Arizona Cardinals

I'm glad the Cardinals are not allowing their assistants to interview elsewhere. They need to play a little hardball and start winning.

Terrel Owens in Denver? I actually think this would work. Jake Plummer would excel with target like him. Plus, it most likely would only be one year. Also - mock drafts have Denver selecting Derek Hagan in the first round. That would be a good match.

Apparently Davis (RB Houston) is up for trade. He has been injurey prone, but still young and can run well when healthy. He would be worth considering for a trade the the Cardinals, then we would not need to draft Lendale White (who I like a lot)

The Jets now apperently are willing to trade out of the #4 pick. Giving up their chance for D'Brickshaw Ferguson. The Cardinals have never traded up that I can remember, but wouldn't it be nice to get Fergy?

Derek Hagan caught a TD pass in the senior bowl. I still say he should be the #1 WR in the draft. Everybody seems to like the kid from Ohio State first.

The rumor is that we may lose our Linebackers coach and our Runningbacks (big deal) to other teams.

I heard this a few days ago - but the Republic is reporting it now (see below).
It confirms what I said earlier about the quality hire of Loney. Props to the Cardinals for playing a little hardball. I would rather not lose our LB coach, but Kirby Wilson our RB coach would not be a loss. Except that we are looking for consistency. Superbowl contenders: Cowher has been w/ the Steelers 14 years, Homgreen has been w/ the Seahawks 7 years. Even though I am not a DG fan - I still want him around to see what he can do.

Text from AZ republic article:
The Houston Texans reportedly are interested in hiring Cardinals linebackers coach Frank Bush as co-defensive coordinator, but have yet to ask the Cardinals for permission to talk to Bush.

Bush, who has coached two seasons in Arizona, recently signed a new contract with the Cardinals, and the Texans would have to have the Cardinals' permission to interview and hire Bush.

It's unclear whether the Cardinals would grant it, even though it would mean a promotion for Bush. Last week, the Cardinals denied the Rams' request to hire new offensive line coach Steve Loney, a close friend of Rams new coach Scott Linehan.

Texans coach Gary Kubiak would like to hire Bush and Richard Smith, the Dolphins co-defensive coordinator last season, as co-defensive coordinators.
Bush coached with Kubiak in Denver for nine seasons (1995-2003) before coming to the Cardinals. Bush also played, scouted and coached for the Houston Oilers.
In other news, a Phoenix radio station, KGME-AM (910), reported Wednesday that Cardinals running backs coach Kirby Wilson is scheduled to interview with New Orleans.

It's not known whether Wilson was interviewing for a coordinator's position.

Pittsburgh is the hot team. A team of destiny. I say, do not discount the Seahawks. Theyhave what it takes to win - running game, good defense.

Everyone is jumping all over Jake Plummer. I am not going to make a ton of excuses for him, but think about this: he had the flu all week, Pittsburgh's defense was in his face all day, they made Peyton Manning look bad, and they disrupted Jake Plummer. Jake Delhomme was much worse. So everyone wants to say that Jake and Peyton can't win big games, but last I checked the roster had 55 other active players.

I am not ready to pick a SB winner yet - but I am leaning towards Seattle. Besides, it will give Dennis Green a good excuse next year. "Well - we had two losses to the world champs"

Let's look at where the Cardinals improved and where they regressed.

Defense - officially ended up statistically higher than 2004. I't hard to say they really got better, but they did start to figure out their schemes towards the end and I think it confused some teams. They still need a consistent rush from their front four, but I expect improvement next year. Linebackers - Orlando Huff was a downgrade from Ronald McKinnon. James Darling has a ton of heart, Karlos Dansby had a great year, and we still do not know what to expect from Gerald Hayes.

Our safeties were worse. Adrian Wilson had a good year towards the end when they basically lined him up as a linbacker and blitzed - but as far as a true safety - he is not. Robert Griffin suprised me a bit, but still slow - I think Ohalete was better last year.

Corners - too many injuries to evaluate, but Rolle looks like the real deal. Eric Green was burned a lot, but I see some things in him and will turn into a solid corner. (He was better than Pac man Jones!) Macklin is inconsistant - but a decent corner nonetheless.

Offense - yardage wise, much improved over last year, but could not score points. They ended up the number one passing offense. 2 receivers over 1400 yards is simply amazing. It can be argued that even with the huge numbers, it isn't a big improvment, except that Fitz did improve. Anquan is still the better receiver. We had way too many passing attempts.

Run - obviously a regression. No one really faults the RB's, but think about this - Emmit Smith ran behind basically the same line, and he was able to put together 950+ yards and a few 100 yard games. Sometimes, it was just the coaching not staying committed.

TE - they were a big improvement. We still couldn't get much blocking out of them, but Bergen was pretty solid for a rookie. Should be a good year next year.

Enough said about the line. It would be great to find a starting left tackle. move Leonard back to right guard, Lecky at center with Reggie Wells at Left guard. If healthy - that line could produce.

The team has hired Steve Loney as offensive line coach.
The team has hired Larry Brooks as defensive line coach.
The team has hired Gary Zauner as special teams coordinator

You never really know for sure what you get in assistant coaches until they are there for a while - but one thing is for sure. The coaches that were released needed to go! I like the fact that these coaches hired all have experience and experience working for Green. One of the things that I said when Green was hired was that even if he can't coach - he should be able to bring in top quality assistant coaches and free agents. His first initial hires for his staff were a bunch of guys that were inexperienced and new to the position and and new to Green. Green is quirky, and I think it helps to have someone who knows him work under him.

I also like that the Cardinals did not wait around to hire - with all the changes in the NFL, it was important to hire fast to get the cream of the crop. There may be others out there better, but I think these guys will fit it with our organization better.

Interesting tidbit - Steve Loney coached Oliver Ross in college. (In college, Ross converted from a defensive lineman)

I apologize for not updating in three weeks, but will soon update on the draft, the season stats and where the Redbirds are headed. I am also going to change the format.

Bottom line - even though we had a worse season, there is a chance to add just a few key players and make the playoffs next year. But if you look at all categories right now - we regressed - but I'll explain later.