. So yeah, you got to concentrate. You got to make those plays when you have the opportunity, because you need your best players to shine brightest in those moments. And you know this is you can't put this loss on Kyler. But then again, he's eight and twenty one as a starter in the NFC West.

00:15:12
Speaker 4: In the division twenty one.

00:15:14
Speaker 3: In his career.

00:15:15
Speaker 4: Interesting. Interesting, Yeah, that's tough. And you know what, Geno Smith went six and oh against the Cardinals. Cardinals have lost seven in a row overall to the Seahawks. So if you want to reverse that trend, Thursday night in prime time is a prime opportunity, There's no doubt about it. Jonathan Gannon hinted that maybe just maybe now, you're not going to do a lot of practice, if any practice beyond a walkthrough this week, but maybe going forward they focus a little bit more on the four minute offense and making sure you're really adept at executing that. You've had an opportunity each of the first three games, you still got away with the win in weeks one and two did not happen in week three. And here's Kyler Murray just on the offense's inability to finish.

00:15:58
Speaker 6: I mean, we had plays there, We had plays there throughout the game that I've seen our guys mate again, it's myself included. We all just gotta be better. But when you're playing better teams, you're playing better opponents can't afford to you know, let those let those happen, just because you know you got you get a chance to put your foot on the throat. You have to and you know today obviously it ended in a walk off field goal. Who was that close? And we had multiple opportunities. I feel like to kind of put that game away.

00:16:25
Speaker 4: Yees frustrated We started here on the Red Sea Report this segment we heard the Trey McBride touchdown. Catch to me. To me, especially now without James Connor, you lose one pro bowler, I think you have to feature the other pro bowler, el Grande effective immediately give me more Trey McBride. He's the guy who has that game day mentality. Yeah, he is an ultra competitive guy on game day, just like James Connor. Other players feed off him. He'll bark and tell you he just made a play, and he'll tell you I'm going to make another play and then he'll do it. And so to me, I would double down on Trey McBride, especially in the absence of James Connor.

00:17:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the running game has been so inconsistent and so kind of stagnating the first few weeks that maybe maybe you do go to Trey McBride. Maybe you do go to the passing game to free up the running game, you know, to get those safeties out of there, keep them back. Maybe it's the George Costanza rule, right, you know, it's its opposite focus on the past to open up the right. Everyone always says, oh, you got to run the ball to free up the pass. Well, maybe we maybe we do the opposite.

00:17:35
Speaker 4: And you know what, here's another thought too. Get Marvin Rrison Junior involved early. Get them some design targets early. Dare I see even force the ball to them early. Just get them in that rhythm. And here's Marvin. Props to him for meeting the media after what was probably his worst game as a pro. And here he is on the road in San Francisco talking to the media about his performance.

00:17:59
Speaker 8: If I got to do I'm not doing my job at a high enough at the moment, I think I know what I'm capable of, and to go out there and not played to you know, nowhere near the best of my abilities, it's frustrating. It hurts your team, and I gotta get better.

00:18:16
Speaker 4: Is there anything anyone can say to Marvin Harrison Junior At this point, he's still a young guy. He's dealt with expectations in the spotlight his entire life, the son of a Hall of Fame or number four pick overall, Is there a conversation that can help him or is this strictly internal? Is this Marvin just making improvements on his own.

00:18:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, as as a football player, like say say I'm having trouble tackling, Say I'm missing too many tackles. For me, it's it's just go out there and practice your technique and practice your craft and get better at that. The more conversations we have, the more talking and getting into our feelings and all. No, that's not the that's not what we got to do here, boys. We we we got to get out there and practice and you know, just put it on repeat and just keep going. Get on the jugs machine, catch a thousand balls if you have to. I don't care what it is, but it's focus on the technique, focus on the little things, and that'll get get him through this.

00:19:17
Speaker 4: Yeah, good teams win. Bad teams have player only meetings, right, Rob, you're famous for.

00:19:21
Speaker 3: That stealing my lines.

00:19:22
Speaker 4: Oh that's your line, that's you know. And he's not so much about talking. He's more about playing now. Kyler Murray was just talking to the media and Danny Surrek joins us. Just what were some of the headlines, some of the big takeaways.

