|
Arizona Cardinals By: Lester The Arizona Cardinals 1998 season was one for the Cardinals fans and players to enjoy and be happy about despite the team finishing second in the NFC East with a 9-7 record. They finished the season at 10-8. This season was the first time they made post season play since the strike-shortened season of 1982. What made the season even better was the fact that the Cardinals won only their second playoff game in franchise history. This year's playoff victory was over the Dallas Cowboys after the Cowboys beat them twice during the regular season. The last playoff victory the franchise had was 51 years ago in the 1947 NFL Championship game when they were called the Chicago Cardinals. The 1998 playoff victory was short lived because the following week, they lost by 20 points to the Minnesota Vikings. The good thing for the team is that when you look at their roster, all you see is youth. The Cardinals are a young and upcoming team who gained major experience and confidence during the 1998 season. The Cardinals played around a .500 season until the last three weeks. They started the season off with defeats to Dallas and Seattle. They lost 38-10 to Dallas and 33-14 to Seattle. The last regular season defeat was to the New York Giants. After the Giants defeat is when late K Chris Jacke won the last three games by field goals. They beat Philadelphia 20-17 in overtime, New Orleans 19-17 and the San Diego Chargers 16-13. They finished the season on a 3 game winning streak and a birth in the playoffs. The major reason for their success was the play of second year QB Jake "The Snake" Plummer. Plummers QB rating was a modest 75.0. He threw for over 3,700 yards with 17 TDs and 20 INTs. Plummer's play under pressure was incredible. He continuously made plays for his team when they needed it. He made these plays by throwing and by running. He was not afraid to take off running if none of his receivers were open. His biggest game was a 35-28 defeat to the Cowboys. In this game, Plummer threw 56 times completing 31 of them for 465 yards. Offensively, the Cardinals finished 13th in total yards per game (319.3), 20th in rushing yards per game (101.7), 15th in points per game (20.3) and 8th in passing yards per game (217.6). The reason the Cardinals were able to finish so high in passing yards per game was because of their potent receiver tandem. They may have one of the top 5 receiving tandems in the NFL. Many can argue that they also have the best receiving back in the NFL in FB Larry Centers. WR Frank Sanders finished second in the NFL in receptions only to the Miami Dolphins O.J. McDuffie. Sanders finished with 89 receptions and McDuffie had 90 receptions. Sanders also had 3 TDs. WR Rob Moore was the team's third leading receiver with 67 receptions and 5 TDs. FB Larry Centers did more at receiving than rushing. He finished as the team's second leading receiver with 69 receptions and 2 TDs. RB Adrian Murrell did an excellent job on the ground. Murrell became the Cardinals first back in three seasons to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. He also had 8 TDs. QB Jake Plummer showed his running ability by finishing as the teams second leading ground gainer with 217 yards and 4 TDs. The offense had 57 possessions in the Red Zone. They scored 31 TDs and kicked 14 Field Goals. All of this was accomplished behind a young offensive line. LG Chris Dishman, C Aaron Graham and RT James Dexter are all first year starters. None of the three have been in the league longer than three years. RG Lester Holmes is in his 6th year and LT Lomas Brown is the veteran of the group completing is 14th season. For the most part, the offense had to keep the points rolling in order to obtain victories. During the 1998 season, the Cardinals held their opposition under 15 points only three times. One time they did this was in the playoff victory over the Cowboys. Arizona's defense finished 21st in opponent's yards per game (329.1), 20th in opponent's rushing yards per game (124.3), 17th in opponent's passing yards per game (204.8) and 24th in opponent's points per game (23.6). One major problem on defense was the season ending injury to DT Eric Swann during preseason. DT Brad Ottis (fractured foot) and DE Jerry Drake (herniated disk) also missed the season. DT Mark Smith and MLB Ronald Mckinnon missed numerous games with injuries. Mckinnon had a strained knee ligament and missed three late season games. The absence of these players made it very difficult for the Cardinals to stop the run. The Cardinals relied heavily on constant pressure to stop their opponents. DE Simeon Rice had 10 sacks, DT Mark Smith had 9, rookie DE Andre Wadsworth had 5.5 and LB Jamir Miller had 3.5 sacks. Jamir Miller played nearly the entire season with a dislocated left wrist. Arizona's secondary began to come together as the season progressed. S Kwamie Lassiter was tied for second in the NFL with 8 interceptions. He had most of those in the season finale against the San Diego Chargers. MLB Ronald Mckinnon was second on the team with 5 INTs. Arizona's defense ranked third in takeaways with 