Yardbarker: Ben Graham

Cardinals Continue Road Dominance as They Dominate the Bears 41-21

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:22 -0500

by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP about 14 hours ago: Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells (26) picks up yardage against Chicago Bears defenders Danieal Manning (38) and Charles Tillman (33) in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) View full size photo » They are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook, oh wait that is not ri...

Cardinals Dominate in 27-3 Win Over the Seahawks

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:35 -0500

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP about 15 hours ago: Seattle Seahawks* quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, left, reacts to his fumble while Arizona Cardinals' Adrian Wilson (24) celebrates the turnover recovery by Arizona during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Browse more photos » In week five the Cardinals had to sweat out a win...

Arizona Cardinals Stock Up/Stock Down: Bye Week Edition

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:34:20 -0500

More photos » by Matt York - AP 4 days ago: Arizona Cardinals' Ben Graham (5) and Neil Rackers celebrate Rackers' field goal against the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York) Browse more photos » In continuing with our bye week randomness here's a look at the Arizona Cardinals who have either surpri...

Arizona Cardinal of the Week: Week 3

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:54:11 -0500

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP about 15 hours ago: Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin (81) picks up yards as Indianapolis Colts linebacker Jordan Senn defends during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Browse more photos » Another week's gone, and so are some hopes that the Cardinals would retain the...

Cardinals To Bring Back P Ben Graham?

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:26:10 -0500

Word is the Cardinals saw enough positives from Ben Graham to lean toward re-signing the free-agent Australian punter to a short-term deal ? at a...

FSN Arizona’s Jody Jackson Checks in With Fanster: Thursday Recap from Super Bowl XLIII

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:08:34 -0500

Things are heating up in Tampa, except the weather which has turned to rain and cooler temps. But the friends and family for the Cardinals have arrived. The team

Cards Punter To Become First Australian To Play Super Bowl

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:39:31 -0500

Ben Graham shook his head slowly, nodding in agreement: Yes, if there?s anything more improbable than the Arizona Cardinals being in the Super Bowl,...

Among the stars at media day, former Saints punter Ben Graham

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:33:17 -0500

TAMPA, FLA. -- Tuesday was Super Bowl Media Day, the famed circus-like atmosphere where scores of reporters surround the games biggest stars to ask question after question about anything and everything. The Arizona Cardinals featured 11 players on podiums along...

Saints Cut K Taylor Mehlhaff And P Ben Graham

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:38:53 -0500

The Saints released kicker Taylor Mehlhaff and punter Ben Graham on Tuesday, according to league sources. No replacements have been announced.Both...

Saints Cut Kicker Mehlhaff and Punter Graham

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:09:02 -0500

Today the Saints made two roster moves, cutting both their kicker and punter. The team cut ties with kicker Taylor Mehlhaff, and also punter Ben Graham. As of this point, the team has not made any official roster moves to replace the duo. Both had their issues and the team needs to upgrade each position if they are going to make a serious run at the NFC South title and the postseason.

Can a New Punter Help the Saints Change Their Season?

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:36:57 -0500

Less than 24 hours after the loss against Carolina, the New Orleans Saints have fired and replaced their punter. Coach Sean Payton announced Monday that the Saints have signed 34-year old Ben Graham, formerly with the New York Jets to replace Steve Weatherford. Graham played in four games for the Jets this season, punting 14 times for an average of 43.3 yards, the longest for 56 yards. His career average is 47.7 yards and his career longest was 69 yards in 2006. Thirty-one percent of his punts have hit inside the 20. He was released by the Jets for the second time this season in September. Weatherford, who had been with the team since 2006, punted five times against Carolina with an average 35.4 yards. Field position had been a major advantage for the Panthers. Weatherford was let go by the team following the game on Sunday. His career average was 43.5 yards per punt and his career longest was 61 yards. Graham is already in London and will be with the team for their game against the Chargers next week.

