Cardinals suffering under new defensive system
Originally published: Sep 20, 2011 - 3:07 pm
PHOENIX - NFL teams didn't have the benefit of mini-camps and OTA's this offseason due to the lockout leaving teams scrambling to pick up new systems when training camps opened in September.
The Arizona Cardinals are struggling mightily on defense adjusting to Ray Horton's new system.
After two games, Arizona's defense is ranked 29th in the league giving up an average of 466 yards of total yardage a game.
The team looks like it will try making some adjustments this week to make the transition easier on the players.
"I talked to coach earlier and we'll probably scale some stuff back. It's a tough system to learn," said safety Kerry Rhodes on Monday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have run the same defense for years to great success, but it seems the Cardinals' players are having a tough time adapting to it.
"It's complicated, but we got to be pros and figure it out. You can throw it off on it being complicated, but at the end of the day, we got to run it," said Rhodes.
The pressure is on for the team to find a defensive system that works as the Cardinals are on their third defensive coordinator in coach Whisenhunt's tenure with the organization.
If the team doesn't begin showing improvement on defense, it might be time to start evaluating whether the Cardinals have the right kind of players for this system.
- Karlos Dansby, Cardinals linebacker - Friday May 10Dansby tells Doug & Wolf how excited he is to be back and how he plans to contribute
- Calais Campbell, AZ Cardinals defensive end - Monday May 6Big #93 talks to the guys about the new coaching staff and becoming more of a leader
- Calais Campbell, Cardinals DE - Friday May 3Campbell talks about his inaugural charity golf tournament debuting this weekend. Also, he gives his
- Andre Ellington, Cardinals RB - Thursday May 2Arizona's 6th round pick joins the show to reminisce on his college career and talk about what he br
- Earl Watford, Cardinals 4th Round Selection - Wednesday May 1Earl Watford talked to Doug & Wolf about his strengths and being drafted out of a small school.




































