Cardinals efforts ‘not showing up on Sunday,’ Arians says
Sep 25, 2016, 3:13 PM | Updated: 8:28 pm
Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan, left, and Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians shake hands after an NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
(AP Photo/Bill Wippert)
Forced passes, bad protection and dropped passes. Bad special teams play and failure to set the edge.
Concerns cropped up here, there and everywhere for the Arizona Cardinals in a 33-18 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but head coach Bruce Arians said a 1-2 start to the season hasn’t been foreshadowed by any poor habits of practice or preparation.
“I thought we had an outstanding week, the guys were solid,” he told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Paul Calvisi on Sunday. “We’ve had three really good weeks of preparation. It’s not showing up on Sundays.
“I think some of us thought we were better than we were — although we’re doing a really good job of preparing.”
It’s the execution that’s the matter.
Carson Palmer, who had most of the criticism aimed at him in last season’s NFC Championship game loss to the Panthers, likewise will take a good deal of criticism after he finished the Week 3 loss with four interceptions in the fourth quarter, a figure that hasn’t been seen since Tom Brady threw as many in a final period back in Week 7 of the 2001 season, per ESPN Stats & Info.
But Arians and the Cardinals aren’t laying the blame there.
The head coach pointed out that Arizona allowed a sack on a three-man rush. He noted that dropped passes, poorly-run receiver routes and dropped passes contributed to Palmer’s issues as the Cardinals went 5-for-15 on third-down conversions.
“Just all of it. It sucks,” offensive tackle Earl Watford told Calvisi in a postgame interview. “It’s not dependent on one person. It’s all of us.
“Takeaway is, I mean, learn from it. Gotta learn from it, gotta show up in practice. That’s where it starts.”
Additionally, Arians said that the Bills operating under promoted offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, who replaced the fired Greg Roman this past week, had little to do with Arizona’s defensive struggles. The Cardinals coach said they were prepared against Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy.
“They ran the same plays we practiced against,” he said.
Yet, Buffalo rolled up 206 yards at 6.5 yards-per-rush to make up for a meager passing game — Tyrod Taylor completed 14-of-25 passes for 119 yards and an interception.
“Can’t happen. Can’t give up 50-yard runs on an option play that you worked on all week,” Arians said of Taylor’s 49-yard jaunt in the first half.
Add in more concerning long-snapping from rookie Kameron Canaday and a re-injured ankle for punter/holder Drew Butler, and the issues run across the roster.
“People always want to put teams down early in the season. That’s a good football team,” Arians added of the Bills. “It’s tough to win on the road in the noise but those are all excuses.”
