Aside from the need for the Arizona Cardinals to have consistency in their ground game, something that will be even more difficult with running back Jeremiyah Love out for Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams
, the offense will have to figure out a way to counter double coverage on tight end Trey McBride and wide receiver Michael Wilson, a strategy that was employed frequently by the Detroit Lions last Sunday.In that game, with Marvin Harrison Jr. inactive because of the impending trade to the Houston Texans, rookie wide receiver Reggie Virgil was active for the first time this season and played 13 snaps, while Jalen Brooks played 39 snaps after totaling only 13 in the previous four games.
When asked Wednesday how often he was doubled,
McBride said, “A lot. Probably 80 or 90 percent. It was obviously a good game plan. It worked for them and we just got to find a way to beat it and we got to find a way to get other guys open and have other guys make plays.”
Wilson said, “That was probably the first time in my career where I got double-teamed pretty much the whole game. Definitely not fun because it's pretty hard to get open when you're trying to win against two guys. But that tells me Detroit thought highly of me as a player, and I'm sure we'll probably see that more going forward. We just got to put together a plan to get me in situations where I can have more advantageous coverage where I can win.”
Mentioning Brooks and Virgil, who didn’t know until the day before the game that he would be active, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said, “Last week was a unique week for everybody. First, I give them credit for not getting a lot of practice, having to go out there and fill the void. But yeah, they're going to have some opportunities. They're going to have to win on those opportunities.
“But the key is it's about everybody. It's about from the run game to the pass game, everybody getting involved. We just have to keep spreading it around.”
McBride was frustrated enough to have a sideline conversation with quarterback Jacoby Brissett intimating that he was open after a possession in the first half.
Brissett said Wednesday, “It was about the double-team stuff and it’s just like I had to bring the tablet over there to him. I’m like, ‘Look, bro, I don’t know what you want me to tell you. I can’t force that in and put the team in jeopardy.’ He obviously understands that. It's just the competitor in him. He wants to do what he can to help the team win and you love that. But that was all the frustration was.”
McBride acknowledged, “Sometimes out on the field you feel like you're more open than what it really is and that was one of those cases I maybe felt like I was open and then we went and looked at the tablet and I clearly wasn't open and I was dead wrong. I have so much confidence in Jacoby to make the right read and to throw the ball where it needs to go and not force it to me or anybody when that's not the right read.
“So yeah, I was just frustrated because I was getting doubled every play and I want to catch the ball and I don't want to just run and have two guys covering me the whole game. Like, that's not fun, but if that's what they're going to do, it is what it is and we're going to (have to) find ways to get me open and other guys open.”
Hackett said the closest coverage he could recall like what happened Sunday was when the team he was coaching faaced wide receiver Davante Adams.
“I think there was like two to three guys on him the whole time,” Hackett said. “We were working so hard on all these other things that we thought were going to happen and they just said we're going to try to take him away. So, that stuff happens and we just have to keep scheming it, keep teaching guys even how to get open verse double coverage.
“There's a lot of different things you can do from moving them around, making them chase them. You can do all kinds of different concepts, things like that.”
Head coach Mike LaFleur agreed that the solution is all-encompassing.
“There are a lot of factors to it,” he said. Calling the right play at the right time and good timing by the quarterback. Then obviously, the offensive line holding up and receivers running tight routes and staying grounded to the catch. A lot of factors and certainly I wouldn’t say searching for it, but in terms of getting more of those explosives, it’s just executing the play that’s called and doing it to the highest of your ability.”
McBride claimed it’s “exciting” for other players to hopefully take advantage of opportunities, including the other tight ends (Elijah Higgins and Teagan Quitoriano) that “stepped up big” and combined for five caches on five targets for 72 yards and two touchdowns.
McBride said, “I know Kendrick (Bourne), I know Reggie, Jalen, whoever's the other guy, I have full confidence in them to win their one-on-one. So, I hope they continue to do it and I have confidence that these guys will then take over the game and give us a chance to win.
“Tegan had two touchdowns. I thought Reggie had that big play where they put three guys on me. But it was cool to see those guys step up and make big plays when they take me away.”
As for his own production, McBride concluded, “I still had seven, eight catches, whatever I had (actually nine). So, it's not like I didn't get the ball. It's just it was a little harder to get me open.”
That’s not likely to change in the foreseeable future.
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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: Arizona Cardinals adjusting to double coverage for Trey McBride, Michael Wilson
