Posted by Darren Urban on October 24, 2016 – 8:19 am

Steve Keim was “disappointed” in Sunday night’s tie, and that’s probably not a surprise. “It was one of those games where I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like it,” the Cardinals’ General Manager said during his appearance on the “Doug and Wolf” show on Arizona Sports 98.7.

One thing Keim did make clear as well: He is frustrated with the play of the special teams. He even said, seven games into the season, that consistency on special teams is his biggest concern, especially since he likes how the defense is playing and even feels (aside from the obvious red-zone issues) that the offense seems to have found a nice balance between the run and pass.

Keim said the Cards got the punt blocked when “our wing got soft,” and has for the missed field goal in overtime, “Chandler’s got to make that kick.”

Keim didn’t rule out looking at a new kicker. But he said the Cardinals need to support Catanzaro right now, and that Catanzato knows “consistency is what creates longevity in this league.” Besides, getting a new player/kicker isn’t an automatic upgrade.

“If you can’t meet expectations, we’ll try to find somebody who can,” Keim said, emphasizing the word ‘try.’ “Now, the trying and attempting is a different story. Generally, players who are on the street right now are on the street for a reason. More than likely, it’s because they missed several field goals, or missed a kick in a clutch situation. Or have injury concerns. There are a lot of moving parts to that. It’s not as easy and probably most think. But it’s certainly something that, on a daily basis, we spend a lot of time researching.”

— Maybe a new contract at some point with Chandler Jones? Keim said the team has been talking with Jones’ agent since camp about a new deal (Jones is scheduled to be a free agent after the season). Now, contract conversations and getting a deal done can be completely different things. Just because they have been talking doesn’t mean much, and Keim certainly didn’t indicate anything was close. But they are talking. Keim said he was “proud” of the way Jones has played. As an edge rusher, Jones is “something we have not had here in years.” Jones has been excellent, and was again Sunday night.

— Jones was also part of one of the plays Keim lamented after the fact. Asked what plays might eat at him following the tie, Keim mentioned Jones’ strip-sack and wishing the Cards had been able to fall on the ball inside the Seahawks’ 5-yard line. He mentioned the J.J. Nelson catch and Nelson getting tripped up shy of the goal line. He mentioned perhaps if David Johnson had dove at the pylon, maybe Johnson scores on that late run instead of kicking the pylon.

“Never in my life have I been associated with a game like this,” Keim said. “I don’t really care to be again.”

— No real injury updates, although he said cornerback Patrick Peterson (back), while sore, was a tough guy and sounded optimistic. (That injury report figures to be pretty long come Wednesday.)

— The Cardinals are still working on a solution for wide receiver Smokey Brown and his sickle-cell trait issue. Keim said research is being done to find how much Brown can practice and still be effective but so he does not wear down. It feels like a matter of when Brown returns, not if.

— Keim was happy with the defensive play and feels like it has come together well. He also like how physical both sides of the ball were. But he was certainly in the camp where a tie didn’t work for him. “Mindset-wise, if you don’t win, what is it?” Keim said. “Everything else is inconsequential.”

Tags: Chandler Catanzaro Posted in Blog