00:19:34
Speaker 9: Well, it started, I know, you guys have talked about the James Connor injury, and that's kind of how Murray's press conference started because after the game, Murray had said at the podium it was too tough to talk about that soon after it to kind of digest, so now that he's had a couple of hours to do so, just talked about how tough and essentially impossible it is to replace Connor because he has stuff that you can't coach, the feel for the game, the leadership on the field, locker room. So as a leader, Murray understands that he's going to have to be a little more vocal when it's called for, not to necessarily try to replace Connor because you can't, but understands, especially as a captain, that's going to be required of him. Talked about the confidence he has in Trey Benson, Amaro de Mercado, Bam Knight, the rest of that running backs room to kind of jumpstart this offense and what they need to do. And despite the fact that it's a short week and that might feel good on his body right now of getting some rest. You know, mentally, if you're going to have a dejecting loss the way the Cardinals did in San Francisco, this is the week to have it. You have no choice but to flush it quickly. When he was talking about the offense and what they needed you to be more successful, the question was phrased, is it a series to kind of get you on track? Is it simply just finishing games? But Murray said, it's complimentary football. When the defense is playing so well and has an interception, can't go three now on the next drive, when Kalays Campbell has that tie breaking safety, you got to finish the game. And Murray set himself, I'm mostly on the other end where we are winning and we have controlling around on the field, or we're playing from behind and I'm out there on the field. That's where he wants to find offensive success is more complimentary football, which they have the opportunity to start Thursday night, no doubt.

00:21:17
Speaker 4: And you know what, it's a challenge going back to the James Connor or the identity of the offense. Things no one else can do in a sure week. It's not like you can change the playbook. Now, are there certain plays in there for Trey Benson to feature his long speed and his ability to maybe get wide and then go north. Absolutely, we saw that at New Orleans at a fifty two yard scamper. So, I mean, gut feely, how different do you think the run game looks?

00:21:40
Speaker 3: More than anything? I think the hardest thing to replace is the energy that James Connor brings when he stiff armed somebody with a tough, physical run and he gets up and he's getting excited. The whole team feels that. The whole team really absorbs that, and it resonates and it everybody feeds off of that. The only other guy really that does that consistently is Trey McBride, I think offensively, and you know he's going to continue to do that. He's going to continue to be Trey McBride. But they're going to miss that from James Connor.

00:22:13
Speaker 4: You know, there was there was the topic of air yards per pass attempt and it was the lowest for Kyler Murray in quite some time, four or five years. In that game. Did he get specific at all? Danny just on the passing game and the ability to execute the downfield passing game in.

00:22:30
Speaker 9: Particular, not that specific. It was more so asked about the receivers and what you guys were talking about when I came into the room about do you have a conversation And it wasn't so much Murray saying yes, I have a conversation specifically about that. They're all adults, they're all professionals. Everyone to a certain extent kind of handles that on their own. Murray did say he talks to his receivers every day on and off the field and doesn't want to necessarily force the ball anywhere, but depending on what offensive corner Drew Petson calls, Murray said, if there's an opportunity for me to get these receivers the football, well I'm going to do everything I can to give them that opportunity.

00:23:03
Speaker 4: I mean, it's been a run first offense. You know, I wonder what it looks like on Thursday night. I wonder to your point, Rob, you know, do you go a little different the whole costanza and and and now all of a sudden, the short passing game. We know you do have enough weapons to execute that if you desire correct.

00:23:20
Speaker 3: Oh, the weapons are there. I that's Greg Dortch's jam right there. You know, get him the ball, get him in space and and allow him to make make some moves and make some plays. So, you know, no, I think there's the athletes are there. The players are there to do that type of thing. Again, Oh, Seattle is going to be prepared for that. They're going to be ready, and they're their defense is ready to rock and roll. So you know, it's it's it's gonna be a challenge, there's no doubt. But I do think you can't just abandon the running game. You have to still find a way. And maybe it's blocking scheme. Maybe maybe it's the way they're blocking some of these and the movement that the defensive line is doing that it's kind of throwing thing a kilter. Maybe that needs to be reviewed and that maybe that needs to be updated.

00:24:13
Speaker 9: You don't want to dink and dunk dive the field, then you need to run the ball otherwise teams are just going to keep too high safety. So I know that you were saying, you know, maybe we continue to pass the ball and training Bride's a great option. Nothing's really going to open up until this team can jump.

