Cardinals
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray is working with the offense to make plays in space and throw the ball when the script is out the window in certain scenarios.
“It’s just we have to be better on off-scheduled plays because, obviously, I have that ability to make extend plays and we have the guys to go do it off schedule,” Murray said, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. “So, I believe that’s an area we got to be better at. Anytime I can get in space on this level, I love it. It’s tough to do it in practice because some of it, it’s not live and it’s not real. So, I think it’s just reps, reps, reps, reps. Practicing it as much as possible and you get into the game [it’s] second nature. Guys aren’t thinking about it.”
“When you hit them you have really good numbers out of the pocket and when you don’t, that’s bad plays, turnovers, those are the things you try to eliminate,” OC Drew Petzing added. “So, there’s kind of two windows that we try to emphasize in terms of one is true decision making within the system and one is almost like fast break basketball. Are you playing point guard the right way? Is the ball going where it should? I think those are game-changing plays. He’s one of the few people in this league that can do it physically at a high level and create some of those. So, we want to make sure we’re taking advantage of that.”
“It has to kind [of happen] instinctually,” HC Jonathan Gannon commented. “I’ll never say, ‘I don’t love your decision there.’ I’m not looking at what he’s looking at, but he’s trained and versed and has the knowledge and the wherewithal, I would say, to let his instincts take over and be a football player.”
Rams
Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp spoke about his role in the Rams’ offense and how the game has changed from 2017 to 2020, after opposing teams caught on to what HC Sean McVay was calling offensively.
“In 2017 and 2018, Sean McVay’s offense was ahead of the game,” Kupp said, via SeahawksWire.com. “We were running plays and they [defenses] had no idea what was going on. In 2019, defenses start catching on. There’s a little bit of this [defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio thing that catches on. They could stop our offense a little bit. You start seeing more Cover 4 [defense] in 2019. Safeties are now playing things from depth. 2020 comes and the Rams hire Brandon Staley, who was with Fangio in Chicago. In one year, Staley puts together the No. 1 defense in the league.”
Seahawks
Seahawks DT Jarran Reed expects the defense to take a step forward as a whole entering their second year in HC Mike Macdonald‘s system.
“When we came in at first [last year], it is a big playbook, so it’s a lot to learn,” Reed said, via ESPN. “I think that now, just banking off of last year, growing what we already know, coming in and then redoing it, it’s like reading the same book over and over again. So now, we get to go out on the field and just play fast, and I think that plays a huge part into being successful and executing our plays.”
Seahawks DC Aden Durde added that returning most of the team’s starters and rotation players will help them pick up where they left off last year.
“I think it’s obviously going to help you,” Durde said. “The continuity comes with the understanding of OK, now when we’re going through it, the formation adjustments, they’re talking [through] them, they’re anticipating them and they’re understanding how to play fast. So it’s huge that we’ve got the guys back.“
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