Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt spoke to Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning on a conference call. Here’s what he said about the 49ers.
Q: Calais Campbell was talking on the radio yesterday about how much he and Darnell Dockett hate the 49ers. Does that represent your whole team’s view of the 49ers?
WHISENHUNT: I certainly can’t speak for the whole team, but I think one of the things I noticed when I came here six years ago was that there seemed to be a strong rivalry with the 49ers, at least from my standpoint. We played a number of games through the years that have come down to the last minute – even my first game as a head coach was a Monday night game there in San Francisco which came down to the last minute and there was a play at the end. We’ve had a number of those. I think it’s grown over the years. Obviously, San Francisco is a very good football team right now. Our players want to win, want to beat them. From our perspective, certainly there is a rivalry there.
Q: Do you have a problem with Campbell publically expressing his feelings about the 49ers?
WHISENHUNT: I don’t necessarily subscribe to the bulletin board material. He just said that’s the way he feels about the 49ers. If that’s what you do to get up for a game, that’s great. I don’t want there to be any misconception that we don’t have a lot of respect for the 49ers. That goes throughout our whole team. That’s part of the reason we’re excited to play them – we respect them and know they’re a good football team.
Q: Is it your biggest rivalry?
WHISENHUNT: I don’t know. Seattle has been good in our division when I first got here. The Rams were such a good team in this division years ago. It seems like it goes in cycles. It seems to me, with our players there’s always a little bit extra when we play the 49ers.
Q: What are your impressions of Dashon Goldson and what he brings to the 49ers’ defense?
WHISENHUNT: Very impressive player. He’s got a lot of range, very smart, understands what teams are trying to do, and he’s had success against us. He’s made some plays against us. I have a lot of respect for him as a player and I’m very aware of how he plays.
Q: The 49ers didn’t even attempt to target Vernon Davis in their past game. Do you expect them to try to make him a focal point Monday night?
WHISENHUNT: He did catch a pass in the last game, didn’t he?
Q: Vernon did not.
WHISENHUNT: Oh, OK. I’ve watched so much clips I couldn’t tell. I’m sure that they will. Vernon’s a good football player. Sometimes balls just don’t come to you. Sometimes that’s the way games go. It seems to me they’re clicking pretty good offensively in San Francisco. I’m sure that they’ll have a good plan.
Q: Does their offense look different to you this year with the addition of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham?
WHISENHUNT: They’re doing a few more things it seems like, than they were doing last year, which is normal as you progress. They present a lot of problems for you. It is a difficult offense to prepare for and you know you’ve got to play physical. The additions of those players I’m sure have contributed to that. They’re a very good offensive team.
Q: Is it difficult preparing for the Colin Kaepernick Factor?
WHISENHUNT: He’s something that you definitely have to be aware of. There’s a number of teams that are doing that. It seems to be the trend in the NFL that teams are doing that. Yes, you do have to be aware when he’s in the game, because he’s done a nice job and made some plays.
Q: When offenses are as multiple as the 49ers are, do you really enjoy having this extra day to prepare?
WHISENHUNT: Doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure. I think it always helps when you’re playing a division opponent, because you know a little bit more about them. Where you start from is a little bit further along than with a team you don’t know. I’m glad that we have the extra day. Maybe we’ll get a chance to get some of our guys a little bit healthier, and also give us a chance to prepare for some of the looks that we could see.
Q: You know how tough it is to run against the Seahawks defense. What were your impressions of how the 49ers were able to run on Seattle’s defense in the second half?
WHISENHUNT: It seems to me they run the ball on everybody. It doesn’t matter who it is, they’ve done a nice job. They’ve got a good scheme. They’re well-coached. I’ve watched Frank Gore for a number of years and have great respect for him as a player. They have a number of different guys who can run the ball well. They have a quarterback who can run with it. I think when you have all those things, it presents challenges for you defensively. You’ve got to be very good about your plan and making sure that you’re on the same page.
