Throughout the NFL season Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell joins Brad Cesmat every Tuesday at 12:15 for ‘Crunch Time with Calais’ on XTRA Sports 910 and Pros2Preps.com. Each week he shares with us his ‘Calais Keys’ for the Cardinals next opponent.
Following the Cards eighth-straight loss Sunday in New York against the Jets, Arizona (4-8) travels to Seattle to play the Seahawks (7-5) in an NFC West showdown.
Be disciplined defensively: “You gotta shut down or contain [running back] Marshawn Lynch. He’s going to make plus because he’s a playmaker, but you just have to tackle him. Swarm tackle him because he runs so hard and always keeps his feet moving. It’s hard for one guy to bring him down. As d-linemen, we need to try to shed our blocks and meet at the running back.”
Contain rookie quarterback Russell Wilson: “He can beat you a lot of different ways. He throws the ball well, he’s very smart. He’s not going to make bad decisions and he can move very well in the pocket. He’s a guy you really have to contain. You gotta keep him from beating you with his feet…but put enough pressure on him where he gets rattled in the pocket and has to throw the ball quick. You gotta get sacks and make him move around…anytime you have a rookie quarterback you want to put pressure on him and try to rattle him a little bit.”
Ignore the distractions and handle the elements: “Playing in Seattle doesn’t bother me. The stadium is loud, but if you like a good challenge it’s a place you want to play in because you know the [fans] are going to come with everything they have and the stadium is going to be rocking. If you want to win, you have to play your best game.”
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.