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It is often the least talked about unit on the football team, but for the Arizona Cardinals, the special teams in 2016 has been atrocious.
It has led to a number of articles even being written about it after their especially pathetic outing in a rain soaked Miami during the Arizona Cardinals loss to the Dolphins.
Jess Root wrote about it over at CardsWire.
Kevin Zimmerman at Arizona Sports.
Even at the hub, the Arizona Cardinals website, they are talking about how much special teams has negatively impacted the outcome of the season for the Arizona Cardinals.
There is truth to it, but it also obscures the bigger issue... Why was this not addressed sooner?
Going young at the long snapper position early in the season is not a bad call, every journey starts somewhere, the Arizona Cardinals hoped Kameron Canaday would start his 15 year career here. It didn’t work out, they made a move, but it was at least one game too late.
Drew Butler... He is a good holder, right? He is not a great punter based on net average, but maybe that is not his fault, maybe that is a coverage issue, why not address that in the offseason?
Oh, they did, they drafted Marqui Christian, Harlan Miller and Brandon Williams to help out on specials. Williams got some action after a number of injuries yesterday, the other two?
Wait, it is Amos Jones’ fault, he’s the coach. Except the special teams gotten worse every year.
Those are the issues that are overlooked, the Arizona Cardinals didn’t see an issue, it took them 14 weeks to see an issue with Butler, and apparently it still isn’t an issue as he’s a great holder.
If you want to blame special teams, that is fine... Yet, you need to look at the source. Who put together the special teams unit? Who has allowed them to be, seemingly, poorly coached?
This isn’t saying anything drastic should be done, this isn’t a “FIRE EVERYONE” post, this is just a reminder. Even our favorites are fallible, in this case, it was the forgotten special teams.