00:24:27
Speaker 4: Start the run game and the run blocking. You know, the pass protection numbers say it's been pretty decent, if not pretty good, but it's the run blocking and even John and again and hinted as much, you know, making sure you don't have those mental errors, and you're getting a hat on a hat.

00:24:41
Speaker 3: I think Kelvin Beacham played well. He did for coming in and starting. I thought he did well. And if you're right, you know, the run, the run blocking has to improve. Pass blocking as well. The offensive line overall just has not been up to par.

00:24:57
Speaker 4: And guess what, Seattle's defensive front is better than the forty nine ers defensive front, especially when you consider they were missing Nick Moosa for three quarters of that game. Get ready for the twenty twenty five season the latest gear from the Cardinals team shop. Get your hands on the hottest items, including the recently drop Marvin Harrison junior jersey. Go to Ezycardinals dot com slash shop today. All right, Danny's gonna stick with us. We'll talk about the defense when we come back. It is the Arizona Cardinals Red Sea Report.

00:25:29
Speaker 2: And the shotgun is Jones on second and ten from a six drops into the end zone the throw. He's in trouble. Boom's right, there's a flat down in the end zone. It might be a hole in a safety. Jones is loose, gets out with a five tackled at the seven. Kalas Campbell was getting held hold it, hold it offense over seventy seven because the fellow card.

00:25:49
Speaker 5: In the end zone.

00:25:50
Speaker 2: It is a safety and the Cardinals will get the ball as well. With three fifteen to go, they lead fifteen to thirteen, two games in a old, reliable, thirty nine year old Kaleias Campbell, he.

00:26:06
Speaker 7: Knows as a veteran, I got to make a play right now. Backed up, swims inside the guard knows how long he is, gets over the top and gets the pressure to cause the holding call in the end zone.

00:26:18
Speaker 4: I mean, at this point we need to start producing the merch Okay print up a reunion tour t shirt right now for Kaleis Campbell. What's the reunion tour, Danny, that you're gonna buy tickets for? For Rob Frederickson over there.

00:26:30
Speaker 9: I thought you were in charge of buying Backstreet Boys reunion tour ticket.

00:26:33
Speaker 4: No, I think it was Oasis. Actually, the reunion tour for Rob Frederickson. I'm not sure which one. Okay, Well, we'll figure that out a little bit later. All we know is that Kyler Murray after the game said quote, I feel like the defense did enough to win the game, and we didn't finish the game. So once again the offense taking a lot of the responsibility. After a sixteen to fifteen loss at the forty nine ers first of the year, it is the Red Sea Report, and around the horn we go, starting with you, Rob, ten years on that side of the ball, former first round pick as a linebacker. What do you like the most about what you've seen so far from the Cardinals defense.

00:27:09
Speaker 3: Well, there's more pressure, right. It may not be resulting in sacks, the number of sacks, but the pressure on the quarterback to get rid of the ball faster perhaps than they want to. To me, that's that's the thing that's really driving this defense. That's it's benefiting the secondary. It's helping the defensive backs, which are playing lights out right, even the guys that came in and played against San Francisco. I think that as a whole. Defensively, they're just cohesive. They understand the concepts, they're they're doing a great job pre snap of masking and hiding what they're doing and then getting to it. So overall, I just think defensively they're doing what they need to do to give the offense an opportunity to win games. And you know it didn't happen Sunday, but defensively they just look like they're really running on all cylinders.

00:28:08
Speaker 4: We heard Kalais Campbell, we know Josh Sweat late first quarter had the sack Cardinals loan sack of the game. Not a surprise. They targeted the rookie seventh round left guard who was filling in for the starter who was out with injury. That's the way it works, right, They look at the offensive line, they say, who's the fish. Here it comes, Josh Sweat gets home, takes down Mac Jones. In fact, here's Jonathan Gannon on Kaleiis Campbell and Josh Sweat and just how they're affecting the passer.

00:28:35
Speaker 10: Those guys are doing a good job affecting the passion. We got some other guys too that are doing a good job. And again that statue, you know those guys are showing up sometimes they have some freedom and other guys don't you know what I mean. So for those guys to impact the game, other guys have to do their job as well. That's how I would say that one. So, but yeah, very pleased with where they're at. I think they're both going to keep doing it, you know, I really do. And we need him to.

