East coast has not been kind to the Cardinals
Sep 16, 2011, 7:37 PM | Updated: Sep 18, 2011, 1:11 am
The Arizona Cardinals travel to the nation’s capital
Sunday to face the Redskins, but there’s one obstacle the
team must overcome if it’s expecting to leave with a win.
The east coast.
Including the 2008 season the Cardinals have gone 5-9 when
playing back east, a stretch including some blowout
losses, including what is probably the worst football game
played last season, a 19-12 loss in Carolina to the
Panthers.
Since the east coast has been less than pleasant for the
Cardinals, head coach Ken Whisenhunt knows that the game
won’t be an easy win.
“It’s tough, you know I’m not going to sit here and say
it’s not tough — it is tough,” Whisenhunt said. “This is
an east coast trip which has historically been difficult
for a lot of teams in the west. We are going to stay true
to the way we’ve been preparing for it and we’ll see how
we play on Sunday.”
When it comes to traveling, Whisenhunt’s biggest concern
may be with the Cardinals’ youth as a team.
“This is our first time with this team doing that,”
Whisenhunt said about traveling east. “We’ve got a lot of
young guys so you don’t know how it’s going to respond in
that environment.”
Whisenhunt is confident that the way the team prepares
will give the team the “best chance to play well.”
The coach knows his team will face a hostile environment
as the Redskins are coming off a 28-14 win against
division rival New York.
“This is a tough team,” Whisenhunt said. “They’ve got a
win at home so their fans will be behind them.”
As tough as this game may be, Whisenhunt knows his team
will have to learn how to win on the east coast sooner or
later.
“You got to learn how to go in and play well in these
situations,” Whisenhunt said. “It’ll be a great
opportunity for us.”
