Cardinals’ Darnell Dockett stresses it’s a team effort
Oct 18, 2012, 2:52 PM | Updated: 3:57 pm
The Arizona Cardinals sit at 4-2 on the season as they get ready to face the Vikings in Minnesota on Sunday. According to the players and head coach Ken Whisenhunt, they are 0-2 in the second quarter of the season and are looking to get back to .500 in this quarter with wins the next two weeks.
One of the consistent bright spots this season has been the performance of the defense and the scheme of defensive coordinator Ray Horton.
The Cardinals defense is allowing just 16.2 points per game and seems to be getting better each week, but the offense continues to struggle. So does the defense feel more pressure to perform?
Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett doesn’t think so. “We don’t worry about what the offense does. Of course we’re all together at the end of the day, we get off the bus together, we’re in the locker room together, we hit the field together but we just gotta focus on what we do. They’ll get it going.”
The Cardinals offense is ranked 28th overall in rushing yards and 28th overall in passing yards. The team has also suffered injuries to quarterback Kevin Kolb and running backs Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams.
Wednesday after practice, Dockett continued to emphasize that it’s a team effort.
“We gotta support those guys and they gotta support us. You never know. This is probably gonna be one of those games where they bail us out,” he said.
This game that Dockett is referring to is a trip to Mall of America Field in Minnesota, a place where the Vikings have beaten the Cardinals eight straight times.
Regardless of the stats, the numbers and the hype about the defense, Dockett has confidence in his offense, “At the end of the day it’s about team. I’m tired of people talking about ‘the defense this, the defense that,’ they have a job to do and we have a job to do and we have to continue to play together. At the end of the day it’s about us.”
Kickoff is slated for 10 a.m. Sunday and will be simulcast on 92.3 KTAR and Arizona Sports 620.
