–It’s been nearly three months since the Seahawks first faced the Cardinals in Glendale, but quite a bit has changed for Arizona during that time, including a mid-season coaching change on the offensive side of the football.
Head coach Steve Wilks opened the season with Mike McCoy as his offensive coordinator, but after the Cardinals stumbled out of the gate, he fired the former Chargers head coach and replaced him with Byron Leftwich. The ex-NFL quarterback served on Bruce Arians staff previously and had been viewed as a coordinator-in-waiting for some time.
Carroll didn’t offer any specifics when asked about differences in Arizona’s offense, but linebacker Bobby Wagner doesn’t see much variance from the offense Arians ran during his time as head coach.
“Not too different,” Wagner said. “I think they’re running the same thing that Bruce Arians used to run – just kind of the crunch plays. Try to get the throws downfield. It’s not too different, you’ve got the same guys. At the end of the day, you’re going to try to figure out a way to get your best players the ball and that’s what it is. It’s not going to be anything different.”
–In their first matchup in September, Cardinals rookie quarterback Josh Rosen made his first NFL start, completing 15 of 27 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown against the Seahawks. Since that point, the first-round pick out of UCLA has struggled statistically, throwing 14 interceptions and completing only 55 percent of his pass attempts behind a porous offensive line.
Rosen left last week’s loss to the Rams after being sacked four times and there’s a chance the Cardinals could choose to start backup Mike Glennon in his place for the season finale. But if the rookie does return to the lineup, Seattle defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. has seen plenty of development from him despite being thrown into a challenging situation.
“Well, I think any time you start early on as a rookie and you play the whole season, you see a lot of different looks. You learn a lot and you grow a lot throughout the season and I just see a lot of growth. He understands the ways that teams are attacking him and playing him and he’s getting a whole lot better.”
–Veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald has played his entire 15-year NFL career with the Cardinals and played against the Seahawks a whopping 28 times as a result. On Sunday, he’ll potentially play in Seattle for the last time, as rumors have circulated that he could retire after this season.
Fitzgerald has been hamstrung at times by poor quarterback play during his career, including playing this season with a rookie quarterback trying to find his way behind a bad offensive line. But his greatness isn’t lost on Carroll, who spoke at length about coaching against “one of the all-timers.”
“He’s been a phenomenal competitor. He’s really tough and physical. He’s extraordinarily talented. He’s classy. He’s got great character about the way he plays. The ability to come through to make big plays in tough situations, incredible athleticism. His hands are just – the strength of catch is just amazing.”
Wagner, who has battled against Fitzgerald on the field for the better part of a decade, still sees him as an elite player and hopes Sunday won’t be the last time they play against one another.
“Hopefully it’s not his last game. Hopefully he comes back and keeps making catches. Obviously when you’re watching film, you see he still got it. It’s not like he losing a step, it’s not like he can’t catch routes over the top of corners. His routes are still crisp, he still runs fast. He’s still got it, but at the end of the day, it’s all about you and your family. I’m not in that circle.”
BY THE NUMBERS: 2.4 – Percentage of passes dropped by Seahawks receivers, tied for third-best in the NFL.