39. They recorded 20 INTs and 19 fumble recoveries. One problem was the offense usually gave it back giving up 36 turnovers (20 INTs, 16 fumbles). Their opponents had 52 possessions in the Red Zone scoring 30 TDs and kicking 14 Field Goals. The good thing about the defense is the majority of the Cardinals youth is on the defense. The defensive line consist of DE Simeon Rice who is in his third year, DE Andre Wadsworth is a rookie, DT Mark Smith is in his second year and DT Rashod Swinger is in his first year. Swinger did a great job filling in for the injured Swann. The linebacker corps included second year OLB Tony McCombs, fifth year OLB Jamir Miller and third year MLB Ronald Mckinnon. The defensive backs are also young. They include fourth year S Kwamie Lassiter, third year S Tony Bennett, rookie CB Corey Chavous and veteran CB Aeneas Williams, who finished his eighth year. The Cardinals defense, as well as their offense, should have many years left to play together. Veteran Eric Metcalf handled the punt and kick return duties for the team. He averaged 6.9 yards per punt return and 21.4 yards per kick return. Punter Scott Player, who was also in his 1st year, average 41.7 yards per punt (Gross) and 35.9 yards per punt (Net). Kicker Joe Nedney was the teams kicker for the major part of the season. He connected on 13-19 field goals before suffering a season ending knee injury. Nedney was replace by Kicker Chris Jacke. Jacke, on three consecutive weekends, kicked game winning field goals. One came in OT and the other two came as time expired in regulation. Free Agency and Off-Season Owner Bill Bidwill made himself happy and Coach Vince Tobin by starting their off-season moves before the season even ended. Bidwill gave bonuses totaling almost $33 million to QB Plummer, DT Swann and DE Wadsworth. Bidwill still has some other very important financial decisions to make. First, they need to find a new QB coach. Coach Geep Chryst has been the Cardinals QB coach the past 3 years. He is known for making Plummer a star, now he will be asked to do the same thing with Ryan Leaf for the San Diego Chargers. Chryst was named the new Offensive Coordinator and QB Coach for the Chargers on January 29th, 1999. The Cardinals almost needed to go and look for a new defensive coordinator also. Coach Dave McGinnis was all so close to becoming the Chicago Bears new Head Coach. He decided to call off negotiations when the Bears announced that he was the new head coach before a contract was worked out. McGinnis called of negotiations because he had promised Cardinal owner Bill Bidwill and head coach Vince Tobin that he would let them know of his decision before it came out publicly. The Cardinals have a total of 24 free agents. Fourteen of who finished the season as starters. The top three main concerns are probably going to be WR Rob Moore, LB Jamir Miller and S Kwamie Lassiter. Moore is very critical to WR Frank Sanders effectiveness. LB Miller is seeking Ray Lewis type money ($6.5 million a year). To keep from losing Miller, the team my give him the Franchise tag. OT Lomas Brown is also a free agent. He makes around $3 million a year. The question is, will the 14-year veteran be willing to come back for this much and if not, will Bidwill be willing to pay him more. Also, Eric Metcalf was a slight disappointment and may not be resigned. Arizona would like to add a run stopping MLB. They seemed to be interested in Detroit FA LB Stephen Boyd. The Cardinals will definitely have to make some good moves in the draft to help compensate for the key players they lose in free agency. The list of free agents is as follows:
S Tommy Bennett (RFA) Exposed to Expansion Draft
WR Fred Brock Needs via Free Agency or the Draft If the team can sign the majority of their free agents, they do not require much. The Cardinals have two first round picks this year. They have an 8th and a pick somewhere between 21-24th. Even if last years pick OT Anthony Clement comes back healthy from his herniated disk, they may still pick an OT with the 8th pick overall. The Cardinals seem to like BYU's 6'7'' 305lb OT John Tait with the 8th pick. This would be a very good choice, especially, if they do not resign OT Lomas Brown. Word is, the Cardinals also like Arizona's CB Chris McAlister with the 8th pick. They are okay in the secondary, but could use some depth at this position. McAlister would be a far reach with this pick. With their second pick, the Cardinals may go after a WR, LB or pick a DB here. If they can't re-sign Moore, a WR such as Peerles Price from Tennesse would be a good choice. He would be a good choice even if they do re-sign Moore. Price could be their #3 receiver and their return man (with Metcalf aging). Price can also help stretch the defense. They could also use an active, run stuffer LB such as Ohio States Andy Katzenmoyer. If they get what they want with the first pick, they may go after a Safety such as Clemson's Antwan Edwards. Others they are high on are OT Kris Farris, FB Rob Konrad, WR Martay Jenkins, WR Jeremy McDaniel, OT Floyd Wedderburn, OG Yusuf Scott, LB Brian Smith and CB Eric Edwards.
|