Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
One simple way of defining yesterday's loss: The Rams got better play on the interior of both lines. The Rams' guards opened holes on a consistent basis...which really wasn't that hard to do considering all one of them had to do was downblock on Russell "Sitting Duck" Davis and root him out five yards laterally. And Darnell Dockett fires a gap and get can get moved out of the hole he jumps into. Dockett is a relentless pass rusher...but he's not a run stuffer.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinal guards are getting little to no movement on the opposing DTs. DT Jimmy Kennedy dominated at his position at the point of attack...and having to worry about Kennedy, the offensive line forgot a basic blocking rule, particularly on a short drop: protect the inside gap. This is why Adam Archuletta had a clear shot at Warner in a one step drop with the game on the line.
Why are the Packers 0-2? The lost both guards ro free agency, and now they can't run the ball like they used to and all the pressure is falling on Bret Favre's shoulders.
Guard play is the most under-rated aspect of pro football. If a team's guards can get a push on today's beefed up DTs, chances are the team will be able to run the ball. Conversely, if they can't...the team becomes more and more one-dimensional.
The Patriots lost yesterday largely because their running game is not working. Even Tom Brady couldn't save the day all by himself. The Patriots lost a key player when starting guard Joe Andruzzi defected to Cleveland (who beat the Packers yesterday). In Andruzzi's place is a rookie....Logan Mankins...and he's good...but rookie starters in the offensive line are generally too raw to generate consistent play.
The frustrating thing about the Cardinals is that they have potentially the best mauler at guard in the league in Leonard Davis. He has the girth and the strength to move any DT in the league. Instead, he's on the perimter blocking svelte DEs...all to little avail, when the players on the interior are getting outmuscled at the point of attack.
If there's one place to compromise in a running attack it's at offensive tackle...because the offensive tackles have easier run responsibilities having to block a DE that's 25-35 pounds lighter than a DT.
As for the Cardinals' NT philosophy...it doesn't work and won't work if the NT can't command and hold up the double team. Russell Davis does neither...and once he's tied up, he almost never sheds quick enough to get to the ball carrier and make a tackle.
All this past off-season many of the fans here at ASFN were agog in anticipation of the Cardinals acquiring two offensive guards and a run stuffing NT. Adding a good rookie prospect at RG in Elton Brown was nice...but it's not smart thinking to anticipate that he would be ready to solve the Cardinals' woes at the position. Meanwhile, other teams were signing young, talented, already proven guards like Pittsburgh's Keydrick Vincent and New England's Joe Andruzzi to reasonably modest deals. Back at the ranch, Dennis Green was saying, "We like what we have in Wells and Bridges." Who is kidding whom?
What so perplexing about Green is that one minute he's a master talent evaluator (recent drafts would corroborate this notion), the next minute he can't seem to understand that Wells and Bridges simply don't have the talent to get the job done...not even close. Then, he goes and signs perhaps the most immobile QB in the league, setting up a recipe for disaster.
Kurt Warner still has some gas left in his tank...but it looks like the tank is getting shallow. While Warner has been reasonably accurate with his passes, many of his passes come out of his hand now nose-up and fluttering. Warner still appears to have good vision, but his time is particularly limited by the poor guard play up front...and the only hope really is to line him up in the shotgun and have him take a three step drop from there so he can buy time to survey the field.
Warner held his composure yesterday...but lost his focus in key situations. His numbers were impressive despite all the pressure and penalties. Yet, we all know that numbers are frequently misleading.
What compounds the Warner situation is his one-year contract. It's possible that the Cardinals could spend this whole season or much of it having Warner run the offesne and then part ways with him after the season...leaving once again, no continuity at the most important position in football.
A new starter would have to assimilate into the system and the timing aspects of the passing game...and even for a veteran like Warner, as we have been seeing, that's not easy.
Poor clock management was a huge issue with last year's team...and continues to be this year. This is a reflection of coaching...although a veteran like Warner should know that spiking the ball to stop the clock is imperative in yesterday's situation.
At this point...Dennis Green does not appear to be a sound decision maker on the sidelines. And yesterday, he looked like he was crawling back into the shell on the sidelines that he fell into repeatedly last year...a stirring contrast to the how much of the middle of the players and emotions he was in the first pre-season game against Dallas.
That Dallas pre-season game was a ruse and a real teaser...the players were flying around with tremendous passion, urgency and tempo. Each week since then the tempo and been slowly diminshing...as has the tackling...as has the blocking...as has the mental toughness that wins football games.
The reports (from the Republic this past week) that Green usually stands in the middle of practice and simply observes and involves himself very little are disturbing. The fact that he's not over trying to assist his rookie and underqualified o-line coach in Everett Lindsay, is all the more disturbing. One has to wonder just how badly Green wants to win...and whether he's willing to get his elbows dirty to get this thing going. His arrogant and rather matter-of-fact demeanor in the post game press conferences doesn't give the impression that he's all that affected by losing...it looks as if he throws everything back in the players' faces and makes them deal with it.