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Fans on this blog need to listen to whisenhunt closely, its not the success of the plays kaep runs but the time it takes out of practice to prepare for the plays that Kaep runs. I can tell you the one thing coaches complain about the most is just not having enough time to prepare their teams
Thats a great point, and I’m sure a point of emphasis for our coaching staff. I think part of the problem was that Kap has so much success in his limited plays the first few weeks but has really struggled the past few weeks. That might be because teams were better prepared to face him. We’ll never know if the time they took to prepare for Kap helped our offense, but with the disruption of the flow and lack of productivity the past few games it is hard to argue that the use of Kap the past few weeks helped us in those games. It might be smarter to use Kap regularly for a few games, then ditch those plays for a few weeks, and then bring them back when teams have forgotten about them.
just as long as we show it often enough to keep it in the mids of d cooridnators. we do’nt need to use it in the red zone either or in the middle of drives breaking smiths rhythm
Don’t run out of that formation …. pass.
Dangle
CK had success in the beginning because he played against defenses that don’t follow orders. The Jets/Bills kept collapsing giving up the end all on their own.
The Giants and Seattle didn’t.
old coach,
Agree with you on the prep time thing, but their is no set Kaepernick package that is any different than what they do with Smith. From a preparation standpoint the “extra” time it takes to prepare for it is very minimal.
Jack except for the sets where kap and smith are on the field together
old coach,
I don’t think we will much of that anymore. In those sets they are better off utilizing MM, KW or TG. I think they figured that out the hard way against Buffalo.
Agree Old Coach, CK brings a whole different dimension to our team that will require the defenses to spend time for preparation. I would like to see him throw more passes out of the wild cat formation as well! GO NINERS
It is a doule-edged sword old coach.
It also means that our own offense is losing out on the practice time to perfect our own plays with our starters. AS needs more time to get to know his WR’s and CK taking reps doesn’t help that. We have a lot of new faces and our coaches and players need that time to really get to know how to utilize each of them to their max.
If the Niners are spending only 5% of their time with CK, and the opposing team is spending 10% of their time worrying about CK, then it is a good thing.
But if th opposing team isn’t spending a significant amount more time worrying about CK than we are spending with CK undercenter instead of AS, then all we are doing is wasting our own time nd hindering our own offensive progress.
And I get the feeling that the good defenes aren’t going to need to spend much time worrying about CK’s plays unil CK shows something other than run-options and throwing deep. If the DE and OLB don’t get suckered in, they can get to the corner before CK can as we saw in the Seattle game.
BS,
The head coach has said that we don’t use extra time with the plays that Kapbruns. He said that Amith runs the same plays and that this is part if gage offense.
7 weeks into the season, If he’s not used to his receivers, whatever.!why does Smith need multiple years to develop chemistry with his receivers? Smith is an anchor in this offense.
Jordan,
This is something you are right about. CK is running the exact same plays as Smith, just in a smaller portion of the playbook. As for taking practice reps from Smith, that is incorrect as well. The backup will usually take about 10-20% of the reps in any given week regardless.
The CK package has worked, and is a great thing to throw out there to excuse Smith’s struggles the last couple weeks.
Jack,
We all know that people use sSmith’s dtyuggles as an excuse to blame CK. I would hope that JH wodnt cave simply because CK has lost yardage on a couple of plays. Do you think Smiyh has had enough time to get acclimated with his receivers? Smith is really struggling right now. Arizona is going to be just as tough to throw against. I think we will run all over them though.
Jordan,
Yes. In the past it made some sense between the lockout and MC’s injuries, but they have been full go since the first OTA this year.
Run the same plays? How many drives has CK led? All is he doing is running the option which worked one game, the Jets. He threw one rope to MM during the Giants and after that he has looked like a backup. His time will come, when we trade him for picks next year to move up and get a stud defensive linemen.
Yes FDM. Smith runs the read option at least 3-5 times each game as well. It is a staple in their offense.
Its a terrible play. When they ran it against SEA on the 3rd and long, it was evident teams have scoped it out and it does not work anymore. I would be surprised to see anyone, CK or AS run it again.
FDM,
No it’s not. On the play you mention, CK did not read it correctly. Had he given it to Hunter they gain yards. Also, it was not 3rd and long. Had that been the case Smith would not have been able to throw the interception on the next play.
Jack I was talking about when Smith ran it midway late in the 4th Q and they kicked the field goal right after. It was bad play call by Roman in that they should have attempted a shot in the endzone but it looked they were using clock so they wanted to keep it on the ground and burn some time. Its something I never understood with Harbaugh in that at least take a shot.
