Sputtering Cardinals acquire Adrian Peterson from Saints
BOB BAUM
PHOENIX — The Arizona Cardinals, with the worst rushing game in the NFL, have acquired running back Adrian Peterson from the New Orleans Saints in exchange for an undisclosed 2018 draft pick.
The 32-year-old Peterson has rushed for 11,828 yards and 97 touchdowns in his 10-plus pro seasons. The four-time All-Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection signed a two-year contract with the Saints during the off-season after spending his first 10 NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
“We are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve our team and we look at this as one of those opportunities,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said in a news release announcing the trade. “What Adrian has accomplished in this league is well-established. Our needs for a spark in our running game right now is also obvious and we are excited to give him the chance to provide that.”
Peterson has played sparingly with little success for New Orleans. He’s gained 81 yards in 27 carries, an average of three yards per attempt with a long run of 11.
With an offensive line that wasn’t all that strong to begin with now riddled by injuries, the Cardinals (2-3) are averaging a league-worst 51.8 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry.
To make room for Peterson, Arizona released running back Chris Johnson.
Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who grew up in Minnesota and still has a home there, is a good friend of Peterson. Fitzgerald sent out a tweet with an animated photo of a boy dancing happily under the heading “My mood this morning.”
Cornerback Patrick Peterson tweeted “Today is a good day!!! Welcome to the # B i r d G a n g #Adrian Peterson!!! We got work to do.”
Arizona’s players had Tuesday off and the team said Adrian Peterson would be at practice on Wednesday. The Cardinals were blown out at Philadelphia 34-7 last Sunday in one of coach Bruce Arians’ worst losses in five seasons in Arizona. They are home against Tampa Bay this weekend,
The Cardinals undoubtedly are under no illusions that Adrian Peterson is the running back he was in his prime. But Keim figures he’s an improvement over what they had before.
Arizona lost one of the game’s best backs, David Johnson, in the season opener. Johnson, a firstteam All-Pro at the flex position and second-team at running back last season, is out for at least another month while recovering from surgery to repair a fractured wrist.
The other running backs on the team are Andre Ellington, Kerwynn Williams and Elijhaa Penny.
The Cardinals had a chance to draft Peterson in 2007 but chose offensive lineman Levi Brown with the fifth pick overall, instead. The Vikings selected Peterson two picks later.
Peterson missed all but one game in 2014 because of an alleged case of child abuse in which he pleaded guilty to misdemeanour reckless assault in an incident involving his then-4-year-old son.
If there’s a transition for Auston Matthews to make in his second season in the National Hockey League from his rookie campaign, Taylor Hall has a good idea of what lies ahead for the Maple Leafs’ best player.
Hall lived it. We’re not going to put Hall on the same plane on as Matthews. But, Hall embarking on his second year with the New Jersey Devils after six years of futility in Edmonton, can relate. When it comes to Matthews, Hall sees no reason for Leafs Nation to fret.
“Playing against harder matchups, being able to digest the first and second-line matchups, playing against the top defencemen every night, that is something you have to get used to and that you almost embrace after a while,” Hall said on Tuesday after his team practised at the MasterCard Centre.
“(Matthews is) such a good player and he is so big and strong, that’s not really going to be a factor for him. We’re going to have our hands full with him and we have to make sure we play well against him.”
When the Leafs and Devils meet on Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre, the Leafs will attempt to start a season with a 4-0 record for the first time since 2010; the Devils, rejuvenated by youngsters Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier and Will Butcher, will be looking to win their third consecutive game to start the 2017-18 regular season.
Leafs defenceman Connor Carrick is going to miss a second consecutive game with an upperbody issue, so Leafs coach Mike Babcock will get another look at the rookie defence pair of Andreas Borgman and Calle Rosen. The two were sound defensively in the win against Chicago, and one has to wonder if Babcock will be quick to break them up once Carrick gets the green light to return.
Babcock will stick with his rotation of centres on the fourth line, meaning Dominic Moore will return to the lineup after Eric Fehr played against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night.
Matthews and linemates Zach Hyman and William Nylander will attempt to replicate, if not build off, what they did during a 4-3 overtime win against the Hawks at the ACC. Those matchups Hall was discussing, especially the top defence pair, did not provide stiff competition for the Matthews trio.
Matthews and pals dominated Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, controlling the puck on every even-strength shift. Patrick Kane accomplished nothing against the Matthews line.
Hyman said there was a “great” confidence lift for the three with the performance against such a knowledgable Hawks defence pair that is laden with Stanley Cup rings, but realized it wouldn’t matter a heck of a lot if there is not the same kind of dominance against the Devils.
It’s on Babcock to ensure the Matthews line, and the Leafs as a whole, don’t view the Devils differently because there isn’t the same kind of experience in the New Jersey lineup.
If we’re being honest here, though, can we remember a time when Matthews might have not given an opponent his complete attention? It does not appear to be in the 20-year-old’s mental makeup to do anything but put everything into every shift.
“It can be a trap game because you think New Jersey hasn’t been as good,” Babcock said. “But they are flying. Their forwards create speed, they are playing a tight game, they are doing a good job in the neutral zone and defensive zone, it’s one of those games you have to be prepared and they think they are good
“They are no different than us. We think we are good too. We will find out.”
Actually, the Leafs are quite a bit different than the Devils, different than a whole lot of teams.
Starting with Matthews.