09-05-2021 Ravens Preview - Flipbook - Page 42
NFL2021
ARIZONA
42
CARDINALS
COACH
Kliff Kingsbury (3rd season with team, 13-18-1)
LAST SEASON
8-8 (3rd in NFC West; no playoffs)
Record since 2011: 78-80-2 (1-2 in playoffs)
2020 TEAM STATISTICAL LEAGUE RANKINGS
2020 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICAL LEADERS
SCORING OFFENSE
13th of 32 (25.6 ppg)
RUSHING
Kenyan Drake: 239 carries, 955 yards, 10 TDs, 63.7 ypg
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
SCORING DEFENSE
12th of 32 (22.9 ppg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
RUSHING OFFENSE
7th of 32 (139.8 ypg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
PASSING OFFENSE
17th of 32 (244.8 ypg)
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
PASSING
Kyler Murray: 375-558, 3,971 yards, 26 TDs, 12 ints, 299.4 ypg
SCORING
Zane Gonzalez: 86 points (16 FGs, 38 PAT, 7.2 ppg)
Stats from pro-football-reference.com
Rookie to leader
Cards hand over defense to 2nd-year LB Simmons
By David Brandt
Associated Press
I
saiah Simmons was a can’t-miss prospect
when the Arizona Cardinals selected
him with the No. 8 overall pick in last
year’s draft. Pundits said he was a perfect
prototype for the do-everything defensive
player that NFL teams craved.
Then something unexpected happened
during Simmons’ rookie season.
He struggled.
But coach Kliff Kingsbury isn’t down
on the second-year linebacker, who was
one of the college game’s biggest stars at
Clemson. He said Simmons navigated the
pandemic-altered season as well as could be
expected, especially since the Cardinals had
him trying to learn multiple positions while
often staring at a Zoom screen.
“It wasn’t fair, honestly,” Kingsbury said.
“You saw his progression throughout the
season. He had a good offseason, he’s had a
good training camp. He’s learning every day.”
Kingsbury is so confident in the linebacker’s ability that he and Cardinals GM
Steve Keim made the surprising decision to
anoint Simmons and rookie Zaven Collins
as the starting linebackers in the middle of
the defense, even before camp competition
started.
The bold move comes as Arizona is trying
to win now. The franchise hopes to take
advantage of third-year quarterback Kyler
Murray’s reasonably cheap rookie contract
and added star veterans including defensive
lineman J.J. Watt, receiver A.J. Green, center
Rodney Hudson and cornerback Malcolm
Butler during the offseason.
Simmons said he wasn’t surprised the
Cardinals gave him so much responsibility
so soon.
“I figured that I was going to have to step
into the role of commanding things, and
things eventually being mine,” Simmons
said. “From the day I got drafted, they
already told me that: Eventually this defense
was going to mine.”
The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Simmons had a
slow start to his career while trying to learn
in strange circumstances.
Strangely enough, both the low and high
points of his season might have come in
Week 7. He played a season-low 6% of the
team’s defensive snaps against the Seattle
Seahawks, but was unexpectedly called into
action during overtime.
Then he came up with an interception
that helped secure a 37-34 win.
Simmons said he’d love to say the play
happened because he suddenly was an
expert at studying opponents’ tendencies.
Instead, he credited the Cardinals’ coaches
for making an adjustment the previous week.
“Really, it was that we put in a package that
was new,” Simmons said. “It’s really tough
on the quarterback. You never know who’s
coming, who’s dropping. I guess (Russell
Wilson) just read it wrong. Or I made the
better play.”
Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray throws prior to a preseason game against the Chiefs on
Aug. 20 in Glendale, Ariz. ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP
2021 SCHEDULE WEEK 12 BYE
WEEK 1
Sept. 12
WEEK 2
Sept. 19
WEEK 3
Sept. 26
@TEN
1 p.m.
CBS
MIN
4:05 p.m.
FOX
@JAX
1 p.m.
FOX
WEEK 4
Oct. 3
WEEK 5
Oct. 10
WEEK 6
Oct. 17
WEEK 7
Oct. 24
WEEK 8
Oct. 28
WEEK 9
Nov. 7
WEEK 10
Nov. 14
WEEK 11
Nov. 21
SF
@CLE
HOU
GB
@SF
CAR
@SEA
@LAR
4:05 p.m. 4:25 p.m. 4:05 p.m. 4:25 p.m. 8:20 p.m. 4:25 p.m. 4:05 p.m. 4:25 p.m.
FOX
FOX
FOX
FOX
FOX
CBS
FOX
FOX
WEEK 13
Dec. 5
WEEK 14
Dec. 13
WEEK 15
Dec. 19
WEEK 16
Dec. 25
WEEK 17
Jan. 2
WEEK 18
Jan. 9
@CHI
1 p.m.
FOX
LAR
8:15 p.m.
ESPN
@DET
1 p.m.
FOX
@IND
8:15 p.m.
NFL
@DAL
1 p.m.
FOX
SEA
4:25 p.m.
FOX
Note: This section was printed before final roster cuts, so personnel are subject to change; all times are Eastern and subject to change