10 thoughts - Cowboys game

[Gandhi]

1 – What a wonderful last drive. The Cowboys were on their way back, and all momentum were on their side. Then, when it mattered the most, the Cards went on a time consuming, methodical drive to kill the game, and never gave the Cowboys a chance to finish the comeback. Beautiful job.

2 – I certainly did not expect Kelvin Beachum to be moved over to left tackle. Not sure that I liked it.

3 – You could argue that Jeff Rodgers’ trickery (fake punt, Prater and Murray on the field at the same time) ended up as some of the most decisive plays in the game.

4 – Very impressed with Kyler Murray. Sure he made mistakes, but he put the team on his back. Multiple times standing “tall” in the pocket and looking for the right play, even though he got hit hard. Taking the hard runs to get the yards, again even though it would hurt.

5 – So Josh Jones couldn’t play tackle either, huh?

6 – B.P. Green has found a nice role in the offense.

(*Big Play)

7 – At least to my knowledge, neither J.J. Watt nor DeAndre Hopkins have been completely ruled out for the season. It would be massive to get them back for the playoffs.

8 – Corey Peters has clearly taken a step back this season, but this was his best game.

9 – A couple of times each year Budda Baker will have these out-of-this-world games. He is such a great and fun player to watch.

10 – Do anyone really doubt that the Cardinals will end in a showdown with Bruce Arians and the rest of his coaching staff?

 

[pemory09]

Great points Gandhi. Many thanks for the good read.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

2. Made the most sense because Beachum & Jones are tackles. Easier to switch a veteran to the other side than a rookie one would think? Jones was a tackle at Houston, not a guard, time will tell what he becomes with us?

4. I was more impressed with how many snaps KK had Kyler under center, he needs to keep doing that & even more. His playbook can really expand with Kyler under center on misdirection & play action.

8. Corey Peters played very well yesterday, love the dude, he's from right here in Louisville, played for the University of Kentucky. Age is catching up to him though & it probably doesn't help that he's coming back from knee surgery in the off season. We need Jordan Phillips back along side Peters.

 

[cardncubfan]

#10 is what I've been feeling as well. I've been seeing the Cards vs the Bucs in the NFCCG.

 

[Totally_Red]

3. We are fortunate to have Jeff Rodgers. Special teams were the difference in this game. Prater was perfect. Zeurline missed a FG and almost missed a PAT. The Banjo to Ward fake punt play was perfectly executed. And the Prater + Murray goal line feint cost Dallas a crucial timeout and the chance to challenge the Edmonds fumble.

Rodgers should get a game ball.

 

[slanidrac16]

1 – What a wonderful last drive. The Cowboys were on their way back, and all momentum were on their side. Then, when it mattered the most, the Cards went on a time consuming, methodical drive to kill the game, and never gave the Cowboys a chance to finish the comeback. Beautiful job.

Still wish we were protecting a 4 pt. lead which it should have been. We were 1 holding penalty away from the Cowboys getting the ball and needing just a fg. But yes, nice drive.

2 – I certainly did not expect Kelvin Beachum to be moved over to left tackle. Not sure that I liked it.

He didn’t do bad.

3 – You could argue that Jeff Rodgers’ trickery (fake punt, Prater and Murray on the field at the same time) ended up as some of the most decisive plays in the game.

No doubt.

4 – Very impressed with Kyler Murray. Sure he made mistakes, but he put the team on his back. Multiple times standing “tall” in the pocket and looking for the right play, even though he got hit hard. Taking the hard runs to get the yards, again even though it would hurt.

He certainly took some hits.

5 – So Josh Jones couldn’t play tackle either, huh?

Except for the penalties (2?) didn’t hear his name mentioned so that’s good.

6 – B.P. Green has found a nice role in the offense.

(*Big Play)

I should be happier but he seems disinterested at times.

7 – At least to my knowledge, neither J.J. Watt nor DeAndre Hopkins have been completely ruled out for the season. It would be massive to get them back for the playoffs.

Watt yes. Hopkins next year.

8 – Corey Peters has clearly taken a step back this season, but this was his best game.

Guy plays his heart out but his range is about a yard in either direction.

9 – A couple of times each year Budda Baker will have these out-of-this-world games. He is such a great and fun player to watch.

Budda is a winner!

10 – Do anyone really doubt that the Cardinals will end in a showdown with Bruce Arians and the rest of his coaching staff?

Of course.

 

[Cardiac]

The Cowboys are very good in the trenches so I think Beechum and Jones did fairly well. Kyler was sacked once IIRC, now the rushing attack was not so good but again the Cowboys have a great Dline.

Watt has an outside chance of returning at some point but I doubt Hopkins makes is back.

 

[Gandhi]

Great points Gandhi. Many thanks for the good read.

Pemory, I highly appreciate it. It is obviously for you, and people like you, that I write these columns.

 

[Gandhi]

2. Made the most sense because Beachum & Jones are tackles. Easier to switch a veteran to the other side than a rookie one would think? Jones was a tackle at Houston, not a guard, time will tell what he becomes with us?

