It’s Called Strategy People – Don’t Kick It To Josh Cribbs!

I was in the stands yesterday, and I couldn’t help hearing all of these boos from the crowd when Arizona Cardinals placekicker Neil Rackers was lofting kickoffs high up in the air that were coming down at the 30 yard line. That reaction told me alot about how much Cleveland Browns return specialist Josh Cribbs is flying under the radar.

Hey, Cards fans, breaking news – that Cribbs guy…..yeah, he’s pretty good!! I’m sure you are all aware of the name Devin Hester, nuff said. Cribbs, think of him as Hester’s doppleganger in the AFC. This guy ran back kicks against both Pittsburgh and Baltimore in successive weeks and is bigger, stronger and just as fast as the aforementioned Hester. So what was the game plan for Arizona in facing Cribbs? Simple – don’t kick it to him!

And that is what Rackers was doing during the game people. Everytime I heard the fans around me boo and complain I had to explain to them that this is strategy. You don’t kick it to him. Not on punts and not on kickoffs, NOT AT ALL! And guess what, the two times we did kick it to him – he nearly broke both of them off for TDs. He had returns of over 40 yards each on one punt and one kick.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt knows that special teams is not one of the Cards strengths, so he came up with a simple game plan. And I’ll tell you what, that is what won us the game. So next time, if we are facing a team that has a Devin Hester, or a Josh Cribbs -like returner, think twice before you start the boo bird chant going.

Mike Duggan
AZCardsfan4life