Hopkins gets yards 1 way or another
Americans have spent the last few months listening to debates over important policies at the national and local levels. And DeAndre Hopkins has a proposal of his own.
Quarterback Kyler Murray threw Hopkins’ way seven times on Sunday against the Dolphins. All seven of those plays moved the Cardinals down the field, but four of those were by means of defensive pass interference calls.
So statisticians stopped the count at 30 yards on three catches.
“As long as the ball moves, that’s all I care about,” the Cardinals wide receiver began. “But I do think the rules should change and receivers should get the counted yards for penalties.”
It is a change he can believe in, but until it manifests, Hopkins focuses on why exactly he draws those calls.
“It might be a record,” Hopkins said. “When a guy has to hold you when the ball is being thrown your way every time, I think that’s a sign of respect, man.”
The DPI calls will not make Hopkins’ ever-evolving highlight reel of onehanded catches and diving plays. But that’s not what’s most important to him or to his teammates.
“DeAndre’s unbelievable. And when the ball goes his way, it seems like two things are gonna happen: either he’s gonna catch it or it’s gonna be pass interference,” center Mason Cole said. “So we’ll take the 15 yards, we’ll take the catch, whatever it might be.”
The result is the same to the Cardinals.
“We consider those explosive plays,” Hopkins said. “Explosive plays win games.”
Hopkins’ numbers this year are part of a bigger movement.
The NFL is experiencing a huge uptick in offensive production during the 2020 season and some of the notable examples include the most touchdowns (745) and points (6,737) scored in history and the highest league-wide completion percentage (65.8) through the first nine weeks of the season.
And that is where Patrick Peterson differs in his platform. His experience as a defender has led him to some opposing viewpoints.
“This is an offensive league anyway. We’re the bad guys,” the Cardinals veteran cornerback said Thursday. “Everything tends to go the offense’s way, especially when you’re guarding someone.”
Peterson then stopped and took a moment to stand on a soapbox and make his own pitch to the NFL about having more referees on the field.
“I’d like to make a proposal to the league because the ref told me last week on that pass interference call I got, he said I was holding and I told him, ‘I didn’t touch him,’ ” Peterson said, add
ing, “I said, ‘ What do you mean I got a pass interference?’ He said, ‘Well, from my angle, it looked like you were engaged with him.’ I’m like, ‘ What do you mean from that angle? You can’t even see the receiver because you were right behind me.’
“So, what I propose to the league is we need more refs on the field to officiate the games if the back judge can’t see the receiver. Because now the DB, he’s at a disadvantage. He’s not seeing the whole game. So, we need more eyes to help these guys. I watched that play 30 times and I was in perfect coverage. I never touched him, I never pulled him, I never did anything like that.”
Peterson said he takes pass interference calls “very, very personally, especially if I know I did not have a PI.” He challenged NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to heed his words and consider adding more game officials in the future.
“We need more eyes on the field, Mr. Goodell, to get these games officiated better,” Peterson said, pleading his case, “because receivers get away with so much. They push off every route. The ref can never see it because the defender is blocking him. So, if we want the game officiated to go both ways, let’s put more eyes on the field so the game can be officiated the correct way so defensive guys won’t be scared to go out there and play aggressive or play a certain technique.”
Hopkins sees some more nuance too it. He values that the calls are in places to protect receivers, but he also thinks it depends on who exactly the receiver is.
“If they kind of know a receiver can play through something, they might let it go,” he said.
But in a moment of empathy that we can all look to, Hopkins expressed an important sentiment: one of understanding.
“I can see Patrick’s side,” he said.
Confidence in Zane
Coach Kliff Kingsbury said the team still has full confidence in kicker Zane Gonzalez despite his missed 49-yard field goal attempt late in Arizona’s 3431 loss to Miami.
General Manager Steve Keim expressed the same support and during his Friday morning appearance on Arizona Sports, said the Cardinals did not bring in any kickers for tryouts this week.
“Kickers can be streaky and Zane has still got a lot of potential in this league and I still think he’s growing a little bit,” Keim said.
“But he’s made some big kicks for us as well. I expect him to bounce back this week and make some big ones for us this Sunday at State Farm Stadium.”