From Last Word On Pro Football, by Adam Sefton
On July 12, 2017, players from the NFL teams playing in the International Series games assembled in London, England to participate in NFL UK’s Summer Bowl. A flag football tournament for British school kids, it gave Last Word on Sport a chance to catch up with some NFL who’ll be playing in London in 2017. Tyrann Mathieu believes Arizona needs to win the Super Bowl, and here he tells us why.
Tyrann Mathieu Believes the Arizona Cardinals Need To Win the Super Bowl
No-one is telling the Arizona Cardinals to talk down their chances this year. Mathieu is the latest Cardinal to join David Johnson in saying it out loud – they need to win the Super Bowl for Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald.
“Yeah, It’s important for us to try and go out and win a Super Bowl for those guys just with the uncertainty of whether they’ll be coming back,” Mathieu emphasized. “Those guys deserve it, those guys deserve it right into the sunset. We’ve gotta go get those guys a championship ring.”
The loss of Calais Campbell doesn’t help but Mathieu isn’t dwelling on the negatives.
“Campbell is a big loss,” he noted. “Certain guys you can’t really replace. [But we] got a lot of young guys, a lot of guys coming back, a couple of guys signed to long-term contracts. So we’ll still be a great defense.”
Draft Picks Help Boost The Defense Right Away
Arizona addressed the defense with the first two picks in the draft this year. And in a rare move for a Bruce Arians coached team, it’s expected that both Haason Reddick and Budda Baker might see significant action this year.
Mathieu agrees that they could do it if asked.
“Both of those guys are very versatile, and can play a number of different positions,” Mathieu stated. “We’re really looking forward to those guys stepping up.”
The Cardinals play the Los Angeles Rams in London this year, the third divisional game in the UK. Mathieu knows if you want to win the Super Bowl, the easiest place to start is by winning your division. Still, the Rams are slightly different.
“It’s always a physical match any time you play a divisional opponent, but with the Rams it’s a rivalry,” Mathieu said. “There’s a lot of blood that spills sometimes. It’ll definitely be physical.”
And if he happens to be playing against an inexperienced quarterback like Jared Goff?
“Yeah, naturally [we want to take advantage of that],” he explained. “But we know this guy, and we know his coaches are gonna get him developed pretty quickly. A lot of times all you need is some experience, and he has some experience now. So I’m pretty sure he’ll be much better than he was last season.”
At the end of the day, Mathieu believes Arizona needs to win the Super Bowl. If the Cardinals are going to make the playoffs then they’ll need players like Mathieu to make big plays.
“Yeah, it’s my job to get the fans involved,” Mathieu said. “I play for my teammates and I play for my fans as well.”
