Arizona Cardinals’ DC Horton: Rodgers presents a challenge
Nov 3, 2012, 9:14 PM | Updated: 9:14 pm
The Cardinals hit the road this weekend to face the Packers in Green Bay on Sunday. The past four weeks have been challenging and this week won’t get any easier when the defense has to plan for one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Aaron Rodgers.
Defensive coordinator Ray Horton was asked about what makes Rodgers so good but he thinks that’s too long of a list to go through.
“Ok, an easier answer is what doesn’t he do well and I could say nothing and stop there.”
Horton emphasized that in his opinion, Rodgers is the best young quarterback in the game and there isn’t much Rodgers can’t do.
“He does everything extremely well,” Horton said. “He’s mobile, he’s accurate, he’s got a strong arm, he’s a leader, he understands how to get tempo, flow, the touch on the back-shoulder fade. He doesn’t do anything wrong or bad.”
Rodgers currently ranks second in the league with a passer rating of 107.9, only behind Peyton Manning for the Denver Broncos. Rodgers has thrown 21 touchdowns this year and just four interceptions.
The Packers like to put the ball in the air and they do it often. They’re seventh in the league in team passing offense, averaging 255 yards per game.
“They like to throw the ball everywhere. They throw the ball, that’s what they do,” Horton said. “They’ve got the MVP of the league a year ago. It’s not just a prospect of whether they’re going to throw the ball some, they throw the ball a lot. We expect them to put the ball in number 12’s hand and be ready for that.”
Kerry Rhodes, Adrian Wilson, Patrick Peterson, William Gay and maybe Greg Toler if he’s healthy, will be busy but it’s not just on the players to perform.
Horton feels he has a huge responsibility to put his guys in a position to succeed.
“When you watch all their films, you can’t be one dimensional,” Horton said. “I’ve got to do a great job of calling a great game to help the guys keep Aaron Rodgers off balance.”
The last time these two teams met in a game that had some significance was January 10th, 2010 in the playoffs. The Cardinals came away with a 51-45 win but Aaron Rodgers threw for 423 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in the loss. That game was well before Horton’s time here in Arizona but he’s hoping to replicate the end result on Sunday.
