The Arizona Cardinals are in a situation right now where they can right this ship and stop a two-game losing skid, or fall further down the standings in the NFC West Division with another loss.
The good
news is that they play arguably the worst team in the NFL in the Tennessee Titans, this weekend at home in the Sunday afternoon game. The bad news? This is the NFL, and every team can take an easy victory away from any club any week, regardless of record.
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The Titans are 0-4-0 and have scored the least amount of points in the league with 51. At 12.75 points a game average, any ballclub that can’t put up points isn’t going to be on the “W” side for many contests.
And it gets worse for the Cardinals next opponent.
Tennessee has the second-worst passing yards gained (614) and ranked #31 in passing plays that convert into a first down (29). Plus, their offense is ranked dead last in four categories: completion percentage (51.2%), completions (64), touchdown passes (2), and average yards passing per attempt (4.9). They have allowed the second most sacks with 17.
Nobody knows just how bad this Titans offense is more so than their own field general: Cam Ward. Well, maybe he is just a first lieutenant at this stage of the rookie’s NFL life.
Ward recently interviewed with the Tennessee media and had quite a few things to air out. He was candid and did not hold back answering questions.
When asked about his offensive unit, he stated, “We ass.”
Q: This past weekend, how do you think you played personally?
Ward: Ass.
Q: Anything that went particularly wrong for you?
Ward: Getting stuck past the 50, interception, incompletions, penalties, not helping the defense out, just not good enough to win.
In the last game, Ward’s entire family was in attendance. The Titans were blasted on the road 26-0 by the 0-3-0 Houston Texans. Ward grew up in West Columbia, Texas, just a short drive southwest of Houston. Ward had 108 passing yards while the Titans had just 82 rushing yards.
Tennessee’s offensive line is average at best in run blocking, but is putrid in pass protection. Ward will run when pressed, but so far has just nine rushes for 42 yards and no scores. What the Titans want to do is become a passing team, but Ward is not able to get past his second progression before he is either flushed or has to decide to throw the ball into a tight window, or toss it out of bounds and live another play.
Q: What’s not going right for this offense?
Ward: Everything. From an interception that I shouldn’t have thrown, to a penalty, to a bad ball incompletion. And once we get past the 50, we are just not continuing the drive. We keeping a buck right now – we ass. We “0” and four. We have played a quarter of our f-ing games and we’ve yet to do anything. We have to lock in – especially myself. We have not played together this year yet.
Q: Have you challenged your teammates?
Ward: Yeah, we all challenge each other. They challenge me every day. We gotta make it look good in practice and on game days. At some point, we have to help the defense out.
Q: Is this the most frustrating period you can recall going through football-wise?
Ward: I had a lot of frustrations in my past. I just want to win. When was the last time Tennessee won? I don’t know. I’m trying to win. At some point, we have to turn the tide. And it has to start with the games.
On the ESPN show “Get Up” on Tuesday, they indicated Ward might be the worst rookie player in the league.
The Titans coverage begins at the 1:37 mark. Ward’s comment about his offense being ass will follow him throughout his career. He will become known more for being a meme or a conversation “gif” than anything else he will ever accomplish on the field. Whether the statement is true or not, he put it out there, and now any team that sucks, his meme will become the poster child, just like former Indianapolis head coach Jim Mora’s “Playoffs? Playoffs?” rendition.
Ward hasn’t even finished a full season yet. This is just four games. The schedule is long, and a lot of things happen in that time span. He is a very talented quarterback, but we all know that it isn’t just one guy who makes an offense or a defense click. You can’t have one Lawrence Taylor and 10 nobodies.
That may work for basketball with a superstar like Michael Jordan in the lineup, but not in football, where there are 11 guys on the field.
The “Get Up” crew made a good point when they stated that there are more young quarterbacks ruined than developed.
Ward took accountability for his own play and was obviously disappointed at how his team was playing on both sides of the ball. On the podcast “Nightcap,” host Shannon Sharpe stated that Ward was out of line with his “ass” comments, and stated further that as a player, they should not say these things publicly but should be reserved for the locker room.
Add the fact that Ward now must face this Arizona defense, and their pass rush is not going to be a fun day for him. Wait until he meets DT Calais Campbell up close or feels the heat from DE Josh Sweat and LB Akeem Davis-Gaither. Already, the Titans are under pressure on 45% of passing downs. It should become another long day for the rookie.
Hopefully, in Ward’s presser after the Cardinals game, he will be even more disheartened.
Texas Tech grad and Cardinals’ safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson could meet Ward in the offensive backfield, and as he is helping him up, should invite the fellow Texan over for some Texas dry rub ribs and mesquite wood slow-smoked brisket.
Let the rookie get to know some of the fellas up close and personal.