This is the same guy who at his press conference the day he was hired posted his won-loss records for all to see...guess we can get it straight...Denny wins...the players lose.
On the other side of the ball, the Cardinal guards are getting little to no movement on the opposing DTs. DT Jimmy Kennedy dominated at his position at the point of attack...and having to worry about Kennedy, the offensive line forgot a basic blocking rule, particularly on a short drop: protect the inside gap. This is why Adam Archuletta had a clear shot at Warner in a one step drop with the game on the line.
Why are the Packers 0-2? The lost both guards ro free agency, and now they can't run the ball like they used to and all the pressure is falling on Bret Favre's shoulders.
Guard play is the most under-rated aspect of pro football. If a team's guards can get a push on today's beefed up DTs, chances are the team will be able to run the ball. Conversely, if they can't...the team becomes more and more one-dimensional.
The Patriots lost yesterday largely because their running game is not working. Even Tom Brady couldn't save the day all by himself. The Patriots lost a key player when starting guard Joe Andruzzi defected to Cleveland (who beat the Packers yesterday). In Andruzzi's place is a rookie....Logan Mankins...and he's good...but rookie starters in the offensive line are generally too raw to generate consistent play.
The frustrating thing about the Cardinals is that they have potentially the best mauler at guard in the league in Leonard Davis. He has the girth and the strength to move any DT in the league. Instead, he's on the perimter blocking svelte DEs...all to little avail, when the players on the interior are getting outmuscled at the point of attack.
If there's one place to compromise in a running attack it's at offensive tackle...because the offensive tackles have easier run responsibilities having to block a DE that's 25-35 pounds lighter than a DT.
As for the Cardinals' NT philosophy...it doesn't work and won't work if the NT can't command and hold up the double team. Russell Davis does neither...and once he's tied up, he almost never sheds quick enough to get to the ball carrier and make a tackle.
All this past off-season many of the fans here at ASFN were agog in anticipation of the Cardinals acquiring two offensive guards and a run stuffing NT. Adding a good rookie prospect at RG in Elton Brown was nice...but it's not smart thinking to anticipate that he would be ready to solve the Cardinals' woes at the position. Meanwhile, other teams were signing young, talented, already proven guards like Pittsburgh's Keydrick Vincent and New England's Joe Andruzzi to reasonably modest deals. Back at the ranch, Dennis Green was saying, "We like what we have in Wells and Bridges." Who is kidding whom?
What so perplexing about Green is that one minute he's a master talent evaluator (recent drafts would corroborate this notion), the next minute he can't seem to understand that Wells and Bridges simply don't have the talent to get the job done...not even close. Then, he goes and signs perhaps the most immobile QB in the league, setting up a recipe for disaster.
Kurt Warner still has some gas left in his tank...but it looks like the tank is getting shallow. While Warner has been reasonably accurate with his passes, many of his passes come out of his hand now nose-up and fluttering. Warner still appears to have good vision, but his time is particularly limited by the poor guard play up front...and the only hope really is to line him up in the shotgun and have him take a three step drop from there so he can buy time to survey the field.
Warner held his composure yesterday...but lost his focus in key situations. His numbers were impressive despite all the pressure and penalties. Yet, we all know that numbers are frequently misleading.
What compounds the Warner situation is his one-year contract. It's possible that the Cardinals could spend this whole season or much of it having Warner run the offesne and then part ways with him after the season...leaving once again, no continuity at the most important position in football.
A new starter would have to assimilate into the system and the timing aspects of the passing game...and even for a veteran like Warner, as we have been seeing, that's not easy.
Poor clock management was a huge issue with last year's team...and continues to be this year. This is a reflection of coaching...although a veteran like Warner should know that spiking the ball to stop the clock is imperative in yesterday's situation.
At this point...Dennis Green does not appear to be a sound decision maker on the sidelines. And yesterday, he looked like he was crawling back into the shell on the sidelines that he fell into repeatedly last year...a stirring contrast to the how much of the middle of the players and emotions he was in the first pre-season game against Dallas.
That Dallas pre-season game was a ruse and a real teaser...the players were flying around with tremendous passion, urgency and tempo. Each week since then the tempo and been slowly diminshing...as has the tackling...as has the blocking...as has the mental toughness that wins football games.
The reports (from the Republic this past week) that Green usually stands in the middle of practice and simply observes and involves himself very little are disturbing. The fact that he's not over trying to assist his rookie and underqualified o-line coach in Everett Lindsay, is all the more disturbing. One has to wonder just how badly Green wants to win...and whether he's willing to get his elbows dirty to get this thing going. His arrogant and rather matter-of-fact demeanor in the post game press conferences doesn't give the impression that he's all that affected by losing...it looks as if he throws everything back in the players' faces and makes them deal with it.
This is the same guy who at his press conference the day he was hired posted his won-loss records for all to see...guess we can get it straight...Denny wins...the players lose.
