JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Despite everything the Arizona Cardinals accomplished last season, there was one thing they failed to master.
The East Coast.
The defending NFC champions were 1-6 on the East Coast last season, including lopsided losses at the New York Jets, Philadelphia and New England. They were winless in five trips east during the regular season before beating Carolina in the playoffs. Three weeks later, they lost the Super Bowl in Tampa.
The Cardinals (0-1) will try to end their East Coast slump against the Jacksonville Jaguars (0-1) on Sunday.
“All I know is you show up and you have to play, no matter where it is or when it is or what the time change is or what the weather’s like,” Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner said. “It doesn’t matter.”
It seemed to matter last season.
time change. Maybe it was just the challenge of winning on the road in the NFL.
“It’s something people talk about because the records and the numbers show that it’s hard to do that,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “We’ve traveled to the East Coast enough times in the last two years that we feel like we know what we’re doing as far as what’s best for our team and how we can be best prepared.”
Although the Cardinals opened the season at home last week, they looked anything but comfortable. They had penalties, dropped passes, errant throws, a botched interception and two turnovers. They also allowed three sacks and steady pressure on Warner.
The struggles might have surprised some. But Warner saw similar problems last year, and not just back east.
“The one thing that we talked about last year, even before we made the Super Bowl run, was we weren’t consistent all year,” Warner said. “We’d beat one team and lose to another. It was just back and forth. We finally got consistent there through the playoffs and into the Super Bowl, but we haven’t sustained that.”
Few Super Bowl losers have.
Seven of the last 10 Super Bowl losers have failed to finish .500 the following season, and only two (Tennessee in 2000 and Seattle in 2006) got back to the playoffs.
it. Now, this year we have to do it,”’ Warner said. “You start putting too much pressure on yourself and you start wanting to be too perfect instead of just relaxing and playing the game. That’s what we have to fight because we haven’t played up to our standards during the preseason and even into this first game.”
Whisenhunt added that all the positive attention that comes with getting to the final game also can negatively affect a team in the long run.
“Whether you win or lose a Super Bowl, there’s more issues than normal because there seems to be turmoil, whether it’s losing coaches like we did, whether it’s losing players because they’re getting more attention or because they’re playing better. It gives you such a shorter offseason and it’s hard to recover from that,” he said. “Plus, you’re recognized as a team that’s played in it and you’re going to get the best effort from teams that you play.”
Maybe that why oddsmakers installed Jacksonville as a 4 1/2-point favorite.
“They were in the Super Bowl last year. Why would people pick us?” Jaguars cornerback Rashean Mathis said. “Since I’ve been here, we’ve been better as the underdogs. So if I was you guys, I would change your picks.”
Jacksonville showed promise in its opener, a 14-12 loss at Indianapolis.
ield-goal range, David Garrard threw four incomplete passes on the final drive.
Garrard finished with just 122 yards passing. He was sacked once and under heavy pressure most of the game because rookie tackles Eugene Monroe and Eben Britton struggled to contain Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.
“Personally I need to do a better job and I’m sure there are some other guys in here that are going to say the same thing,” Garrard said. “The game, win and lose, is always going to be on the head coach and quarterback. I understand that and I’m just going to try to do better this week.”
Defensively, the Jaguars have some adjustments to make after losing starting end Reggie Hayward for the season because of a broken leg. Coach Jack Del Rio said the defense won’t use Hayward’s absence as an excuse.
Warner said the same thing about playing on the East Coast.
“There’s stats that could argue it’s a tough trip to make from West to East,” he said. “But I think too much is put into it. You can use it as too much of a crutch and say, ‘Oh, well, now we’ve got a built-in excuse.’ There are no excuses in this business.
“You play where they tell you to play, when they tell you to play, and if you lose, you get a mark in the loss column. That’s how I look at it. I don’t care where we’re going and when we’re going. We have to show up and play.”
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