Rookies Johnson and Golden are prepared for postseason debuts

TEMPE, Ariz. — For all intents and purposes, the Arizona Cardinals actually have a roster filled with playoff experience.

Many of the team’s players were around last season, when Arizona lost to the Carolina Panthers in the Wild Card round, and some who weren’t — such as Dwight Freeney, Mike Iupati and Sean Weatherspoon — have experience from postseasons spent with other teams.

Freeney and Iupati, actually, have gone as far as the Super Bowl, with the former earning a championship ring with the Indianapolis Colts.

Whether or not experience is a real necessity for a deep postseason run can be debated by many. In some ways, it makes sense that players would benefit from the knowledge that comes from first-hand experience, though at the same time, plenty of postseason newbies have stepped up and played well.

One need only see Larry Fitzgerald, who caught six passes for 101 yards and one touchdown in his first playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons in 2008 — an effort that was the first in a historic run that saw him catch 30 passes for 546 yards and seven touchdowns in four playoff matchups.

So while playoff experience is a nice thing to have and provides a wonderful narrative, it’s not necessarily a requirement for success in the win-or-go-home portion of the NFL schedule.

And in the case of running back David Johnson and linebacker Markus Golden, it’s something they simply do not have.

According to head coach Bruce Arians, it’s also something that is not a problem.

“There’s a bunch of guys that it’s their first playoff game,” he said. “But they’re not rookies anymore — they’ve got 17 weeks under the season.”

Over the course of this past season, Johnson carried the ball 125 times for 581 yards and eight touchdowns while catching 36 passes for 457 yards and four scores. Golden, meanwhile, notched 37 total tackles to go along with four sacks, a team-best 16 QB pressures and 14 QB hits.

While those numbers won’t help the Cardinals earn a win Saturday, the fact that each player has already experienced success in the NFL helps alleviate any pressure they might have otherwise felt.

It also helps that the team’s veterans have done a good job explaining what’s in store.

“Carson, all those guys — like I keep saying, all those guys help me out and try to keep me calm, let me know it’s just another game,” Johnson said. “Even though we know how big this game is, he just tries to let me know, ‘Don’t come out too anxious, let the game come to you and play your game.'”

“I get a lot of help from Dwight — Dwight helped me out a lot in just telling me what to expect, what’s coming up” Golden said, adding linebackers coach Bob Sanders has also given him some advice. “So I listened to a lot of people, I’ve got a lot of help. I listen to the guys.

“But at the end of the day you’ve really got to go through it, I feel like. People can tell you so much, but you won’t know how it is until you go through it. So that’s how I always prepare. I’d normally be ready — I’ve worked hard all week; been working hard my whole life, really, to be able to play in the playoffs, so I know I’ll be ready for it when it comes.”

It comes Saturday.

Johnson will be the team’s feature back, receiving the bulk of the carries in the running game while also providing Palmer another weapon to throw to. It’s a role he’s excelled in over the last handful of games, and one he feels prepared to continue in.

“I’m comfortable in this offense, a lot more confident in my ability to play,” he said. “I just let the game come to me. The first series, I might be a little bit more nervous, but once the game starts going, calming down a lot more, I think I’ll be ready, be good to go.”

Golden, a pass rusher, will see plenty of snaps, too, with his role increasing even more now that fellow linebacker Alex Okafor has been placed on non-football-injury list.

There are some teams who may be a bit worried about having to rely so heavily on first-year players, but not these Cardinals.

“David’s not really your typical rookie,” receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. “He’s not one of those guys that get wide-eyed. In the huddle, you see him, he’s focused in. He’s honed in. He’s confident in his ability. He’s not a guy that you have to kind of get ready. You’ve got to wake David up, almost. He’s very mild mannered in terms of his personality and I think that suits somebody like him really well for a high pressure situation that we’re about to be involved in.”

Johnson said it has been explained to him that the playoffs are more intense than what he’s experienced so far, with the game becoming more physical as every player is more focused and into the game.

As Golden said, it takes playing in the postseason to truly understand what it’s all about, and come Saturday, both he and Johnson will get to check that off the list of things they are hoping to accomplish in their respective careers.

And who knows, maybe there are a couple more games left after this one in their season. That’s the goal, anyway.

“Right now I’m just happy to still be playing football,” Golden said. “Living a childhood dream — you get to play in the playoffs. It’s the playoffs.

“Me, I’m not a guy who’s going to sit here and get all nervous and worry about everything else. It’s another game, it’s another game. Of course it’s playoffs, and I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to help my team win.”

Related

No doubt about it: Kedrick Reescano makes his case in Arizona’s season openerWild Card standings: D-backs jockeying for position with Padres, MarlinsEduardo Rodriguez deals, Nolan Arenado powers Diamondbacks to series win over AstrosGeraldo Perdomo leaves game after being hit in head by line drive from Ketel MarteASU identifies Matthew Mayich as hospitalized hockey player for 1st timeDiamondbacks DFA Max Kepler, recall Adrian Del Castillo