00:29:03
Speaker 4: Cardinals right now have a top five scoring defense in the league, Danny, and no one was better on that field for the Cardinals defense last week than Mac Wilson Senior. I mean, he balled out.

00:29:13
Speaker 9: He continues to do that. He was all over Christian McCaffrey. Very sticky, really nice play and the defense looks cohesive. Doesn't seem to be a lot of miscommunication that stems with Wilson wearing the green dot, a new role for him this year. The offseason moves made it very clear that this coaching staff, this front office wanted to improve really two areas defensively, which was generating more pressure on the quarterback, which this defense has done, and stopping the run, which the defense has done a very good job at fourth best average of just seventy six rushing yards allowed per game. When you look at the numbers and you see, oh my goodness, the secondary is allowing one fifty two hundred, two hundred and twenty passing yards because they're making their quarterbacks that they're facing one dimensional. They are completely eliminating the run game, and they're generating pressure. It's almost kind of what you want to see, not numbers at high necessarily, but you want to see an offense having to rely on one aspect of their game. The fact that this defense is without four of their top cornerbacks and they are playing as well as they are defensively is very impressive. A lot of props with this coaching staff. I like the way that this defense is still going in the same way that they would with their starters. We haven't seen defensive cornerator Nick rollis necessarily change how the defense looked, or the type of looks they're giving, the type of personnel, how many safeties you have out there in San Francisco. Not having will Johnson outside, not having Garrett Williams as those cornerbacks, this defense has done a really nice job and played pretty clean football, with the exception of that fourth quarter against Carolina.

00:30:45
Speaker 4: JG was giving j T some props for going into the slot for the nickel corner, which can be a real tough deal. Jalen Thompson is safety by trade. In fact, you know, we'll get into Seattle here in a little bit on the Red Sea Report. But Jackson Smith and Jigma is an elite receiver at this point in the NFL, and they love to run him out of the slot. I think this is a game where you potentially could really miss Garrett Williams. We'll see what the Cardinals do defensively on that front. The only thing I'll throw out there, and I was a little surprised it took the Niners so long to get to it. The quick passing game seemingly has been effective against the Cardinals defense. Obviously you mitigate the pass rush of Kalais Campbell, Josh Sweating Company, Spencer Ratler used a Week one. You saw Bryce Young have some success at times, and then Mac Jones, especially at the end of the game. Obviously they were in two minute offense mode. But that quick passing game seem to be effective. What is the answer to that? If you're Nick Ross and the Cardinals defense, if all of a sudden you see Sam Donald getting the ball out quick, because we know how he performs under pressure. The last two games last year.

00:31:46
Speaker 3: Not good.

00:31:47
Speaker 4: So you're guessing Mike McDonald's going to run the ball and then then Klint Kubiak and then number two get the ball out of out of Donald's hands quickly.

00:31:53
Speaker 3: Yeah. Then you can also compound it by going no huddle and that doesn't allow for the defensive line to substitute out. You saw New Orleans to it and they had a lot of success. I'm surprised, like you are, Paul, I'm surprised more teams aren't doing that, not only against the Cardinals, but against any defense because those guys get tired, those those big boys up front, they get tired, right, And if you can't sell out after going four or five six plays in a row, that's that's tough. So really the best way to combat that that quick passing game. You can do it with some zone coverages like Cover two, where you're rolling up your corners and just not really bailing out of there and just staying up towards the line of scrimmage, or sometimes man man coverage. But you have to have vision. You got to open up your vision as a cornerback or safety. You have to be able to see what the quarterback's doing what the offensive line is doing in order to break on it. You saw Will Johnson do it against the Saints. He read it and broke immediately. But that was that that's a result of having vision and seeing what quarterbacks doing.

00:33:01
Speaker 4: You know what was amazing was Next Gen Stats put out an analytic that said Koaleis Campbell had the best get off in a game of any defensive lineman all season long, zero point seven seconds. He's thirty nine. How is that even possible? I mean, this is not just a feel good reunion tour. He can still play some really good ball.

00:33:23
Speaker 3: I mean that that that feels good for guys my age, right, I mean I got my ARP card already. But you know, I'm thinking about making a comeback. I don't know, but if Kalais can do it, I can do it.

