After their struggles with rookie Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers last Sunday Head coach Ken Wisenhunt referred to his Arizona Cardinals’ defensive miscues as “mental lapses or busts.” This week however they are getting down to the grindstone to get the kinks worked out on D, starting with fixing the communication breakdown:
Defensive Tackle Dan Williams shed some light on the situation after practice on Thursday:
When a play came up [in practice] similar to one of the mistakes we made, we made sure to communicate…there’s just a lot of talking going on…we just need to be accountable for each other.
Doing things right in practice is one thing, but getting it right on Sunday’s is a whole different beast. But the players trust defensive coordinator Ray Horton and his schemes, knowing full well that if they focus on the discipline needed to effectively play defense, success is likely to follow:
“When we execute the defense correctly we should have success,” said LB Clark Haggans, “thats been the emphasis from coach Ray Horton, and we taking that approach all through this week.”
The Cardinals will have to shut down Rex Grossman and the Redskins offense this week, after he threw for four TD’s against the Giants last weekend, which presents a much different challenge than Cam Newton. But if the Cards D can play their game, it shouldn’t come as a surprise than they turn it around in a hurry compared to last week.
For more on the Cards head over to Revenge of the Birds.