Cards o-line could face Long afternoon

The Arizona Cardinals have allowed 24 quarterback sacks in
their first seven games this season, a mark that’s the
5th-
worst in the league.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb has been bludgeoned on a weekly
basis, and now his status for Sunday’s game against St.
Louis is in doubt with a case of turf toe he suffered
early in last Sunday’s loss to Baltimore.

One interesting note on the Cardinals’ pass blocking woes;
they’ve faced an elite pass rusher in each of their seven
games. Another interesting/troubling note; every single
one
of those elite pass rushers has registered at least one
sack.

In week one, it was Carolina’s Charles Johnson (1 sack).
Then it was Washington’s Brian Orakpo and Seattle’s Chris
Clemons (each 1 sack). Osi Umenyiora of the Giants,
Minnesota’s Jared Allen and LaMarr Woodley of Pittsburgh
each dropped the passer twice. And of course, we saw
Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs wreak havoc in the Arizona
backfield, sacking Kolb once in addition to his plethora
of disruptive defensive plays.

On Monday, head coach Ken Whisenhunt hinted at changes on
the offensive line for this week’s game against the St.
Louis Rams.

“We gave up too many sacks, that’s a problem, that’s
something we’ve got to address,” Whisenhunt said.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, no matter who
lines up in front of the Cardinals’ quarterback on Sunday
there’s another disruptive pass rusher on his way to town,
St. Louis defensive end Chris Long.

Long, the four-year veteran who was the 2nd overall pick
in the 2008 NFL Draft, has six sacks on the year and is
coming off a 3-sack performance in the Rams’ improbable
31-21 win over New Orleans.

And considering the way the elite pass rushers have fared
against the Cardinals, it’s also bad news Arizona still
has to face Philadelphia’s Jason Babin and Cullen Jenkins,
San Francisco’s Aldon Smith (twice) and Dallas’ DeMarcus
Ware, who all currently rank in the top six in sacks in
the NFC.

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