A Win is a Win

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:20:08 -0500

In the NFL you take a win any way you can. Every week each opponent has an opportunity to win no matter what the line is or what analysts say. As a Jet fan, never once did I think we had the game vs. the Bengals in hand. From the opening score (Brett Favre fumble which was recovered and returned for a Bengal TD) to the final whistle the Jets did not look like a Super Bowl contender. A fine tuned team would have put this Bengal team away early and scored often. The Jets did have there opportunities to put this one away but penalties, take aways, and again bad play calling hampered those chances. The Jets can get away with that against teams that have packed it in and have no belief in there teams direction and output. Versus teams that are hitting on all cylinders the Jets will struggle. Special Teams & Defense The box score doesn't tell the entire story all the time. The Jets still need to play the field position game a whole lot better. The kick off and punt cover teams have to get better in a hurry as the season is only going to get harder. The Jets need to find ways of kicking the ball farther and or tackle better and have there opponents go 70-80 yards to score rather then 50-60 yards to score. A longer field means more opportunities to fail. More opportunities to have an INT, fumble, not making a first down and forced to punt or attempt a longer field goal. The play calling on defense will only appear to be better when the opponent has a longer field to work with vs. a short field. For some reason the Jets defensive coaches get in a prevent mode too often and too early in games. I always believe you never let up on the gas pedal in the NFL. Meaning you can not turn pressure on and off. My point is you can not ask players to play aggressive some times and preventive in other times. I still hate watching three men rush the passer and eight go back in coverage. Every time the Jets rushed four or five the QB had to react. When the Jets only rushed three the QB had time to think and make plays. Four quarters of in your face football. That is what I would like to see. Between all the first round draft picks and free agent acquisitions we have the talent to put pressure on the QB and play on there side on the line of scrimmage. Bottom line, Kerry Jenkins is a stud. You can tell when he is not on the field because the Jets get pushed off the line quite often when Jenkins is not in there. The difference in the 3-4 defense, the two gap technique hampers defensive linemen from making tackles for losses. A good two gapper will make a tackle for a two yard gain in a 3-4 scheme. I would like to see more stunts and schemes where you ask them to shoot gaps (one gap) and play on there side on the line of scrimmage. This will put oppositions in worse down and distance scenarios. Meaning you can be more creative when it is second down and twelve yards to go or third and eight situations. Too many times do I see a third down and three situations because we catch up front and get moved back for positive gains. Teams that have both a running and passing game will kill us because they will dictate and move the ball at will because of the bend but do not break mentality. I blame head coach Eric Mangini on that because he knows no other way. That is what he did in New England while he was there. Mangini better wake up fast because he has a gun slinger at QB and mistakes and turnovers will happen. Good teams score off of your mistakes and turnovers. That is why I never once believed we had this game in hand. I wish and hope for the Jet brass to address the kicking game and practice the hell out of it. They need to get better fast in this area. Look at the average staring position rather then hang time and how far the kick went. Ben Graham would either kick it very far or out of bounds twenty five or thirty yards down field where as R. Hodges has good hang time but does not kick it very far. Either or your special teams unit needs to get repetitions after repetitions to get there timing down. I know there have been some injuries but it is how you prepare that makes or breaks you. This area needs some attention to and bringing back players and having new faces only hinders your overall performance. Keep it simple stupid and stick with one punter so that the other 10 can get there timing down. And if Feeley can not kick it off very far work with the other 10 on pursuit angles and position the kick each week to the weaker returner. Does a Nascar driver take his foot off the gas pedal? Did the Giants get passive with Tom Brady in the Super Bowl or during the payoffs? Did the Patriots get passive when trying to go unbeaten and break passing records last year? The new style in the NFL is getting after the QB quickly so he has no time to think. Practice is designed to prepare you for every scenario you may see during the game so that you react quickly. My point is the Jets need to dictate the game on defense. Do not give any QB time to think and so he carves you up and makes you look like Swiss cheese. Get in his face and make him make bad decisions which means better results (INT's, fumbles, sacks, grounding, tackles for a loss etca??)

Jets Release P Ben Graham For Second Time This Year

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:16:13 -0500

The Jets have cut Ben Graham for the second time in two weeks. "Our net [average] was very good, the gross wasn't bad, but it's more difficult to...

2007 GNUru Fantasy Football Kicker Rankings

Sun, 05 Aug 2007 23:04:30 -0500

Ok, so you could probably care less about where the GNUru has ranked this years crop of fantasy kickers...but that doesn't mean you should show up uninformed for your fantasy draft in regards to kickers. From Robbie Gould to Automatica Gramatica..the GNUru ranks them all!