Big Red
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
- 1,355
- 0
CINCINNATI – Players and coaches can feel it, and certainly Vance Joseph has as both a player, assistant coach and head coach – the defensive coordinator noting the euphoria that comes with a win in the NFL that makes a team feel like they won’t lose again, or the gut punch of a loss that can make victories feel impossible.
The notion is relayed to nose tackle Corey Peters, who nods his head and allows a half-smile.
“It’s so hard to win,” Peters said. “That’s why, no matter how it looks, no matter what the score, it’s a dogfight out there.
“When you can get a win, no matter how it comes, it always makes everything better. It makes the next week easier. It makes it easier to go out and practice, more energy, everything. We say we start over every week, but everything carries over. It’s like when you get into a fight with your wife. Y’all make up, but for a couple days, you know, the dinner comes a little later, she rolls the eyes a little more. You know?”
The Cardinals play the Bengals Sunday in a game in which both teams – winless over the first month of the season – are desperate to make things just a little bit easier with a win.
What has been frustrating is feeling of losing ground over the season – a near-win in the opener that ended in a tie and a one-possession loss in Baltimore when the Cards had the ball with a chance to win before an eventual meltdown loss to the Panthers and a game-long slog against the Seahawks – as an overall arc even while rookie coach Kliff Kingsbury and rookie quarterback Kyler Murray learn on the fly.
“I don’t think anybody’s discouraged by what’s happened the past four weeks,” Murray said. “We’ve been in position to win some of those games, if not all of them, but that’s how we feel. Going into this one, obviously, everyone feels like it’s a must-win. Every game is a must-win, but this one especially just because it’s the next one. We haven’t won a game yet, so everyone feels like that.”
Continue reading...