zn wrote:

wv wrote:

Our guys make stupid penalties

Last year the 6 most penalized teams were

Seattle
Buffalo
St. Louis
Denver
Washington
New England

Yeah, its not the penalties ‘per se’ but if a team
doesnt have a passing-game, and doesn’t have Denver’s Defense,
then penalties are gonna be a problem.

I mean lets face it, Third and Six, is catastrophic
for the Ram Offense. Third and ten or Third and Fifteen
is…..what’s a word beyond catastrophic ?

w
v

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nfl/cardinals/2016/04/30/bickley-cardinals-taking-risks-road-super-bowl/83759600/
…Character matters in football, where great teams are built with good people, on the foundation of trust, sacrifice and discipline.

It’s easy to get lost in the pursuit of a championship.

Like it or not, the Cardinals have officially entered this murky realm. To fortify their defensive line and bolster an anemic pass rush, they have traded for Chandler Jones and drafted Robert Nkemdiche. Both are significant additions, pushing the Cardinals closer to the finish line. Both have made favorable first impressions in Arizona, smiling bright and saying all the right things.

Both have been the subject of bizarre police reports in the past 4½ months.
Jones was shirtless on a Sunday morning in January when he wandered into the back of a Foxboro, Mass., police station. He got down on his knees and put his hands behind his head, as if voluntarily surrendering. It was later reported that he suffered a bad reaction to synthetic marijuana.

BICKLEY: Cardinals hope risk nets reward

Jones called it a mistake.

Nkemdiche was bleeding on Georgia concrete last December after jumping 15 feet from the window of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Atlanta. A 911 caller said that Nkemdiche was more delirious than coherent, and police found seven rolled marijuana cigarettes in a room registered in his name. He was arrested and admitted only to being “drunk.”

Shortly after joining the Cardinals, Nkemdiche called the incident a mistake. And this is where the intersection of perception and reality veers into a dirt road.

Start with the shifting societal view of marijuana. It’s legal in a handful of states and currently prescribed by doctors as pain medication. And here’s a news flash: Football players experience a lot of pain.

Stigmatizing the drug is hypocritical and short-sighted in a league that breaks bodies, a league that often leads players down the rabbit hole of much stronger and highly-addictive prescription drugs. It also encourages the use of synthetic marijuana, which has led to some cases of extremely erratic behavior but remains untested by the NFL’s drug panel.

MORE: Download our Cardinals XTRA app iOS | Android

In 10 years, we might look back and view marijuana offenders a little differently.

To reiterate, Nkemdiche denied any drug use. But to the caretakers of a football team, cases like this are never about the drugs. They’re about the decision-making process.

Jones’ incident occurred six days before the Patriots played the Chiefs in the 2016 playoffs. Nkemdiche jumped out of a window less than three weeks before his team’s appearance in the Sugar Bowl, for which he was suspended. He fell all the way to the 29th pick in the NFL draft, where teams fretted about his character, his unconventional personality and the influence of an older brother who has also shown up in police reports.
This is such a slippery slope. None of us want to be defined by our worst day, our lowest moment. In the age of social media, professional athletes don’t get that luxury. And when asked, here’s how Nkemdiche described himself:

“You’re getting a great person first. I feel like that’s important. Secondly, you’re getting an amazing player who is going to give it his all on the field, who is going to be an asset to the locker room, be an asset to the community and who is going to help people around him better themselves. I bring charisma, I bring energy, I bring effort. I’m going to bring everything a coach is looking for in a player. I’m going to fulfill the best me possible. I had an incident. I had a mistake. It was scrutinized largely because that’s what they do in the draft process …”

BOIVIN: On Nkemdiche and ‘character issues’

At this point, I interrupted Nkemdiche, reminding him that he jumped out of a window. He smiled sheepishly.

“That didn’t help my case,” he said. “I had some explaining to do.”

For the record, I love both acquisitions. The Cardinals have addressed their most pressing needs. Conceptually, they are pouring everything into the present, doing everything necessary to grab the trophy in the upcoming season.

They are also highly qualified to handle a diversity of personalities. There are clear standards and lines of authority. There is great veteran leadership all over the locker room, starting with Larry Fitzgerald, Carson Palmer and Patrick Peterson.

The Cardinals have also made it a point to fill their roster with players that served as team captains in college. And they benefit tremendously from the reformation of Tyrann Mathieu, the poster boy for second chances, a player that allows the Cardinals to take some personnel risks, and a player who has already had conversations with Nkemdiche.

MORE: Cardinals believe last four picks can contribute

There is also a lot on the line.

By NFL standards, the Cardinals enjoy a wholesome image in the community. Their likeability factor is off the charts, leading to sellout crowds and huge merchandise sales. The Valley has turned red with replica jerseys. The Cardinals brand has become very valuable.

Furthermore, team President Michael Bidwill is a rising player in the NFL boardrooms, and he chairs the committee that oversees the new personal conduct policy. His football team must remain an example, a shining light. That’s why Bidwill personally flew to Los Angeles to interview Nkemdiche earlier this week, before he would sign off on his team’s draft board.

The Cardinals take this stuff very seriously.

“It essentially is a checks and balances system, where players are graded from an A to F on personal character and graded from A to F on football character,” Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim said before the draft. “So, there may be players who have had some issues in the past. Off the field, a lot of these college kids make mistakes, and it’s a great balance to understand, ‘OK, he’s made some mistakes, but his football character is tremendous. He’s been a hard worker. He’s got great intangibles. He’s a great teammate.’

“So if we’re willing to take a risk, it’s going to be a risk on a guy who has great football character.”

Lately, the Cardinals have taken some risks. Maybe they’re real, maybe they’re just perceived and maybe they’re overblown. Head coach Bruce Arians doesn’t seem a bit concerned, saying “the culture of our locker room speaks for itself.” Translation: the Cardinals are ideally situated to absorb some rough edges in the name of talent.

Let’s hope he’s right, for history proves something else about the NFL:

One too many knuckleheads can stain a brand and ruin a good thing.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Follow him at twitter.com/danbickley. Listen to “Bickley and Marotta,” weekdays from 12-2 p.m. on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM….
—————-

I notice the 49ers also took a guard
in the first round.

The Aaron Donald Effect.

Cards are cocky. They didnt take
an inside lineman till the fourth round.

They will pay.
w
v

Agamemnon wrote:

Three offensive players in a row.
When’s the last time Fisher did that?

w
v

last year, seven in a row, starting with Gurley.

Damn. I forgot last year. Sometimes i forget little
things like ‘last year.’

But ok, when’s the last time Fisher drafted three offensive
skill players in a row? Ha. I’m a moving target.

w
v