Arians: Seattle tie ‘probably the best game we’ve played in four years’
Oct 26, 2016, 9:22 AM
Nobody likes a tie.
NFL teams only have 16 games in the course of a regular season, and coaches and athletes are conditioned to accept the result — either a win or a loss.
Ties are so uncommon in the league (there’s only been six since 2000) that participants and fans don’t know how to react to them.
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians announced he doesn’t like ties in the aftermath of his team’s 6-6 deadlock with the Seattle Seahawks Sunday night at University of Phoenix Stadium. While the fourth-year head coach was conflicted about the result, he was pretty clear on his assessment of the Cardinals’ performance in the game.
“Probably the best football game we’ve played in about four years,” Arians said Tuesday night on Sirius/XM NFL Radio Tuesday night. “Other than scoring points offensively, but driving the football, getting in scoring position — it was one of our best efforts against Seattle.
“Defensively, it was by the far the best we’ve played them since we’ve been, especially in Glendale, where we’ve had our problems in the past.”
The Cardinals stifled Seattle’s offense through regulation, which ended with the score tied 3-3. The Seahawks managed only 130 total yards in the first four quarters, earning only five first downs in the process.
“Our defense played lights-out,” Arians said.
That defensive performance wasn’t limited to Sunday night. The Cardinals haven’t allowed a touchdown in the last nine quarters they’ve played, holding the Jets and Seahawks to a total of nine points.
“Our defensive line is in an unbelievable place right now. When your linebackers make 28 tackles, you know the defensive line is doing one heck of a job,” Arians said. “They’re making it easy on Kevin (Minter) and (Deone Bucannon).
“Corey Peters is a guy who is an unsung hero. He gets all the double-teams and eats people up for Calais (Campbell) and Chandler (Jones) and those guys to be singled — and Markus (Golden) — to get after the quarterback. It’s so much better to get there with four, and every now and then, you bring a fifth one, it’s icing on the cake.”
The Cardinals will try to extend their dominant defensive performance Sunday in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium — site of their playoff exits in each of the last two seasons. Kickoff is at 10:00 a.m. and can be heard on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM, beginning with pregame coverage at 5:30 a.m.