‘It’s on us’; Arizona Cardinals offensive line vows to play better
Arians gave a rather simple answer to what has become a not so simple problem for the Arizona Cardinals early in 2017, and that’s the offensive line.
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) is sacked by Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (90) during the second half of an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cowboys won 28-17. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
TEMPE, Ariz. – Two words: Block better.
Head coach Bruce Arians gave a rather simple answer to what has become a not so simple problem for the Arizona Cardinals early in 2017, and that’s the offensive line.
Challenged back in training camp by offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin to keep quarterback Carson Palmer upright in the pocket, that five-man unit has fallen short of its stated goals.
Through three games, no quarterback has taken more hits (27) than Palmer, while only two quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers (13) and Alex Smith (12) — have been sacked more than the 11 times Palmer has been dropped.
“It sucks. It pisses you off because that’s the guy that’s going to lead you to a championship, that’s the guy you want to be behind you and if you can’t protect him, and if something happens, then it’s on you,” right guard Evan Boehm said Wednesday. “It lights a fire under your [expletive], and you’ve got to go out and you’ve got to perform better at practice, work at practice and get better at practice so you can go out and perform in the game.”
Against Dallas, Palmer was hit 11 times and sacked six times; both marks were season-highs.
Fortunately for everyone, and Palmer specifically, that pounding didn’t leave a mark on the Cardinals’ 37-year-old signal-caller. The next morning, Palmer said he woke up feeling no worse than any other day after a game.
“It’s never the number of times,” he said. “It’s just there’s always that one hit you are really sore, where you just get caught kind of wrong or land wrong and then they land on top of you wrong. It’s always dependent on that and not on the number of hits or sacks.”
And did that happen to Palmer on Monday night?
“No, I feel great,” he said.
His offensive line doesn’t.
Watching the film from Monday’s 28-17 loss was difficult, Boehm admitted.
“We’ve got to finish better. If you look at the tape, a lot of the times we were in the right spot. We just need to finish the blocks better,” he said. “I think everybody saw once we gave Carson time, he can throw the ball down the field and have the wide receivers make the plays, so it’s definitely on us to protect Carson…and make sure that he stays upright and can stand in the pocket and feel comfortable and make those throws.”
Of course, the offensive line the Cardinals thought they had this season hasn’t been the one on the field the past two weeks. The entire left side—tackle D.J. Humphries and guard Mike Iupati—has been absent due to injury.
The good news, both Humphries (knee) and Iupati (tricep) were limited at practice on Wednesday. How they look during and how they feel after Thursday’s padded-practice will be a better gauge as to their possible availability this week, according to Arians.
Injuries, though, are not an excuse for poor performance.
“It shouldn’t matter at this level,” Boehm said. “You’re here to play ball. You’ve got to play ball, and I think everybody in the room is capable of playing ball and playing ball at a high level. I don’t think we’ve showed it the last three games. We’re going to turn it around, and we’re going to.”
While the entire offensive line needs to step up its game, one player, in particular, has struggled the most, and that’s right tackle Jared Veldheer. Transitioning from left tackle, Veldheer needs to trust his technique, according to Arians.
It’s Veldheer who has received much of the criticism from fans and media, and it’s been Palmer who has consistently stood up for his teammate. He did it last week and once again this week when questioned about Veldheer.
“I’ve got as much respect and trust in Jared as I’ve had in any offensive lineman I’ve ever played with, and I’ve played with Jared for six years. He was protecting my blind side for a long time, and now he’s on the other side,” Palmer said. “I talked to him today. You just bounce back, and I know he’ll bounce back. Like I said, I have a ton of respect, a ton of trust in him. The way he works, the way he prepares, I just know he’ll bounce back, and I have faith in him.”
It’s a short week for the Cardinals. And while that’s typically frowned upon, getting back on the field as soon as possible may be exactly what the offensive line needs right now.
“It’s a quick turnaround but I think it’s going to be a good turnaround that we need to show, not only B.A. and the guys upstairs, but our fans too that this offensive line is a lot better than what we’re showing right now,” Boehm said.
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Comments
33 Comments
You said wtf twice, you're priceless, try to pay attention; he wasn't an All Pro last year, so he's not an All Pro. It's pretty simple. Yup, he's made one first team All Pro team, 2012 in SF. He was second team here in 2015. Again, the Pro Bowl is so watered down that only families and homers bring those up. Your last name Iupati?
