TEMPE, Ariz. -- Bobby Massie's summer was consumed by two football-related activities. The Cardinals right tackle spent countless hours studying the playbook to avoid the metal errors that kept him from the starting lineup last season.
He also took up yoga.
"Zone plays to my left are like (expletive) Kryptonite," Massie explained before laughing. "I couldn't swing my left hip open. But in the offseason, I dabbled with it a little bit and did a lot of stretching and things like that. I'm too big to get real serious about yoga, but it worked a little bit."
Massie didn't mastered the pigeon pose, but nobody's complaining with his results on the field. Between Massie and left tackle Jared Veldheer -- Arizona's biggest offseason acquisition -- the offensive line is earning unfamiliar praise through three games.
"I think it's been very, very solid," coach Bruce Arians said. "We're running the ball when we want to run the ball well, the quarterback's been clean for the majority of the time and people are starting to have to blitz us which is a nice thing."
It's been a long time since discussions about the Cardinals' line play didn't focus on its shortcomings. Whether it was Leonard Davis, Levi Brown, Bradley Sowell or Massie, somebody was always taking a beating in the courts of public and media opinion.
Through three games, the Cardinals allowed just five sacks (only six teams allowed fewer), the passing offense has been effective despite the absence of QB Carson Palmer for two of the three games, and the unit hasn't suffered from left guard Jonathan Cooper's inability to wrest the starting job away from Ted Larsen.
"The thing I'm still pressing on them is more run yardage; more chunks plays in the run game," said offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin, whose background and coaching focus is with the offensive line. "We have them in the passing game. Let's get them in the run game. We have to do a better job of finishing blocks in the run game."
A bye week to rest for dinged running backs Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor may help in that regard. But the difference between past years' line play and this year's is impossible to miss in the passing game. Much of that credit should go to Veldheer, who signed a five-year, $35 million deal in the offseason after spending his first four seasons in Oakland.
From the time he arrived, Veldheer was questioned about the pressure he faced and the failings of past men at his position, but he never seemed fazed.
"Every week in the NFL, every person has pressure," he said. "If you don't feel it, I don't know how long you'll be around in this league."
Veldheer's presence and Massie's maturation has allowed the Cardinals a luxury they didn't have in past years when their tackles needed constant help in pass protections. Goodwin insists there is still help built in on most of the team's protections, but there are many plays where Veldheer is left on an island while the tight ends and backs can become a bigger part of the passing game.
So why is it working so well?
"I don't know," Veldheer shrugged with a smile. "I try to focus on what's not working. Maybe when the season is done we can look back and see what was working and carry that into the offseason."
Perhaps the most startling facet of the line's play comes when you realize just how much turnover occurred in the offseason. Both starting tackles are new, as is the left guard. Only veteran center Lyle Sendlein and right guard Paul Fanaika held their spots last season.
Continuity is considered a prerequisite for successful line play.
"I think you have to look at Lyle to explain that because he does an awesome job with his calls and getting everybody on the same page and that's a really big part of this," Veldheer said. "When you have someone like that, who's been here for a while, he makes it so easy for the rest of the line."
Although the team had a bye week and Cooper was able to get a lot of snaps with the first unit, Goodwin has no plans to change his lineup for Sunday's game at Denver.
"I don't believe in rotating unless somebody goes down," he said Goodwin. "Right now, I'm pleased with Ted. I'm pleased with the whole five. We've still got some stupid, mental errors but we're coming along well.
"The longer they play together, the better they're going be as a unit. We start rotating guys in and out, the communication gets screwed up and all of a sudden, bam! Something happens, bad. I'm not about that. If I've got five good guys, I'm going to stick with them.
"If I've got Jordan, Pippen, Rodman and all of the rest of them in the game, I'm not taking them out in the fourth quarter. That's what I'm playing with."
It's still a safe bet that Cooper will regain his role at some point this season, whether through injury or the simple fact that he was the team's first-round pick in 2013 (seventh overall). The leg he broke in the 2013 preseason has fully healed and the turf toe that limited him earlier this season is improving weekly. You don't sit a player of his stature if he's ready to play or you've tacitly admitted you made a draft mistake.
"As I watch Coop, there was always a little hint of a limp. It's starting to go away and I think he's getting more confidence every day on that leg," Goodwin said. "Coop can play. He just has to make that decision that the past is the past as far as an injury and not let that affect him mentally and he'll be fine."
Whatever happens with Cooper, it appears the Cardinals offensive line will also be fine. It's been a long time since anybody could write that.
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