Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Cardinals' Number One Priority
by Andrew602 on Jan 4, 2010 12:06 PM MST
20 comments
When the Cardinals' Pro Bowl Cornerback - Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie- left Sunday's game with what was thought of to be a torn knee ligament, a sense of shock and apprehension spiraled through the hearts of both the Cardinals and their fans.
Rodgers-Cromartie had just finished chasing Jermichael Finley when he awkwardly rolled over Finley's cleat, both injuring his knee, and opening a wound. After the medical staff attended to DRC, he was carted off the field, and that play alone would summarize the day for the rest of the team.
In his shoes stood diminutive Michael Adams who was victimized immediately and repeatedly, with career-back up Ralph Brown and rookie cornerback Greg Toler shoring up the secondary. Adams, despite his admirable tenacity on the field, cannot out-leap most NFL receivers and certainly not Donald Driver or Greg Jennings as yesterday proved. Brown is at-best a nickel DB and can't cover the premiere receivers in the NFL. Toler is still a work-in-progress and that showed when he was outmaneuvered in the end zone by Finley. With the Packers 8th ranked passing offense and 30 passing touchdowns(2nd) coming back to Glendale this Sunday, it's fair to assume the Cardinals knew they were in trouble when DRC went down.
But, the initial reaction was premature, and Rodgers-Cromartie was walking gingerly after the game. When asked about his status for next week's wild card game, DRC responded, "I'm playing ball".
Ken Whisenhunt's decision to play the starters through a portion of the game was a risk/reward plan. On one end you keep the Cardinals in action, and avoid potential rust. Then there's the fact that a star player can get hurt on any given play, and in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's case, he was the latter.
With roughly a week left to prepare for the game, the Cardinals and Rodgers-Cromartie must focus on getting back to 100%. Cromartie has shown signs of brilliancy this season, thus his recognition in the Pro Bowl voting. When healthy, he's been a valuable asset to the defense. He finished the season with 25 passes defensed(2nd), 3 FF(2nd for defensive backs), and 6 interceptions(2nd). I can't fault Whisenhunt for playing DRC in a meaningless game, as it was within the first two minutes and nobody can predict what will happen on the field. The playoffs are fast approaching - get well DRC.
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Adams was in before Brown or Toler
Which intrigues me and scares me at the same time. Mighty Mike has shown more in practice than Ralph or Greg? Adams has a huge heart but I don’t want the second coming of Rudy to be the Cards’ answer in the secondary if DRC or McFadden go down. Perhaps this “garbage” game was the reason for Adams’ immediate insertion, mostly to show nothing but also to make some long-term decisions on Adams while protecting Tolers’ psyche (apparently with the rest of the team).
Don't waste time or Time will waste you.
Oops
That may be a result from not watching the game. Couldn’t pick up any radio signal on the road.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
53
That is too damn funny. A good point just funny as hell.
Also scared
From what I have seen, Adams, passed Ralph Brown in the depth chart and Toler is still raw… I know Kurt Warner is the player we can not afford to miss, but DRC is the least replaceable player for the defense, I would really like to see more Toler, but going into the playoffs we can only hope DRC (and McFadden) stay healthy… GO CARDINALS
paco cabrera
agreed, yesterday was scary.
In a couple years with drc and toler we could have a brick wall with hands for a secondary.
Hopefully he gets better soon.
Back in November I was chasing someone while we were doing some kind of 5 on 5 football game in the street and I landed on my knee bad enough to rip it open a little more than how it looks in that picture of DRC and I had a hard time walking on it for a couple of days.
I would like to see more of Toler since I don’t know if Adams is big enough to go against those guys with the Packers.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
Adams
was beaten, but I’d like to get his specs on his jumping ability b/c from what I have seen, he makes up for a lot of his stature with a good leap. I think he mistimed a few jumps in coverage. Had he jumped later on the Jordy Nelson long pass play he would have broken it up. I think he is also still a work in progress, but I like his tenacity, his athleticism and I think when he fine tunes his cover skills he may be able to make up for his size yet. No I am not implying that he will ever be anywhere near DRC, but with some more work he could become a more valuable 5th or 6th DB for us.
http://undrafteds.com/
He will never be a starter in this league
I would take Hood over him any day. And Green…I’m pretty sure I would take Neil Rackers at the cb position over green.
precisely
though he could become a much more valuable 5th or 6th DB for us if he continues to improve
http://undrafteds.com/
no pass rush
making it hard on all DB’s yesterday was the complete absence of a pass rush. Rodgers had plenty of time, though on many passes he didn’t need it because they were little dunk passes and the DB’s were playing so far off the receiver then had room to run. Hopefully, next week there will be serious pressure on Rodgers which should upset his flow.
They can probably get to Rodgers the same way they did with Favre.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
This is a Cardinal web site
If so please click on stats, go to defense and look to see how many INTs DCR has been credited with. I think he has 6 , which make him 1st in INTs. This web site and everyother one in America keeps on with the DCR has 5, I don’t see the problem here keeping the stats correct.
Go Cards.
Dominique Cromartie-Rodgers?
How ironic – mistakes are part of writing. Yes, he does have 6 picks.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
Oh and we're going by NFL rankings, not the team.
What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds
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