00:33:34
Speaker 10: No.

00:33:35
Speaker 3: You know, he's he's a guy that he works tiresly at his craft. Yeah, he's getting up there in age, but he can still ball. And and that's obviously he's getting a sack of game.

00:33:47
Speaker 4: I mean, get your senior discount when you go to your next movie. Okay, that's what you need to get that rob over there. It's here's Kalas Campbell on being able to move on after a tough loss, especially year eighteen for the big guy forward.

00:34:00
Speaker 11: We make some plays and this is definitely one where you're like, it sucks, but you could have got it. But you know, like you know, we ain't gonna dwell on it too much. Move on, you know, And there's some guys are you know, like you know, you definitely could see like some frustration and you being mad because it means something to all and that's important. You want guys or mean something tall. But at the same time, my job as a captain is to you know, keep everything solid, you know, when we win, then' let them get too high. When we lose, alem get too low and keep focused, you know, keep the main thing as a focus, you know. And really that's one of the next one.

00:34:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, after the game, I'm usually the first media member in there to do the postgame radio interviews. And it was raw. I mean, guys, guys were mad. There was definite palpable frustration. And you know, there's a problem when there isn't frustration after a lost, especially against a rival earlier in the season. If guys are just all automatically moving on to the next game. That's when you know you have a problem in the locker room, and I didn't sense that at all.

00:34:51
Speaker 9: A lot of the frustrations are self inflicted. Look, regardless of what the forty nine ers were showing the Cardinals, at least offensively, it was a lot of their own mistake with the drop passes or miscommunication. That's where a lot of the frustration comes. It's not necessarily what the forty nine ers were showing the Cardinals. It was kind of getting in their own way. When you're talking about Khalais Campbell, who is seemingly aging backwards. I will be very curious to see how this defensive line looks in the next couple of weeks. Or you know, there are players who are on the pup list or the ir list who have to miss a minimum of four games. So that's Thursday, So anytime after that, the players can start having their practice windows open for twenty one days and the team can decide, you know, if they're ready to come back and play. Not to say necessarily, some of those players will be ready to go immediately Friday morning to have those windows open. But when you're looking on the defense, there's there's a good amount of defenders that could possibly have their practice windows opened here after Thursday Night's game, Like.

00:35:48
Speaker 4: Oh, I don't know, the sixteenth pick overall, Walter Nolan the third that would be intriguing. We have no clue, but man, would that be a good sight.

00:35:57
Speaker 3: You know, I was thinking about Walter Nolan and getting him back. That may change the role for Darius Robinson as well. You know, I see him playing more in defensive tackle, and I don't know if that's the right spot for him. You know, he's big obviously, but he's not a big bodied guy, if that makes sense. He more fits a defensive end in terms of just his body type, and I think that's more of a natural position for him. But because maybe because of some injuries and just having to rotate guys, he's been playing more in defensive tackle and just hasn't quite found his groove yet.

00:36:36
Speaker 4: You know, it's interesting you go back to the game. Both games, you know, Seattle and the Niners. The run game was big. So it's going to be curious to see the Cardinals defensive front, you know, noon improved and revamped how they match up. But as for Darius Robinson, I've asked the coach about him, and we've asked Nick Ross about him and they say he's doing a much better job on film and he is necessarily in the statue, but there's no doubt. They also admit they want to show up in the box score. They want to know they're impacting the game.

00:37:08
Speaker 3: There's a difference between doing your job and making a play, right, and we need Darius Robinson. He's a first round pick. We need Darius Robinson to make plays. You know, he may be doing his job, and he may be doing everything that he's supposed to be doing, but we need him to make plays. It's that extra little something Terry on top.

00:37:29
Speaker 4: Even two weeks ago, Derek Brown had three tackles, would you say he was a game wrecker? I mean he had a huge impact against the Cardinals offensive line. Two weeks ago for Carolina, Hey joined the Berg Gang in Dallas Monday Night Football Cardinals Premiere. Travel. We're talking legends like Pat p Tyron, Marcus Golden, travel packages and more. Check it out Chartered flight, azcardstravel dot com. All right, Seattle Scout and report. Next on the Red Sea Report Start and.

