TEMPE, Ariz. -- Fixing the mistakes that cost the Arizona Cardinals the game Sunday night should be easy.
At least, that’s what they’ve been saying all week.
“You work,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “If you make a mistake, you don’t shy away from it and not do it. You work. You continue to get better. You continue to improve and try not to make the same mistake next time.”
Some of the issues that plagued the Cardinals in their upset 23-21 loss to the New England Patriots were as basic as a hand signal being missed.
Others were even simpler: missed tackles.
Defensive coordinator James Bettcher said Thursday that tackling, particularly on third down, was a consistent problem in Week 1, mainly because of a lack of leverage. The Cardinals gave up 10 third-down conversions to the Patriots and let them run for 84 yards after contact, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“The tackling overall was an issue for us,” Bettcher said. “There’s some runs that got out on us. [If] we make the tackle on the first hit ... we had them at about 95 yards after contact, and that’s too much. We haven’t had that for a while. Those are things we addressed.”
The Cardinals also spent the week addressing a broader issue from Sunday night: miscommunication.
When Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan found himself wide open behind Cardinals rookie cornerback Brandon Williams, it wasn’t because Hogan had Olympic-caliber speed. Once a Patriots receiver went in motion, a hand signal was relayed to Williams, letting him know that the Cardinals checked from zone to man coverage, and he shouldn’t be handing his coverage off to a safety while rolling back to the line of scrimmage.
That got lost somewhere in translation and the Patriots took a 7-0 lead on QB Jimmy Garoppolo's 37-yard touchdown pass to Hogan.
“That’s just giving a signal,” coach Bruce Arians said. “That’s so first grade. It’s sickening to see that you’d have to coach that, since you coached it for 30 days.”
Even though it was loud inside University of Phoenix Stadium on that play, Bettcher said he told the defense Monday that a hand signal has “got to be good enough” to relay information.
Bettcher took responsibility for all the defense’s issues.
“At the end of the day, it starts with me,” Bettcher said. “We didn’t play well on defense. It starts with me, and I stand in front of the room, stand in front of you guys [the media] and say it starts with me.
“The little things are always big things. The little things, you start stacking them long enough, they become what it’s all about: having your eyes up when you tackle, running your feet, stepping on toes, having the correct leverage in alignments … the little things are important.”
To some degree, the miscommunication was expected, All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson said as the Cardinals prepared for visit on Sunday from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“That’s going to come when you have a couple new faces in the secondary, when you have to communicate, especially in our house,” he said. “We have to make sure that we’re on point and everybody’s on the same page at all times.
“It was times when we weren’t on the same page, but I think we cleaned that up this week throughout practice, and I think we’ll be much better with sound communication.”
Watching the tape, regardless of how helpful it was to see their miscommunications and missed tackles on film, was “the toughest part” of the loss, safety Tyrann Mathieu said.
He felt the entire team was “rattled,” and even though they “expected the unexpected,” the Cardinals “didn’t correct it.”
“Just seemed like those guys were a little bit more prepared than us,” Mathieu said. “They obviously played faster than us. We just didn’t make enough plays.
“Our coaches prepared us the best they could. It’s up to us to go out there and just to perform at a high level.”
As his quarterback said, Peterson felt fixing the Cardinals’ issues won’t be a problem.
While Mathieu wouldn’t lay blame on a secondary that features two new starters -- Williams and safety Tony Jefferson -- Peterson said it’s part of a team that is evolving and changing. But getting things right entails repetition. A lot of repetition.
“Just continue going over it,” Peterson said. “Just continue putting ourselves in situations. Just continue practicing with the speakers outside.
“We just have to continue going over it day in and day out, and that’s the only way we’re going to get better at it. Just seeing different scenarios, putting yourself in that situation so you can be prepared for it.”