Cardinals’ Mathieu looking to lead revamped defense
Arizona Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu talks Arizona Cardinals revamped defense and his own personal goals
The 2016 season wasn’t a fun one for Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu.
Struggling to return to his old form from 2015 and being named a team captain in 2016, Mathieu’s season was cut short again due to a shoulder injury.
“Last year was definitely a different learning experience for me,” Mathieu said on The Blitz with B-Train and Jurecki on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sport Station. “Not being the guy my teammates see me as and not being the guy I see me as.
“So I think I struggled with the leading on the field part and it’s hard to be vocal when you’re not making plays.”
In 10 games last season, Mathieu amassed 35 tackles and one interception for the Cardinals.
And with the 2017 season quickly approaching, Mathieu is excited to see how good the team can be compared to last season.
“We were a pretty good defense in the past, so I really enjoyed playing with all those guys,” Mathieu said, “but when you look at it we added a lot of speed.”
The Cardinals led the NFL in 2016 in forced fumbles (21), sacks (48) and were second in yards allowed per game (305.2).
The Cardinals have had a bit of a makeover defensively which included drafting Haason Reddick this year and replacing Calais Campbell on the line. They also added a number of players in the secondary to make up for the departures of Tony Jefferson and D.J Swearinger.
And while the ultimate goal is the hoisting up the Lombardi trophy, Mathieu also has some personal ones for the season.
“I have them. There’s enough expectations for me. I don’t want to add extra pressure, I want to play the game and have fun,” Mathieu said. “I don’t think I had any fun last year, signing the contract, coming off a big season, coming off injury as well. I want to focus on what I can control.”
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Comments
5 Comments
Mathieu was never his self last season coming off the injury and missing all of camp, having to play with the brace w/ his knee healed but not fully back yet.
This year Tyrann Mathieu is back, regaining that All-Pro elite form that makes him so special. Mathieu has also been in camp this year since day 1 and looks like his old self out there, getting his hands on multiple INTs and Breaking up multiple passes every single day.
Having Mathieu back to form 110% healthy is a huge boost to the pass defense and defense overall, with AZ allowing 3 less points per game with Mathieu on the field. Turnovers will go way up as well as Mathieu is one of the best ball hawks in the NFL, and he takes away the opponents slot WR w/ Peterson erasing the opponents top #1WR. Mathieu will have another All-Pro season this year now that he is fully healthy. The addition of 5"10/200pd S/CB Budda Baker is another big time addition to the Cardinals pass defense, Baker is a big time play maker and has shown that 2 straight weeks, his potential is sky high & Arizona will also benefit from having 6"1 FS/SS Tyvon Branch fully healthy with a full understanding of the defense now in his 2nd year, Branch is a very solid player & FS/SS Antoine Bethea will fill Jefferson's old role. The Cardinals secondary is loaded with talent heading into 2017, with the pass rush up front QBs are going to seriously struggle in the passing game this year, especially with Mathieu back 110% healthy. Mathieu is a chess piece back there that makes AZ's pass defense much better when he is on the field.
It was just a joke cause of a typo, they have since corrected it.. Should've read 35 tackles last season as it does now..
Shoot if the Badger had 33 sacks for his career at this point it would history cause he is a Safety..
33 sacks is nice and all but he really needs to up those INT numbers. 1 isn't cutting it.