00:38:01
Speaker 2: Fourth a forty eight yard line of Seattle shotgun for Palmer. Here come the Seahawks. HiT's a hand off left side Ellington, penn Ellen just got the first down of the forty five morning Days a Mountain. The thirty Hey's are the twenty hey's are the ten. He's any touch down Andrey Allington seals the deal and Seattle.

00:38:22
Speaker 4: Old baby Andre Ellington on the speed draw.

00:38:28
Speaker 3: Nobody saw that.

00:38:30
Speaker 4: Tomma Yeah, Wolf nailed the call. It was a speed draw. I can still fuel the whoosh of wind as Andre Allington raced down the Cardinals sideline and house that thing forty eight yard touchdown run as the Cardinals one in Seattle. We're gonna hear from Aqu Shipley in a moment Cardinals new radio analyst, if I remember right, Aq said he was undefeated in Seattle in his Cardinals career five and zero. Those were back in the days. The Seahawks would come here and get a dub. Cardinals would go up there and get a dub. It has been a rivalry and then some for quite a few years. It is the Red Sea Report. Paul KELVC Rob Frodericks from Danny Sirek and a Seahawks team that might be feeling itself coming off a forty burger a win against New Orleans, forty four points on the board, they led thirty eight to six at halftime. What do you think of rob when you think of the Seahawks Now, it's different, No more coach, double rainbow, Pete Carroll. Second year now for Mike McDonald. He's got the defense dialed in where he wants it, and he has an offensive coordinator who's playing ball his way and that is running the football.

00:39:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, the defense has dialed in. They've they've really made some key changes to the defense last couple of years. And the running game, right, you know, so you got Kenneth Walker there, former spartan. Yeah, you know.

00:39:44
Speaker 4: Zach Sharbonay hit him last year and I ran that game here. He had nearly one hundred and fifty on the ground.

00:39:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's been hurt, but they have They have two really capable running backs. Offensive line has been kind of spotty a little bit, but you know they're very capable. And you know, for whatever reason, they seem to have the Cardinals number, right, Seattle does at least in recent years, and so you know, it's a winnable game for the Cardinals. Obviously, I think, you know, Sam Darnold is human. Who knows what we're going to get from him? But you know, Jackson Smith and Jigbud love him. I think he's a fantastic wide receiver. Obviously you're going to have to pay attention to him.

00:40:25
Speaker 9: Is that a really impressive start to the season, JSN. He's already locked three hundred and twenty three receiving yards and an impressive ninety six yards after catch. They use him and every level of the field, and that's got to be the number one player you are circling for. This Cardinals defense is not letting him run circles around you. I'll be interested to see how Cooper Cupp looks. You know, the Cardinals saw him a lot as a Ram, right, so what similarities or differences can this defense expect now as a Seahawk.

00:40:55
Speaker 4: Yeah, and he didn't look all that dynamic last year for the Rams. You can understand why they let him go and they weren't in interested in bringing him back. Speaking of DK, Metcalf no longer with the Seahawks. Tyler Lockett obviously no longer there. So they have a fifth round rookie receiver, Tory Horton who they love out of Colorado State. He was a sensation at training camp. He just housed a ninety five yard punt return for a touchdown. They also blocked a punt in that win against the Saints. So there's a lot to think about, and then there's a turnaround getting to a Thursday night game. Thankfully for the Cardinals, they're the home team because the results over the years heavily favor the home team winning that game instead of being the visiting team traveling on a short week. But beyond that, here's what Aq Shipley said to Bickleyamrada on Arizona Sports on how a Thursday game can benefit the Cardinals.

00:41:43
Speaker 12: Because it's a short week. You don't try and get too creative. You try and do what you do best. And now that one hundred and sixty play call sheet shrinks down to the eighty best plays you got right, and I think you do what you do best, and I think the biggest thing between now and Thursdays get your bodies right.

00:42:00
Speaker 3: This could be a.

00:42:00
Speaker 12: Good thing for this team because now maybe we stopped trying to be creative, we get back to doing what we do best, and we simplify everything down and we just played football.

00:42:10
Speaker 4: You know what, in a lot of ways, stop thinking, just play. Just just go with the basics and just let a rip. And Seahawks keep it very simple on defense because they know they have dudes and that's the way they want to play. Guess what, just if you can match them player for player, you.

