A piece written by Football Outsiders and covered in part in a FanPost by khodder that highlighted a not so good defensive statistic -- broken tackles. Unfortunately, as the 2010 season was not so good on either side of the ball, the Cardinals figure prominently among the most players with tackles broken. Four different players (Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Adrian Wilson, Paris Lenon and Kerry Rhodes) had at least ten tackles broken.

The surprise is naturally Wilson, who had the second most  tackles (16) broken in the league. In 2009, he only had two. One would have to think that this is a one-year anomaly, or it could be a sign of decline. We hope it is the former and that, perhaps, it was the result of the injury he played through all season.

DRC is no surprise as we all know he does not tackle well. He had the worst percentage of tackles broken in the league among defensive backs (18.9 percent).

Lenon had 14 tackles broken for a rate of 12.2 percent and Rhodes had 11 broken for a rate of 12.5 percent.

But despite this trend in 2010, I am not real worried about it continuing at the same rate. This is where new defensive coordinator Ray Horton comes in. He is going to drill tackling in practice, especially with the defensive backs. He wants defensive backs who can tackle. While DRC may never become a physical player, he has been working out more, adding bulk and has said that with Horton it will be much more serious.

Horton's reputation for being a teacher and improving technique will be just what he doctor ordered for the players with issues tackling. 

While it may not solve everything that was an issue in 2010 defensively, I for one am not overly concerned with the improvement in tackling. I think this is the one thing that will show a marked improvement.