Cardinals’ Grimm knows line must improve in running game
Sep 13, 2012, 8:55 PM | Updated: 10:54 pm
Cardinals assistant head coach Russ Grimm is also in charge of the team’s offensive line.
The same offensive line that paved the way for the Cardinals to pick up just 43 yards rushing last Sunday against Seattle, with just 27 of those coming from the team’s running backs.
In a word, the run blocking was bad. In a stronger word, it was horrid.
“We need to improve on the running game,” Grimm said. “We didn’t run the ball as well as we can run the ball.”
Grimm said the line had an average game overall, as the pass blocking wasn’t particularly bad. But if the Cardinals are to be successful on offense they will need to fare better on the ground, which will be especially tricky against New England this week.
“The two big boys on the inside, they’ve got a stellar front seven,” Grimm said of the Patriots.
New England runs a base 4-3 defense with Vince Wilfork and Kyle Love anchoring the middle. As a team the Patriots held Tennessee back Chris Johnson to just four yards on 11 carries last week so yeah, they may be fairly adept at stopping the run.
And until the Cardinals prove they can burn teams in the passing game, teams are more likely to stack the box and take away the run.
According to running back Beanie Wells that’s no excuse for a lack of production.
“We’ve still got to find out ways to be successful running the ball when they do that because we know that’s going to be a task that we face all year,” he said.
Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this report
