The Arizona Cardinals have found their new head coach in former Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who they officially hired last week. Gannon is fresh off of a Super Bowl appearance, as he led the No. 2 defense in the NFL to the biggest stage, where it ultimately fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35.
It was actually that Super Bowl loss that raised some questions about Gannon. The Eagles held a 10-point lead over the Chiefs at the halftime break in that matchup, but Patrick Mahomes and Co. scored on all four of their second-half possessions to pull off the second-largest comeback in Super Bowl history. Eric Bieniemy and Andy Reid effectively identified weaknesses in Philly's defense -- especially when it came to using motion against the Eagles blitz. All four of Kansas City's touchdowns utilized motion.
This week, Gannon told Peter King that the blame for Super Bowl LVII should fall on him.
"Our players were prepped," Gannon said. "I did not do a good enough job myself to put them in a position to make the play. I didn't do a good enough job to get out of the call what I wanted out of the call. I didn't give them the tools that they needed to win the down.
"On the second one, I thought [Mahomes] was gonna play that as a drop back and that [coverage] was a zero [blitz]. Jesus Christ wouldn't have covered that in a zero."
While Gannon's tenure in Philadelphia ended on a low note, it shouldn't define the tenure as a whole. Gannon proved himself as one of the brightest assistants in the league, and now, he gets a chance to be a lead man. The defensive-minded leader is ready for this new chapter, and guaranteed Arizona is going to get back in the win column.
"We're gonna be very adaptable," Gannon said. "... I'm talking Arizona Cardinals, this is what our team's gonna be. We're gonna be adaptable, we're gonna be violent, we're gonna be explosive and we're gonna be smart and all three phases go into that. And we will maximize the talents of the players that we have and that's how we're gonna win games. And don't get it twisted, we're gonna win games."
