id=content_id>TEMPE
Terry
Beckner Arizona Cardinals Jersey , Ariz. — Although the Arizona Cardinals
went down to their seventh defeat of the season, there were positive aspects to
their 26-14 loss at Kansas City.David Johnson broke loose for his best game of
the year and the Cardinals defense harassed Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes
better than anyone has all season.Johnson, who had been bottled up through the
first half of the season as part of the worst-ranked offense in the NFL,
accumulated 183 yards from scrimmage — 98 yards rushing (in 21 carries) and 85
yards receiving (on seven catches).Johnson scored both of Arizona’s touchdowns,
on a nine-yard pass from Josh Rosen and a one-yard run.“It felt good,” Johnson
said after the game. “Like I was saying, it made me feel like it was back to …
the 2016 offense. We got some momentum going as an offense running the ball. We
got some good confidence going as well.”It was the second game for Arizona with
Byron Leftwich as offensive coordinator.“I thought it was a great game plan by
the offensive coaches,” coach Steve Wilks said in his weekly Monday news
conference. “I thought Byron did a tremendous job calling the game and getting
into the flow and rhythm of the game. As we all have seen — and you guys have
been here before myself — what David is capable of doing. We saw that with some
hard runs inside the tackles and did some good things getting outside as well as
in the pass game. I thought Byron did a tremendous job in just really trying to
get him the ball.”Johnson has topped 100 yards from scrimmage in each of the
past two games after failing to do so in the first seven of the season.“It means
that we are moving in the right direction,” Wilks said. “It means that we’re
evolving on the offensive side of the ball. We came into this game talking about
trying to steal some possessions and trying to keep those guys off the field. We
did that by sustaining drives — a 14-play drive and starting the third quarter
with a 13-play drive, and they both ending in touchdowns. Where we came up short
was the consistency after that, not being able to get back into the end
zone.”Arizona used up 6:01 in its first touchdown drive and 7:12 in the
second.The Cardinals had the ball down 26-20 and Rosen’s 23-yard pass to Johnson
put the ball on the Arizona 40 early in the fourth quarter. But Rosen’s screen
pass, intended for Johnson, was intercepted by Justin Houston at the Cardinals
35. That led to a Kansas City touchdown. After that, Rosen was battered behind
some shaky pass protection as Arizona was forced to mainly abandon the run.On
defense, poor play in the Arizona secondary led to a quick Kansas City touchdown
on the game’s first possession. But the Cardinals were tough after
that
Cheap
Terry Beckner Jersey , sacking Mahomes five times — two by Chandler Jones.
Mahomes had never been sacked more than twice in a game before Sunday.“I thought
the D-line did a tremendous job of staying in their rush lanes,” Wilks said.
“Coverage-wise, I thought those guys at times when we were able to get to him,
he was holding the ball. So, we did a good job complementing one another. Then
there were times we just pressured him. It was great to be able to get to him
five times. I just wish we could have come up with some takeaways.”The 26 points
were a season low for Kansas City.It might have been about as good as the
Cardinals could have expected on the road against the Chiefs, who improved to
9-1.“There are no moral victories in this game,” Wilks said. “We went to Kansas
City to win a football game, and we came up short. Now, there are a lot of
things we can build off to get better. It was very encouraging, some of the
things you saw on both sides of the ball, as well as in special teams, and
that’s what we are going to continue to try to do.”The Cardinals will find
themselves in the unusual position of being favored on Sunday when they host the
Oakland Raiders.NOTE: Wilks said he hadn’t received the results of an MRI on
right guard Justin Pugh‘s injured knee. Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Tom Kuebel
posted this article on their website yesterday: "The Arizona Cardinals earned
high grades for their decisions during the 2019 NFL Draft by many
publications.B...The Revenge of the Birds podcastAllen or
Winovich?New,11commentsMDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on
TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Allen or
Winovich?TwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailThe Arizona Republic-USA TODAY
NArizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Tom Kuebel posted this article on their website
yesterday: ”The Arizona Cardinals earned high grades for their decisions during
the 2019 NFL Draft by many publications.But as they say; hindsight is
20-20.Trevor Sikkema of The Draft Network mostly echoed public sentiment saying
“there isn’t really much to complain about” with the Cardinals selections, but
he did offer one alternative for the Cardinals third round choice of Boston
College defensive end Zach Allen.Sikkema suggested that Arizona should have gone
with Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich.Sikkema went on to say that he didn’t
believe Allen had any overwhelming tools but that he does a bunch of different
things well.Allen projects as a second string edge rusher in the Cardinals new
3-4 alignment behind Chandler Jones on the depth
chart.”________________________________________________________________________________________________________This
is a very interesting argument. The Cardinals seemed to be trusting the PFF
analytics more this year and Trevor Sikkema likely saw that PFF had a higher
grade on Winovich than Allen. If fact, Winovich was PFF’s 4th highest rated EDGE
player (behind #1 Nick
Bosa
2019 Terry
Beckner Jersey , #2 Josh Allen and #3 Brian Burns) while Allen was their
6th highest rated EDGE player just below #5 Clelin Ferrell and ahead of #7
Montez Sweat, #8 Rashan Gary, #9 Anthony Nelson and #10 L.J. Collier. PFF had
Winovich going to the Ravens at #22 in their 2019 Mock Draft, with Allen going
to the Vikings at #50.When the draft came---there were a number of EDGE
surprises:2. Bosa---SF4. Ferrell---CLE7. J. Allen---JAX16. Burns---CAR26.
