Ok, a few minor points about this lore that Wilson was benched because he can't cover. You may remember that the Cardinals started 3-0 and then proceeded to lose 5 in a row. Whizenhut, desparate to save the team and his job, decided to make an example of Wilson and "benched" him in the Falcons game.
So, what exactly does "benching" mean in this context? He played only like 45 of 70 snaps, not all 70 like he usually did. After the game, Whizenhut famously said about benching one of the most popular athletes in the state of Arizona, that they were better in pass defense. "See it worked," or something like that.
The fact that they lost the freaking game didn't seem to matter all that much for Whiz the idiot. There is a reason the guy is not a head coach any more. The "improved" defensive Cardinals with Wilson sitting on the bench about 25 to 35 snaps a game proceeded to lose 6 out of 7, including 58-0 to the Seahawks. Of course, at that point, Whiz was locked in. And he stubbornly kept Wilson on the bench.
One might observe that before the "benching" of Adrian Wilson, the defense with him playing virtually every snap, among other things: (1) Held Russell Wilson to 18-34 for 151 yards, (2) held Brady to 28-46 passing, and (3) held teams to 20.8 points per game even though they had zero offense whatsoever and punted or turned the ball over on virtually every possession.
After the "benching" of Adrian Wilson, the supposedly improved Cardinals gave up 23 points per game.
Now, I'm not going to try to make the case that the Cardinals were a better pass defense team with Wilson in there. I don't think they were. And the game that led to the "benching" was a game where Alex Smith picked them apart with short passes and completely like 18 for 19 or something. But maybe 4 or 5 were in Wilson's vacinity.
I also have my eyes and I've seen Wilson play live perhaps 50 times, as a Cardinals season ticket holder. And there's no doubt that he seemed a step slower last year. But everyone step back from the cliff. He's a veteran player who hits hard and makes guys scared to come across the middle. The notion that he was some sort of weak link that teams exploited to beat the Cardinals passing defense is simply a fantasy. The true story is that he is a pro bowl player who is now 33 and no longer is as quick to the ball as he was when he was 28. Whizenhut was absolute idiot of a coach who caught lightening in a bottle one year to make the super bowl after going 8-8 in the regular season when all 4 of the top seeds dropped out of the NFC playoffs and the 5th seed Cardinals got to host an NFCCG. With players like Docket, Rolle, Boldin, Fitzgerald, and Kurt Warner he was able to win a couple of games in the playoffs. He's not a rocket scientist and the fact that he wanted to make a scapegoat out of the franchise player to save a 3-5 team and try to save his job doesn't make Wilson a bad player. He's mostly an idiot that wasn't a very good coach, and so holding the fact that he "benched" Wilson up there as evidence that he's a bad player is not the best evidence.
So, come back from the ledge everyone. Yes, we may want to sub sometimes on obvious passing downs. But this is a solid, strong, nasty, big, physical player that makes players on the other team want to go back to the locker room.