00:42:25
Speaker 3: Know, AQ said, boil it down to your eighty top plays. I don't know that the offense has found their eighty top plays yet, you know, And that's that's part of the challenge I think for Arizona Cardinals offensively is just finding that groove. They haven't gotten it yet. They haven't found that mix with the run game. I still think at times they tend to bounce runs outside and that just doesn't work in this league. When they did run it downhill and in between the guards, they were effective against San Francisco, and so I'd like to see more of that that type of running. Maybe lining the running back back in an I formation Kyler under center. That to me is more effective than handing them ball off sideways out of a shotgun. But it's just stylistically just kind of it forces the running back to run towards the sideline and it's just not proven to be effective.

00:43:21
Speaker 4: You know, we talked about a pregame in San Francisco, the three of us that the Cardinals run game in particular needed to adjust to the adjustment, and guys like yelled to Froholt and some of the other offensive linemen. Even Kyler mentioned, you know what, the run game in the past was good. It needs to be better now. But defenses are doing different things, sort of like a defense will study a phenom rookie quarterback and they'll be more prepared in year two.

00:43:45
Speaker 3: C J.

00:43:45
Speaker 4: Stroud, Jayden Daniels, for example, Opponents have studied a Cardinals run game that was number two in yards per carry two years in a row. They no longer have Clayton Adams. They no longer have James Connor. So I think in a lot of ways, Danny, Yes, the run game, the identity, the style, the approach, it probably needs to change.

00:44:06
Speaker 9: The benefit is that there is incredible consistency and carryover from last year's offensive personnel when they were so good at running the ball, to this year. You don't have Connor, right, that's obvious, but you still got good looks with Benson. Your offensive line still has that continuity, continuity with your quarterback, your receivers, your play callers. So this offense already has that leg up on having to make those adjustments and going from good to great. And you have to face adversity early on in the season. That is life in the NFL. And regardless if Connor were able to be healthy enough for the rest of the season, defenses are playing this offense differently, So the Cardinals would have had to make adjustments already. I agree with you, though, Paul. You have to adjust to the adjustments because they haven't been meeting their standards. That's why when the Cardinals were two and oh, they weren't walking around like they were two and oh. They were not meeting their standards right off the bat. And you can't allow can't allow yourself to just lose a back to back divisional game and kind of get in your head and you're going to have those few extra days now. You cannot get in that trap and let your identity kind of fall through.

00:45:14
Speaker 4: Maybe it's as simple as whoever ninety nine is run the other way, because Leonard Williams last year had a heck of a couple of games against the Cardinals offensive line.

00:45:23
Speaker 3: Well, I'd love to see will Hernandez back. I don't know what his timeline is, but just to have somebody with that tenacity that he brings to the offensive line, I think, even if it's just a rotational piece, just to have him and his presence out there. I love it, no doubt, no doubt.

00:45:41
Speaker 4: By the way, Seattle has been much better on the road than at home. They've lost seven of their last eleven at home. They've won seven straight on the road. So the game plan is real simple. And Danny, you know this. You beat Seattle and you make him the last place Seahawks in the division. Again, it's your favorite line, it's our walkoff. I already stole Rob's line earlier, so now it's just you know, I gotta be better.

00:46:04
Speaker 3: I gotta be better.

00:46:05
Speaker 4: Jimal Mahundra, thank you, Cody Fincher, Matt Lazarus for Danny Surrek and Rob Frederson on Paul Calvic Rob and I'll have the Girls Flag telecast tonight. Can't wait for that.

00:46:14
Speaker 3: Let's get it.

00:46:15
Speaker 4: This is the Arizona Cardinals Radio Network.

00:46:20
Speaker 1: You've been listening to The Cardinals Red Sea Report presented by All Copy.

00:46:25
Speaker 2: Products hot by McBride. Hey, it's a touchdown foot a Baker with the sack strip the ball. Murry's gonna score touchdown, Oh baby.

00:46:34
Speaker 1: The Cardinals Red Sea Report is brought to you by All Copy Products. Visit Allcopyproducts dot com.

00:46:41
Speaker 2: Touchdown Cardinals Win.

00:46:44
Speaker 1: This has been an exclusive presentation of the Arizona Cardinals football Club