FDM,
That was a QB Draw, not a read option. Actually that was a great call, it put them up by 7. As for Harbaugh taking a shot, they did on the previous Red Zone trip and Smith threw an interception. Did you like that shot?
23
Go the way spitblood wants AS to go. Get off and stay off the blog. You do nothing but fight and name call.
FDMNesia,
That was a QB draw from Smith late in the 4th. The Niners didn’t want Smith to turn the ball over so that’s why they elected the draw play and the 3. I heard you’ve been having some memory issues. Hope that improves.
Kicking the FG was a good decison, the third down play to not even atttempt a throw in the endzone was a bad play call.
Now of course someone will say its because they have no faith in Smith cause the previous trip he made a bad decision and it resulted in the INT. That’s just weak. It was late in the game, you need poinst there and I understand you take less risk.
Its the Harbaugh way. It was not because of the previous redzone trip as we have seen they would rather play a possession game than gamble. I dont agree with it, I would never do it, but Harbaugh is a better coach than me.
On the redzone INT, it was a terrible throw and terrible decision on Smith’s part. It happens all the time throughout the NFL.
23welcher, why dont you go encourage harsh violent opinions since you seem to agree its acceptable to haver them.
I wonder what type of opinions and attitudes you teach your family members. Considering you agree with Spitbloods comment, I am concerned almost scared for those close to you. Go see a counsellor or doctar soon.
“…the third down play to not even atttempt a throw in the endzone was a bad play call.”
It was used to set up the FG that put them up by 7. How is that a bad call? It was Harbaugh managing the game.
They were in FG range already. Its a coaching philosophy thing where you limit risk. I am opposed to it. I would have tried an attempt in the endzone on 3rd down. If JH says Smith is as smart as he says he is, he probably wont make the same mistake twice right? So 3 step drop, not there, throw it throgh the uprights. Its the same amount of risk as the QB option?
What if Smith gets hit and fumbles? Same amount of risk. On a throw, the worst thing to happen is if its not there is you take a sack ala the flop that Peyton Manning does and turtles to the ground.
FDM
Not quite the same risk. When you drop back to pass, the ball is exposed 2 times for an easy turnover.
1. As the QB is just about to throw. Only one hand is on it. A hit at this moment at the right place and with the necessary force, it will cause a fumble.
2. The ball in the air. If the WR is covered, then you can throw it high and out of bounds. But if the WR is open, then you will throw it lower. Where the ball can be tipped by a defender and Int or just a poor pass /great play by the DB to be Int.
As opposed to the QB draw. No risk at all. The QB protects the ball with both arms/hands and doesn’t struggle for extra yardage, the chance for a TO is minimal next to a pass attempt.
It was the right call. Just not a fun one.
I agree DS it was and is a good decision based on how the 49ers approach those situations. They are consistent in their formula and I appreciate that.
All I am saying is that my philosophy would be to attempt a TD throw with the right formation and understanding of the players is that if this that read is not there and you dont see this or that, throw it away. Its a one second thought process. Dont attempt anything other than this.
FDM, ” If JH says Smith is as smart as he says he is, he probably wont make the same mistake twice right?”
Did you not watch the Giants game?
Jack the Giants game was a complete melt down. Smith leading the charge. Lets move on from that game cause if we are coming to conclusions of what this guy or team is incapable of after a loss to a very good Giants team then the players should forfeit the remaining games.
The good news is there are 9 more games to go. The players on this team have shown resilency. We have the best staff in the league and as I keep saying, playing your best football in December is what matters most. Lots of time to improve. For anyone to say it cannot happen, does not understand the game.
And yes Kenny-boy, this 49er team runs on Everybody! Boomshakalakalakalaka! Get ur team ready to get Road-Graded!
Grant – Whisenhunt must have been rolling his eyes when he said “they’re clicking pretty good offensively in San Francisco.”
Btw Grant, are you single? Eva Longoria is available now after dumping Mark Sanchez………Sloppy seconds are permitted with that hottie? Lol
lol
According to Pro Football Focus, the 49ers’ offensive line grades out as the best in the NFL thus far this season. They are the No. 1 run blocking line by far (perhaps the coaches could remember that when formulating the gameplan) and the No. 10 pass-blocking unit (which tends to support those who lay much of the blame for this year’s sack total at the feet of Alex Smith).
https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/10/24/offensive-line-rankings/2/