You can post all the articles you want, but the fact is his next game this year is his first game this year, after losing all that weight. If he makes it the rest of the way without getting hurt and is named an All Pro, I'll say I'm wrong, gladly. If he stays nicked up and isn't as effective, you don't have to say a thing. Deal?
I actually think the receivers are coming along nicely. 6"3 Jaron Brown (4.40 40) is really coming into his own, he should of had 3TDs against Dallas , young rookie 6"2 Chad Williams with 4.34 40spd is starting to make plays and get called upon, I think they are going to start moving Larry Fitz around using him on the perimeter a few times a game like they did a few days again where he DOMINATED. We have two good receiving/blocking TE's in 6"5 Jermaine Gresham, 6"7 Troy Niklas and Momah is just a pure pass catcher.
Great news coming out today is that 5"11 explosive burner John Brown (4.33) is now healthy and will be playing in this next game which is BIG because it not only gives AZ another true playmaker but also another vertical/intermediate threat they can pair up with 5"11 JJ Nelson (4.28) who himself has developed into a beast who's just scratching the surface of his potential. Teams won't be able to cover both of them and it will open up everything underneath. Getting a healthy John Brown back is HUGE for Arians offense, especially with how well Palmer is throwing intermediate and deep ball throws.
I hear you though on wanting to add another true young tall all around #1WR like a 6"4 Mike Evans or Julio Jones type. This is Larry's last year most likely and with so much cap space next year or space that will open from guys like Larry not coming I could see Keim signing the best #1WR on the market, possibly drafting one someone in the mid rounds with Chad Williams going into his 2nd season as well. I don't think AZ will draft a WR in round till probably 2019 as I see them taking a QB next year and some O-Linemen both in draft and free agency, but we will definitely be adding two big/fast WRs over the next few years.
I am 100% with you on Veldheer buddy, but now that Arizona is actually starting to GET FREAKING HEALTHY I think the O-Line play will be better. AZ will get starting LT DJ Humphries & LG Mike Iupati back healthy which will really solidify the left and lock down Palmer's blind side. Shipley is a good solid Center, RG Evan Boehm is young & learning still. When he's on he plays solid to very well but its the mental errors 1-2 a game that are killers, he needs to clean those up. I think he will develop into a really solid reliable RG though.
Big 6"8 Jared Veldheer needs to step his game wayyyy up or sit down, that simple. Veldheer at LT was one of the top 10 best OT's in the NFL every year for 5-6yrs, he is a VERY Prideful guy who hates getting Palmer hit, I really believe he will fix his hand technique and play better this weekend from here on out. Though if he doesn't, Arizona needs to bench him and plug in John Wetzel at RT. 6"7/328pd John Wetzel is a very powerful man who excels in the run game who could easily hold it down and play a lllllooooooooot better at RT. At LT Wetzel was one of the best LTs in the NFL in WK2 ranking 4th and WK 3 he ranked 8th via Pro Football Focus. If he gives up an early sack just plug Wetzel in at RT, because he would be a whollleeee lot better at this point.
With everyone coming back healthy I think the line play is going to be a lot better this week than it was on Monday. Another HUGE GET is Arizona's blazing fast super explosive vertical deep threat 5"11 John Brown is healthy again with his world class speed and skills. JJ Nelson has developed into a lethal top notch deep threat/wide receiver with 4.28spd as well giving the offense two legit burners to stretch the field and open things up, thats HUGE having both of those guys healthy and available especially against a piss poor 49ers pass defense. Big 6"3 Jaron Brown with 4.40spd is starting to get hot and is playing very well right now as well, Larry Fitzgerald is playing out of his mind and its said the team want to use him on the perimeter again a lot more, tall rookie WR Chad Williams (4.34) is also coming along Nicely with a few solid receiving TE's and Ellington as a scat back.
A healthy John Brown back in action REALLY opens up this offense especially because you also need to worry about JJ Nelson who is a great wide receiver himself as well as the intermediate/underneath options like Jaron Brown, Larry Fitz, Jermaine Gresham, etc etc. Hopefully Smoke stays healthy because paired with JJ Nelson those two make this offense extremely dangerous downfield.