Cards OC Goodwin: Fix the line, fix the QBs

New Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin will not be calling plays for the team, but that doesn’t mean he will not have a large role in how the offense performs.

Much of Goodwin’s focus will be on the offensive line, which is his forte, and as he told Arizona Sports 620’s Burns and Gambo Thursday, fixing that issue could solve other problems the team had.

“The thing that stood out to me, and I’ve watched most of the quarterbacks, is just being able to protect the quarterback,” he said. “The thing I like to say is the quarterbacks probably got a little gun-shy last year but hey, that can be fixed.”

Goodwin said better protection, a better run game and keeping down and distance manageable would go a long way towards helping the quarterbacks.

Cardinals quarterbacks were sacked a league-most 58 times last season, and Arizona’s running game was last in the league in total yards. So there is certainly room to improve, and Goodwin believes that may be the key to fixing the quarterback woes.

“Just try to take some of that pressure off those guys to make plays at the quarterback position, but I like the guys and obviously we can do a better job of coaching them up,” he said.

Goodwin admitted that if the coaching staff cannot coax better play out of a group that consists of Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer that “door number two” may be where the Cardinals find their QB.

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