Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley talked on Wednesday about the Arizona Cardinals defense. Haley was complimentary of the squad he used to work with. QB Matt Cassel said on Wednesday that Haley remembers the Cards defensive players but, as far as scheme, too much has changed.
Haley described the Cardinals defense as "explosive".
"Defensively, they are an explosive team on defense – as explosive of a team as we’ll see, starting with S Adrian Wilson. He’s a big, physical presence that’s all over the field, a run-and-hit guy that will make big plays.
"DT Darnell Dockett up front, one of the most active inside linemen and one of the best inside lineman, in my opinion.
"Then they have some backers that can rush the quarterback and play the run in Clark Haggans and (Joey) Porter and inside, they’ve got one of the big guys on their team, one of the heart-type individuals in number 54 (LB) Gerald Hayes coming back for them I know is a big thing."
I agree with Haley that this is an explosive defense. They've got a lot of great individual players -- Dockett, Wilson, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. But as a team? The Cardinals are ranked 32 on defense this year. They give up nearly 30 points per game. They're 27th against the pass and 28th against the run.
The Cardinals remind me of GM Scott Pioli's saying that individuals go to Pro Bowls and teams go to championships.