GM Keim: Plenty to be optimistic about on offense for Cardinals

Though clearly disappointed by his team’s loss, Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim thought there were a lot of positives to take away from Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams.

On Arizona Sports 620’s Doug & Wolf Show Monday, Keim said that there were plenty of good performances to build on going forward for the Cardinals, namely the play of new quarterback Carson Palmer.

“I thought Carson did a nice job and it was nice to see a real NFL quarterback out there spinning the rock,” Keim said, referring to last year’s mess at the position.

Keim added that while the offensive line needs to protect Palmer better, starting with left tackle Levi Brown, he thought guard Daryn Colledge, center Lyle Sendlein and right tackle Eric Winston played hard. With Winston in particular, Keim praised how well he battled against Rams defensive end Chris Long, one of the best in the league at his position.

“The thing about Eric Winston, not everything he does may be pretty, but he’s a guy that’s just savvy and understands how to get things done,” Keim said.

Another standout on offense for the Cardinals was wide receiver Andre Roberts, who had a great day with eight receptions for 97 yards.

“(Roberts) made some clutch catches in some contested situations,” Keim said. “It was nice to see him come through (Sunday) and really put it all together.”

Other players that Keim felt good about were wide receiver Michael Floyd and running back Rashard Mendenhall, who Keim thinks can be the team’s answer at the position going forward.

“I think Rashard Mendenhall with his ability to break tackles, his foot speed and his elusiveness, I think he’ll do some good things for us this year,” Keim said.

He wasn’t entirely satisfied with the team’s defensive performance though, pointing to blown coverages and missed tackles and stressing they were going to be working on fixing that before their next game this Sunday against the Detroit Lions.

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