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http://www.azcentral.com/sports/columns/articles/0926bickley0926.html
Green's reckless ego has wrecked offense
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 26, 2005 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SEATTLE
His ego was a beast, and now the beast is dead.
Dennis Green has been trumped, thumped and drop-kicked into last place. And if a humbled coach can't perform CPR on his fractured football team, the Cardinals will struggle to win a game in 2005. [/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
"You can't go any lower (than this)," Larry Fitzgerald said.
Obviously, the kid hasn't paid much attention to the history of this franchise.
Three weeks into the season, the Cardinals have lost to the Giants, the Rams and the Seahawks. Those are just the details. The real opponent has been Green's reckless arrogance.
He dispatched two of his best offensive linemen out of sheer spite, believing he could coach up inferior replacements. That has failed miserably, and undermined the entire season.
He believed he could start two rookies - Elton Brown and J.J. Arrington - just because he plucked them out of college. Brown was benched on Sunday, and Arrington started only so Green wouldn't be forced to admit his error.
When he should've examined the failure of the previous regime - Dave McGinnis employed successive offensive coordinators that had never before called an NFL play - Green repeated that egregious error, and nothing should embarrass the Cardinals brass more than this:
Their past four offensive coordinators (Rich Olson, Jerry Sullivan, Alex Wood and Keith Rowen) were all rookie play callers. That's like the FAA hiring kids to man the control tower after a plane has crashed.
Given all these cracks in the foundation, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the Cardinals called a wretched pass play on third and 1 when the game was still a game. Or that Marcel Shipp disappeared from the offense after a fabulous start against the Seahawks, not touching the ball for more than 17 minutes. Or that the game got away from the Cardinals as soon as the offense got out of balance.
But given Green's track record of zero tolerance and eight playoff appearances, the nosedive of this football team is stunning.
"I'm just surprised that I'm not doing a better damn job," Green said, banging his left hand on the podium.
Then, later:
"I don't think there is anybody that is more angry or disappointed than me. It would be absolutely impossible."
Good to see that Green has finally checked the scoreboard and the mirror.
This has truly been a disastrous start. Through three games, the Cardinals have 16 more penalties than their opponent and their 12 on Sunday didn't include the four the Seahawks declined. Most of them have been called on the offensive line, which isn't even functioning at a professional level, making quarterbacks in Arizona eligible for hazard pay.
Poor Kurt Warner couldn't last a month with this group. While he injured his groin on a play without contact, let it be known that he was scrambling for his life yet again. Meanwhile, their highly touted defense has been less than stellar. They are strangely soft in the middle and somehow left their pass rush back in the exhibition season.
Sadly, the only close game this team has played occurred because another megalomaniac - Rams coach Mike Martz - quit handing the ball to running back Steven Jackson.
"The thing I don't understand is, we've played seven games now going back to the exhibition season, and you would think we'd have an identity by now," fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo said. "I'm not sure we have one."
It's going to take a really good coach to get the Cardinals out of this mess, and Green used to qualify. His record in Minnesota did not happen by accident, although his stable of assistants back then was far superior to his current support group of cronies.
Whatever, the Cardinals are moving backward when they should be moving forward. Instead of building momentum and a season-ticket base in Glendale, they are making people wonder why they voted for that stadium in the first place. And now comes a date in Mexico City, a goodwill trip at the expense of a home game that now seems like yet another botched decision.
So, a brief memo to the Cardinals:
Pack a little more resolve, and leave a couple scouts behind for the big game at Sun Devil Stadium. The way things are going, you'll soon have your choice between Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.
[/font]
Green's reckless ego has wrecked offense
Dan Bickley
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 26, 2005 12:00 AM
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]SEATTLE
His ego was a beast, and now the beast is dead.
Dennis Green has been trumped, thumped and drop-kicked into last place. And if a humbled coach can't perform CPR on his fractured football team, the Cardinals will struggle to win a game in 2005. [/font]
[font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
"You can't go any lower (than this)," Larry Fitzgerald said.
Obviously, the kid hasn't paid much attention to the history of this franchise.
Three weeks into the season, the Cardinals have lost to the Giants, the Rams and the Seahawks. Those are just the details. The real opponent has been Green's reckless arrogance.
He dispatched two of his best offensive linemen out of sheer spite, believing he could coach up inferior replacements. That has failed miserably, and undermined the entire season.
He believed he could start two rookies - Elton Brown and J.J. Arrington - just because he plucked them out of college. Brown was benched on Sunday, and Arrington started only so Green wouldn't be forced to admit his error.
When he should've examined the failure of the previous regime - Dave McGinnis employed successive offensive coordinators that had never before called an NFL play - Green repeated that egregious error, and nothing should embarrass the Cardinals brass more than this:
Their past four offensive coordinators (Rich Olson, Jerry Sullivan, Alex Wood and Keith Rowen) were all rookie play callers. That's like the FAA hiring kids to man the control tower after a plane has crashed.
Given all these cracks in the foundation, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that the Cardinals called a wretched pass play on third and 1 when the game was still a game. Or that Marcel Shipp disappeared from the offense after a fabulous start against the Seahawks, not touching the ball for more than 17 minutes. Or that the game got away from the Cardinals as soon as the offense got out of balance.
But given Green's track record of zero tolerance and eight playoff appearances, the nosedive of this football team is stunning.
"I'm just surprised that I'm not doing a better damn job," Green said, banging his left hand on the podium.
Then, later:
"I don't think there is anybody that is more angry or disappointed than me. It would be absolutely impossible."
Good to see that Green has finally checked the scoreboard and the mirror.
This has truly been a disastrous start. Through three games, the Cardinals have 16 more penalties than their opponent and their 12 on Sunday didn't include the four the Seahawks declined. Most of them have been called on the offensive line, which isn't even functioning at a professional level, making quarterbacks in Arizona eligible for hazard pay.
Poor Kurt Warner couldn't last a month with this group. While he injured his groin on a play without contact, let it be known that he was scrambling for his life yet again. Meanwhile, their highly touted defense has been less than stellar. They are strangely soft in the middle and somehow left their pass rush back in the exhibition season.
Sadly, the only close game this team has played occurred because another megalomaniac - Rams coach Mike Martz - quit handing the ball to running back Steven Jackson.
"The thing I don't understand is, we've played seven games now going back to the exhibition season, and you would think we'd have an identity by now," fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo said. "I'm not sure we have one."
It's going to take a really good coach to get the Cardinals out of this mess, and Green used to qualify. His record in Minnesota did not happen by accident, although his stable of assistants back then was far superior to his current support group of cronies.
Whatever, the Cardinals are moving backward when they should be moving forward. Instead of building momentum and a season-ticket base in Glendale, they are making people wonder why they voted for that stadium in the first place. And now comes a date in Mexico City, a goodwill trip at the expense of a home game that now seems like yet another botched decision.
So, a brief memo to the Cardinals:
Pack a little more resolve, and leave a couple scouts behind for the big game at Sun Devil Stadium. The way things are going, you'll soon have your choice between Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush.
[/font]