CFL, my guess is that he will not be on the roster next year, and if he is, that he will not get a new contract the year after, unless he takes a big step forward. I would be surprised if he does not end up as a wasted draft pick. I think he only plays because Justin Murray is injured.

 

[Gandhi]

No doubt. [Jeff Rodgers impressive]

I fully believe, Slanidrac, that he should get head coach consideration. Had Kingsbury left, for whatever reason (Oklahoma?), I believe that Rodgers would have been a very strong candidate to replace him. Mr. Bidwill and Keim already brought Rodgers with them from Wilks’ staff to Kingsbury’s, and I highly doubt that they have regretted that. Now, if Keim is replaced before Rodgers potentially leave, a new general manager certainly wants to bring in his own guy – and that is the way it should be – but I would be sad to see Rodgers leave.

Except for the penalties (2?) didn’t hear his name mentioned so that’s good.

Especially Randy Gregory humiliated him a couple of times. Which Murray then felt.

 

[PACardsFan]

I'm not a huge fan of Beachum, but he did play very well against the Cowboys. Kudos to him for stepping up. What does that tell us about Humphries? Thought he really played well last season, but seeing too many whiffs this year from his side. Gandhi, really nice job with this. Thought you hit the nail on the head with your summary. We really have to love Corey Peters. He's been a true Cardinal through thick & thin. A knee injury like he incurred can do awful things to a large man like himself, but he comes out & gives it his all every week. And lastly, Budda Baker is really special. Keim gets a lot of grief on this board, and sometimes he deserves it, but kudos to him for seeing beyond the sheer numbers, and signing this dude to a new contract when he did. I believe he'll be a Cardinal for life.

 

[DaHilg]

In regards to the tackles I agree completely.. at the same time with Kyler being such a mobile QB, it seems the tackle position may not be as important to this team as the interior O-line. More space for Kyler to avoid edge rushers where as pressure on the inside takes away the pocket and any inside lanes to run through putting him in a rather predictable spot on the edge where those rushers at that point just need to be in a contain position as Kyler is essentially running right into them in trying to escape the inside pressure (now he still should be just tossing it out of bounds instead of the consistent 12 yard sack - as he is still athletic enough to get outside the tackle box in those scenarios).

PS - yes that was one heck of a run on sentence, but mobile!

 

[dreamcastrocks]

3 – You could argue that Jeff Rodgers’ trickery (fake punt, Prater and Murray on the field at the same time) ended up as some of the most decisive plays in the game.

I thought the (fake punt, Prater and Murray on the field at the same time) was Kliff's best play call of his entire career. That forced them to use the time out that they would have used (and wasted) on the fumble. It ended up being huge down the line. I don't know if I have ever seen that happen before.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

3. We are fortunate to have Jeff Rodgers. Special teams were the difference in this game. Prater was perfect. Zeurline missed a FG and almost missed a PAT. The Banjo to Ward fake punt play was perfectly executed. And the Prater + Murray goal line feint cost Dallas a crucial timeout and the chance to challenge the Edmonds fumble.

Rodgers should get a game ball.

The ball was really underthrown. It worked out in the end but it wasn't executed perfectly... just sayin'.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

It’s too bad Rodgers How do you use his bag of tricks in this game due to the cards three-game skid. It would’ve been nice to have those arrows in the quote for the playoff game versus Dallas. But, you never know. I’ll take the win.

 

[Krangodnzr]

1 – What a wonderful last drive. The Cowboys were on their way back, and all momentum were on their side. Then, when it mattered the most, the Cards went on a time consuming, methodical drive to kill the game, and never gave the Cowboys a chance to finish the comeback. Beautiful job.

That is one thing that the Cardinals under Kingsbury have seemed to be able to do on multiple occasions, close out games with the run game at the end. And often there are at least a few wrinkle plays mixed in as well.

2 – I certainly did not expect Kelvin Beachum to be moved over to left tackle. Not sure that I liked it.

It made the most sense. Beachum has played a ton of LT and the next man up was....Joshua Miles? No thank you.

What has been lost a lot of the year is that losing Justin Murray was a fairly large blow to the OL depth. He is a pretty damn good backup.

3 – You could argue that Jeff Rodgers’ trickery (fake punt, Prater and Murray on the field at the same time) ended up as some of the most decisive plays in the game.

Jeff Rodgers isn't talked about enough, but the Cardinals special teams are substantially better under Kingsbury's staff.

4 – Very impressed with Kyler Murray. Sure he made mistakes, but he put the team on his back. Multiple times standing “tall” in the pocket and looking for the right play, even though he got hit hard. Taking the hard runs to get the yards, again even though it would hurt.

Murray still made a number of mistakes, but a lot of the incompletions were on the receivers this time around. There was at least two deep passes that receivers should have caught.

What I found remarkable was that despite the numbers, Prescott wasn't that good. I haven't watched a ton of Cowboys games, but I've heard he puts up a lot of empty stats.

