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Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis (83) scores a touchdown in front of Arizona Cardinals defensive back Hamza Abdullah in the first half of an NFL football game in Landover, Md., Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

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.

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  • Abuse
    J Bird wrote...
    Fire Zone Blitz
    I think Coach Horton should definently run the defense according to the players strengths and weaknesses. I personally don't think the 3-4 suits most of these guys anyway. Like for example A-Dub is better in the box, and it would especially make sense in this style of defense. Maybe this style of defense would better suite "This Group" in a 4-3, or even 4-6. At best tho, they just hope for the best, try to improve on it as the season goes; then they will actually have a full offseason to work on it for next season
  • Abuse
    theuglytruth wrote...
    WRONG
    ...only 1 team has won an NFL game scoring 21 points or less this season. That is the Jags in week 1. The defense has held teams to 21 and 22 points respectively. If your offense is not scoring at least 24 points, you are unlikely to win based on current season stats. I believe the Cards are ranked 11th in points allowed. Please do your homework.
  • Abuse
    FitzIsMyHero wrote...
    and thats the ugly truth!
    If my defense can hold them to 21 and my offense can score 24 then we are in good position. I'M TELLING YOU GUYS! THE CARDS AREN'T A BAD TEAM NO MO. These penalties and fumbles will get cleaned up. The cards were a fumble away from 2-0. They will learn n get better.
  • Abuse
    johnnyb588 wrote...
    21.5 PPG Against
    But that's against the Panthers and the Redskins, who are both in the bottom 10 of ANY power ranking (well, the Redskins might have jumped to 15-20 territory just because they're 2-0, but they'll fall soon enough because they haven't actually beaten anyone). This defense is pathetic. There's no way around that. Luckily our offense isn't equally pathetic this year (we're just mediocre instead of abysmally bad). Getting D-Wash back in the lineup should help, but it won't be enough for this sorry unit.
  • Abuse
    johnnyb588 wrote...
    21.5 PPG Against
    But that's against the Panthers and the Redskins, who are both in the bottom 10 of ANY power ranking (well, the Redskins might have jumped to 15-20 territory just because they're 2-0, but they'll fall soon enough because they haven't actually beaten anyone). This defense is pathetic. There's no way around that. Luckily our offense isn't equally pathetic this year (we're just mediocre instead of abysmally bad). Getting D-Wash back in the lineup should help, but it won't be enough for this sorry unit.
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