Arians: Bad loss had sliver of good

Coach stays upbeat after defeat to open

Bruce Arians would have been a heck of a policeman. The Cardinals coach played good cop/bad cop on Monday, a day after his team lost its season opener 27-24 at St. Louis, and he played both roles to perfection.

Maybe that’s because his list of likes and dislikes was so long. There was plenty to rave about it and equally, just as plenty about which to grumble and complain.

“You never accept losing,” Arians said Monday, “but there are some very, very good things, some correctable things. So I think disappointed, yes. Discouraged? Not at all.”

Good-cop Officer Arians began by praising his defense for creating two turnovers. “One saved a touchdown, one scored a touchdown,” he said. “Anytime you do that defensively, very seldom do you lose.”

Bad-cop Officer Arians, however, found some flaws in the defense.

“On the negative side, really poor tackling,” he said. “… Especially a big one there in the fourth quarter on the two-minute drive on their back in the flat. They ended up kicking a game-winner after we miss that tackle.”

Arians liked the inside push from a couple of his defensive linemen, namely Calais Campbell and Dan Williams, but he criticized the pass rushers on the edge.

“Each guy has a toolbox, as we call it,” he said. “Use what you have. Don’t all of a sudden go rogue and think you’re a fast guy when you’re a power guy. Do what you’re coached to do. A couple guys just got out of control with speed instead of just using power and counter moves.”

Offensively, Arians couldn’t say enough good things about quarterback Carson Palmer, who was 26 of 40 for 320 yards and two touchdowns. He was just as pleased with star receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had eight catches for 80 yards and two scores.

Fellow receiver Andre Roberts (eight catches, 97 yards)

was called “outstanding.” Tight end Jim Dray was “solid.” Starting tailback Rashard Mendenhall was “pretty solid.” Arians also said rookie running back Andre Ellington has “earned more playing time.”

Punter Dave Zastudil, who downed three punts inside the 20-yard line, earned an “outstanding” comment from Arians. So did the coverage and protection units on special teams.

Kicker Jay Feely, though, was called “poor.” Arians didn’t like Feely’s kickoffs and he was critical of the missed 50-yard field-goal attempt right before the end of the first half.

And then, of course, there was left tackle Levi Brown, who allowed Rams pass rusher Robert Quinn to beat him three times for sacks, two of which resulted in fumbles.

“It’s poor technique. He reverted back at times, and it was all technique,” Arians said of Brown. “… We should have had a (running) back twice helping him, but they tried to get out into routes too fast. Our game plan was to help the left tackle and they didn’t help on two of those.

“I think Levi just needs to go back to work and continue to work on his techniques. The year off (following a torn triceps) and only having been in training camp, not OTAs — missing OTAs — hurt him technically with the new coaches.”

Asked how much leeway he would give Brown because of that, however, Arians said: “I don’t give him any because we’ve had training camp. I’ve seen it with tackles before; they just stay after practice and continue to work and grab guys, DBs (defensive backs) and pass rushers, and work on it. It’s something that’s easily correctable.”

Arians also went “badcop” on himself for leaving some deep passing plays on the play-call sheet. Arians likes to say he has “six bullets” in the chamber and always plans to use them all.

By his own estimation, he used only three of them against the Rams.

“Yeah, there were some shots we didn’t take in the game,” he said. “Looking back, we didn’t throw a couple balls I’d have liked to have called, mainly because of the pressure. Normally, I don’t do that.

“So there’s as much for the coaches to accept as there is for the players and we’ll all get better.”