5 – So Josh Jones couldn’t play tackle either, huh?

Outside of penalties, he had a pretty decent game.

6 – B.P. Green has found a nice role in the offense.

(*Big Play)

AJ Green is still the same guy who made seven straight Pro Bowls, just a little older.

7 – At least to my knowledge, neither J.J. Watt nor DeAndre Hopkins have been completely ruled out for the season. It would be massive to get them back for the playoffs.

I like the Cardinals chances if both come back.

8 – Corey Peters has clearly taken a step back this season, but this was his best game.

He's older but he is still very much a good rotational lineman at this point.

9 – A couple of times each year Budda Baker will have these out-of-this-world games. He is such a great and fun player to watch.

Have you noticed that his naysayers on this board don't "naysay" as much anymore? Baker is such a fun player to watch, he plays safety the way the game is supposed to be played.

10 – Do anyone really doubt that the Cardinals will end in a showdown with Bruce Arians and the rest of his coaching staff?

I dread that match up. You just know Arians is going to be smug.

 

[Rivercard]

Corey Peters played very well yesterday, love the dude, he's from right here in Louisville, played for the University of Kentucky.

A Louisville guy playing in Lexington for UK? Ick. As a Louisville guy myself, I would call that a traitor.

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

A Louisville guy playing in Lexington for UK? Ick. As a Louisville guy myself, I would call that a traitor.

I'm a Louisville guy with season tickets for Kentucky football in Lexington & I'm no traitor lol. I love the Cardinals............the ones in Arizona lol, not Louisville. All jokes aside, you still live in Louisville?

 

[Cardsfaninlouky]

CFL, my guess is that he will not be on the roster next year, and if he is, that he will not get a new contract the year after, unless he takes a big step forward. I would be surprised if he does not end up as a wasted draft pick. I think he only plays because Justin Murray is injured.

Not my guess at all man. He'll be on the roster next year, he played decent on Sunday at tackle & that showed SK he deserves a look there, especially if Beachum goes down. The more snaps he gets, the more experience he'll have to roll the dice with. Justin Murray looked really good at guard before he got hurt & I think he's here to stay. Doesn't hurt to have both Jones & Murray that can play both guard & tackle on the right side.

 

[Chopper0080]

I don't think Arians will be smug. I think he knows the score and won a Super Bowl. He can appreciate the opportunity he had in Arizona and how it led him to where he is at regardless of it ending the way he wanted.

 

[Rivercard]

I'm a Louisville guy with season tickets for Kentucky football in Lexington & I'm no traitor lol. I love the Cardinals............the ones in Arizona lol, not Louisville. All jokes aside, you still live in Louisville?

My dad was a professor at UL for many years until he retired. I grew up there and became a Hilltopper in college. The St. Louis football Cardinals were the home market for Louisville at the time along with the cruddy Bengals (no brainer who to root for there!). I'm in Los Angeles now but still root for the Cards (both AZ and UL of course). My username (Rivercard) is a reference to the Ohio river and my love/hate relationship with the Cardinals, that and my fondness for poker.

TMI probably

 

[dreamcastrocks]

My dad was a professor at UL for many years until he retired. I grew up there and became a Hilltopper in college. The St. Louis football Cardinals were the home market for Louisville at the time along with the cruddy Bengals (no brainer who to root for there!). I'm in Los Angeles now but still root for the Cards (both AZ and UL of course). My username (Rivercard) is a reference to the Ohio river and my love/hate relationship with the Cardinals, that and my fondness for poker.

TMI probably

I have been doing very well playing micro stakes online while working. Won 2 tournaments with close to 1000k entrants each within the past two weeks.

 

[Rivercard]

I have been doing very well playing micro stakes online while working. Won 2 tournaments with close to 1000k entrants each within the past two weeks.

Sweet! I was doing very well online playing 5 table tourneys before the feds celebrated freedom by shutting it all down. Where are you playing now?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Sweet! I was doing very well online playing 5 table tourneys before the feds celebrated freedom by shutting it all down. Where are you playing now?

Americas Cardroom.

I was doing quite well back then as well. Won about 10k casually and had about $1500 tied up on Full Tilt Poker when the shutdown happened. Finally got paid via Poker Stars about 10 years after the shutdown.

 

[Gandhi]

In regards to the tackles I agree completely.. at the same time with Kyler being such a mobile QB, it seems the tackle position may not be as important to this team as the interior O-line. More space for Kyler to avoid edge rushers where as pressure on the inside takes away the pocket and any inside lanes to run through putting him in a rather predictable spot on the edge where those rushers at that point just need to be in a contain position as Kyler is essentially running right into them in trying to escape the inside pressure (now he still should be just tossing it out of bounds instead of the consistent 12 yard sack - as he is still athletic enough to get outside the tackle box in those scenarios).

PS - yes that was one heck of a run on sentence, but mobile!

DH, that is great point. Do you see interior help as the biggest need this offseason? I personally think that Justin Pugh and Rodney Hudson should stay, but certainly the right guard spot can be upgraded.