Login

Register | Forgot Your Password? | Close
Bonneville Phoenix Network
 KTAR News
 Arizona Sports
 Entertainment
Login or Register
AP: fc40d6f9-bc8c-4d22-a18d-f0469a6dd743
St. Louis Rams defensive end Chris Long, left, celebrates after sacking Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb, bottom right, during the second quarter of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)
Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback and current NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner thinks the Cardinals offense is lacking the one thing the coaches can't help them gain: experience.

So, before fans go and look at Cardinals offensive line coach Russ Grimm as the responsible party for the team's blocking woes, Warner wants people to realize he just doesn't have much to work with at the moment.

"You have to look at the big picture," Warner told Arizona Sports 620's Doug and Wolf Monday. "Take Fitz out of the mix, and you look at the skill positions starting for this team offensively, and their average number of starts is 12 starts."

Warner added that the Cardinals offensive tackles -- D'Anthony Batiste and Bobby Massie -- have combined to start 14 NFL games, further showing how little experience the offensive side of the ball features.

"It's tough to get guys to come into this league and excel having not seen very much, having not been in crazy environments like last Thursday in St. Louis on the big stage," he said.

Arizona is averaging just 18.8 points per game and picking up 273.2 yards per contest. The quarterbacks have been sacked a league-high 23 times, and the Cardinals have the third-lowest rushing total in the NFL, ahead of only Dallas and Oakland, each of whom were off this week.

listen Listen: NFL Network Analyst Kurt Warner
Former Cardinals QB and current NFL Network Analyst Kurt Warner joins Doug and Wolf to talk football. Warner reacts to Drew Brees' record breaking performance, and gives his thoughts about the Chiefs fans cheering after QB Matt Cassel is injured. Does Warner think RG3 will be injury prone due to his playing style? All of this and more with Kurt Warner.
Still, Warner believes fans would be better served letting things play out a little longer before making decisions on how the coaching staff is doing.

"Let's slow down and look at the pieces there, and then we have to make assessments from there," he said. "A lot of young guys on this offensive football team and on that offensive line -- especially at those two key positions with the tackles.

"So let's just give them a little bit of time to kind of grow into the position and learn the position from Russ, then we can assess that down the road."
9 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
  • Add A Comment 
  • Abuse
    mesa mad man wrote...
    Grimm
    October 8, 2012 3:58 pm
    While I completely agree the line needs experience, Grimm has been here the same amount of time as Whisenhunt. Whos fault is it he has not been able to groom any offensive lineman? Why should we let him off the hook for failing to develop anyone other than Sendlein in all those years. If he needed a veteran, why didnt we sign anyone? Why didnt we draft anyone for him to develop? To say hes at fault for this lines performance may not be entirely true, but to say hes not at fault for putting this in the situation is another.
  • Abuse
    chargecards wrote...
    Running Game
    October 8, 2012 4:36 pm
    Grimm is also the Running Backs Coach...also not doing well.
  • Abuse
    doc10250 wrote...
    I realize line play is "Grimm"
    October 8, 2012 5:56 pm
    BUT, I am inclined to listen to Kurt Warner, who, if you will recall had to endure behind a line that was not much, if any, better than this one. One of these two tackles was on the practice squad and brought up to replace Bad Bad Levi Brown if I recall, so lets get off of Grimm and put the blame where it really sits; squarely on ownership who has not drafted offensive tackles and allowed Russ to groom them. Well? Anybody want to argue with that?
  • Abuse
    jambad wrote...
    Point to the coaches
    October 8, 2012 6:15 pm
    While I sgree the offense is young, I disagree that we shouldnt blame the coaches. Coaches Miller, Whiz, and Grimm need to OWN the Rams loss. And many more if they dont make the adjustments to help this line. They need to go to 2 TE sets, have the RB chip block and release, max protect, WR quick slants, you know... the standard strategies that competent coaches use when they know their line is... uh em, "young".
  • Abuse
    gorgolo1 wrote...
    Grimm and now Grimmer
    October 8, 2012 6:39 pm
    Miller and Grimm are just plain terrible. How they cannot adjust the scheme to better suit the line just baffles me. They keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. That's the true definition of insanity. Please, please, please for the sake of my sanity, max protect and run some quick routes. Kolb has two seconds before he gets creamed... Why not change the plan if you can't coach these players up?
  • Abuse
    mesa mad man wrote...
    @ doc10250
    October 8, 2012 7:12 pm
    while i assume its possible the coaches have no say in who we draft or sign, i refuse to believe it. if our coaching staff recognized our line was that poor, they would speak up and get the talent needed.
  • Abuse
    Lee A. wrote...
    "...time to kind of grow into the position?"
    October 9, 2012 7:04 am
    Sorry #13 but before much more time passes, all the QB's and RB's will be out with injuries due to the poor O-line play. Agree with mad man above, Grimm has been with the team as long as Whiz and the O-line has underperformed the entire time so let's not blame the talent level (although it is marginal). If they've needed better O-linemen, should have been getting them via draft or trade for the last 5 years. If the coaching is sub-par, well you know the answer to that problem.
  • Abuse
    OldHog wrote...
    Sack Grimm
    October 10, 2012 9:21 am
    The line play was not very good when Warner was there. Warner got killed at times the running game was at or near the bottom. Grimm great player not so much as a coach. Rod Graves can join him out the door. Did the Cards even go after top o line free agents? Doubt it. The best they could do was Snyder. sic.
  • Abuse
    hobojoebloom wrote...
    Some "Offensive" Comments
    October 10, 2012 11:24 am
    I can very much appreciate Warner's points. However, I think Miller, Grimm, and YES, coach Whiz must assume some responsibility for the poor offensive performance. We should be running more screen passes and draw plays to slow up the rush. Pitching the ball wide would help too, as would sending receivers deep and chucking the ball, even if it means OVERTHROWING the ball by 15 yards (yes waste a down) to pull the safety's back. This would protect the QB and help the running game.
Cardinals News
Cardinals Audio
Most Popular
Haboob Posts
More Haboob Posts »
close

Share: