Cards Arians Wants Offensive Explosiveness

Jul 29, 2013; Glendale, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) prepares to take the snap during training camp at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

In our Cardinals Chatter article on Saturday, a piece was included that discussed how Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians wanted at least six to eight explosive plays a game.  Explosive plays meaning pass plays going for 25 or more yards and running plays that go for at least 15 yards.  Th Cards only had 32 drives in all, worst in the NFL in 2012, that had such a play.  It’s a lofty goal for an offense that was dormant a year ago.

It is a goal however that many teams achieve even without trying too hard in doing it.  That’s what Arians is trying to achieve.  He wants those types of plays to become almost commonplace, to a point the team shouldn’t have to stretch to make them happen with any degree of difficulty.  Sure, there will always be difficult plays no matter how good or bad you are, however, the way this offense is being built and with the types of minds in the current roster of offensive players, it shouldn’t be a hard task to accomplish.

I think it is safe to say we all want offensive explosiveness on every play, however if they run those types of plays more often, the more success a team will have completing them.  With all the check downs we’ve seen over the years with Kevin Kolb and Matt Leinart, it will be refreshing to get back to a quarterback who can air it out like Kurt Warner did.  Carson Palmer can sling it with the best of them.  Even backup quarterback Drew Stanton has a phenomenal arm.  He completed an 80-yard pass play to receiver Andre Roberts in practice.

The explosiveness in the passing game is one thing, in the running game it’s another.  The Cards had anything but explosiveness in their running game in 2012.  Now, they have the backs that have the capability to make big plays but it is a matter of keeping them healthy.  Rashard Mendenhall and Ryan Williams already are nursing injuries in camp.  The Cards will need to rely heavily on their two rookies Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington in the preseason to get them prepared.  I have the utmost confidence they will both be ready to roll come September 8th.  Get ready for some big plays.  2013 will be vastly different than 2012.