Cardinals Kicking Game Is Their Greatest Weapon This Season

Sep 29, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely (4) reacts and pumps his first with punter Dave Zastudil (9) after he scored the game winning field goal during the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Arizona Cardinals defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

What has happened to the second part of the Cardinals special teams unit?, the return game has not been productive at all, yes the league is aware of Patrick Peterson on punt returns and is reluctant to kick him an opportunity, but that is not the problem.  

Javier Arenas has been a big disappointment on kick off returns, putting the offense in longer field position by being indecisive on whether to come out nine yards deep or not, and not knowing which whole to hit so he is hitting every whole with a stutter step. The team needs a spark back there that will have speed and a quickness that puts fear into the opposing team.

Of course when you talk spark and speed its got to be rookie Tyrann Mathieu, who if giving the opportunity will at least hit the whole running at full speed, with his natural ability in running after an interception in College, he would be a perfect fit for this position.

I’m sure the coaching staff may not put him there because he plays with a reckless abandon style that in the kicking game he might get injured, but hay, we are almost half way through the season and the team has dropped under 500, it may be time to change some things.

The kicking part of the special teams with place kicker Jay Feely and punter Dave Zastudil have been remarkable; field position keeps the defense in position to get the offense the ball back, with Zastudil averaging 44.9 yard per punt with a long of 60 yards on the year thus far.

The one thing that has been consistent is that Zastudil gets to punt a lot; he has 37 punts in 7 games recording 3 touch backs and 19 kicks inside the opponents 20 yard line, which has been a great weapon. To add to that, kicker Jay Feely has been just as great, Feely has made 2 of 3 kicks from 50 yards or more, with a total of 13 field goal attempts and making 12, as we all know the only miss was the kick in week one to the Rams before halftime, which was a crucial miss but he has been lights out sense then.

Its good to have these two weapons going into any game, especially on the road, I would love to see their work load reduced because the offense has done its job and scored touchdowns, but that has not been the case and we don’t know if it will be any time soon.