Sweat---WAS29. Collier---SEA49. Banogu---IND65. Z. Allen---ARZ68.
Polite---NYJ77. Winovich---NE6 EDGE players taken in the 1st round.Because the
2nd round was so heavy in DBs and WRs, only one edge player was selected and
that was TCU’s Ben Banogu, by the Colts.So---why did the Cardinals pick Zach
Allen over Jachai Polite and Chase Winovich? And why did Winovich slide to #77
as 10th EDGE player taken in the draft?As Sikkema alluded, Zach Allen and Chase
Winovich have very different body types. Allen is thick and powerful, while
Winovich is wiry and fast.Make no mistake about it, however, what both players
have in common is non-stop motors and high volume tackling and QB pressure
production:Very similar career college stats: Winovich: 166 tackles (96 solo),
43 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks.Allen: 199 tackles (93 solo), 40.5 tackles for
loss, 16.6 sacks.The difference for the Cardinals was the inside-outside
versatility that Allen brings to the 34 defense. In a way, drafting Allen was a
2 for 1
move
Terry
Beckner Arizona Cardinals Jersey , because they were able to acquire a
potential starter at 34 DE who can rush from the edge or from the DT position in
the nickel. With Winovich, he would have been a 2 for 1 as a 34 OLB and nickel
DE. But, the Cardinals had a greater need at 34 DE. What’s most surprising is
that Winovich slid to #77. There may have been a red flag or two that no one but
the teams know about. But to see combo OLB/DE EDGE types like Ben Banogu and
Jachai Polite (conduct red flags) go ahead of Winovich by 18 and 9 picks
respectively, that seems odd. When i watched the 2017 Ohio St. vs. Michigan
game, Chase Winovich’s motor and all-out aggressiveness jumped out at me more
than Nick Bosa’s. To be honest, if the Cardinals had drafted Winovich, it would
have felt like such a good consolation prize for missing out on Nick Bosa.
However, I believe that Zach Allen could have a more productive NFL career than
Bosa or Winovich, especially because he was drafted by a 34 team that can move
him around and maximize his versatility. Tom Kuebel ended his article by
stating: “Allen projects as a second string edge rusher in the Cardinals new 3-4
alignment behind Chandler Jones on the depth chart.”If Trevor Sikkema (Draft
Analyst) thinks as Kuebel does that Allen is a 2nd string 34 edge rusher behind
Chandler Jones then no wonder why he thinks Chase Winovich would have been a
better fit for that role.But, as we know, Zach Allen isn’t 2nd string to 34 OLB
Chandler Jones. Zach Allen is in the mix with Rodney Gunter and Darius Philon to
start at 34 DE.And there could times in the nickel where Jones is rushing from
the edge with Allen rushing beside him from the interior. That could be a
powerful “loop” stunt (tackle/end/x = “tex” stunt) combination! And there could
be times when Zach Allen and Chandler Jones are rushing from opposite edges in
the nickel.That’s the point of Zach Allen---it’s his J.J. Watt type
versatility.Plus, recently, Vance Joseph has been raving about LB Dennis
Gardeck, who physically and stylistically is very similar to---you guessed
it---Chase Winovich. Pro Day/Combine numbers:Gardeck: 4.57 40, 31 reps @
225
Black
Christian Kirk Hersey , 36.5: VJ, 126” BJ, 7.35 3CWinovich: 4.59 40, 18
reps @ 225, 30.5: VJ, 116” BJ, 6.94 3CWhat these number suggest---Winovich is a
tad quicker, while Gardeck is just as fast, but more powerful and explosive.
Winovich has a 3” height advantage, but Gardeck more than compensates for that
by having a 6” higher vertical jump.Gardeck has to prove that he can produce at
the NFL level. He certainly did on STs last year. Now he gets his chance to win
valuable playing time on the defense. Winovich seems like a nifty fit in New
England in the Rob Ninkovich role, that is if his slide to #77 was unwarranted
and a mistake by numerous edge needy teams
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