Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
It's mid-October and at this point in the Cardinals' 2-3 season they have been haunted by turnovers and impatient play---only to face a team that has haunted them, first by stealing away QB Joe Namath when the Cardinals drafted him in 1965 out of Alabama, then in 2008 there came the hit in NY the Jets' safety Eric Smith laid on Anquan Boldin which broke his face, then in the 2012 debacle where an under-prepared Ryan Lindley issued forth a record number of 3 and outs and Darnell Dockett was so infuriated late in the game to be told to let the Jets' score that he allegedly spit in Kerry Rhodes' face---and to make matters worse it was the Jets two year ago who hired Cardinals DC Todd Bowles as their head coach.
With all that history looming, plus none other than Joe Namath on the ESPN set with Chris Berman during the pre-game, the Cardinals came out and shooed the ghosts of the past present away in mustering an impressive, dominant 28-3 win over the now hapless Jets.
The winning formula for the Cardinals in this game was tough, physical play on both sides of the ball and an outstanding mixture of discipline and patience (two improvement areas the Cardinals have been addressing in recent weeks).
Going in against the NFL's best run defense in the Jets, it was going to be quite a challenge to run versus their highly-talented front...which is made all the more difficult by Todd Bowles' prolific run blitzes---he even had Sheldon Richardson line up as an ILB and come storming up the A and B gaps---which for the Cardinals' two substitute guards, John Wetzel and Earl Watford posed quite a challenge.
Yet, BA adjusted and called a counter play left, which was blocked to perfection and run to perfection by emerging star David Johnson, who glided to his left to let the blocks develop and then slalomed his way around three blocks un till he could race straight downhill to the end zone---and finally the Cardinals had scored a first quarter TD.
The offense would go on to rush for 171 yards thanks to some timely plant and cut runs by Johnson, two 14 yard, methodical TD drives which were capped off by two more TD runs by Johnson, both of which were the result of the Cardinals' offensive line opening up wide paths to the end zone---can anyone recall a game where a Cardinals' RB scored 3 TD on plays where he was never touched? Plus, BA mixed in a couple of effective reverses by J.J. Nelson and then got some chunk runs late in the game by Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor.
In the end, Wetzel and Watford played so well that Jon Gruden awarded them as his "Gruden's Grinders."
This was a breakthrough game for QB Carson Palmer in that he stayed committed to taking what the Jets' defense was giving him. For a while there he, J.J. Nelson and John Brown were putting on a comeback route clinic, knowing the Jets had backed off their coverage to avoid the deep ball. And perhaps Palmer's best throw of the night came on a TD corner pass to Michael Floyd who had to wait patiently for his opportunity to make a big catch.
The Cardinals' defense was the most disciplined it has been in quite some time---they bottled up Matt Forte (9/18 yards) thanks to stout interior run defense by Calais Campbell, Corey Peters and Frostee Rucker and some good fast ILB fills by Kevin Minter and Deone Bucannon. Then the pass rush led by Chandler Jones and Markus Golden put consistent pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick who was rushing the ball all night trying to avoid sacks. Alex Okafor registered to one sack of the night, a strip sack that the Cardinals were not able to pounce on, but a big play nonetheless. Golden was all over the field chasing plays down. But there real key is that the Cardinals interior rushers stayed in their lanes this week and didn't give Fitzgerald easy escape routes---in fact the one time he tried to escape up the middle he was converged on quickly by Rodney Gunter and Robert Nkemdiche and got away with an incomplete shovel pass that looked like a fumble. This rush lane discipline is key to the Cardinals' success in the games ahead.
In the secondary, it looked for some reason like Patrick Peterson was running on ice, slipping and sliding every time Brandon Marshall broke into his route. Tyrann Mathieu was a step behind in nickel coverage as he battles back to regaining his game speed. However, Peterson and Mathieu rebounded with strong performances in the second half, including a sweet sideline interception from the Honey Badger. In addition, the Cardinals got very good coverage from Marcus Cooper and Tharold Simon. Furthermore, FS D.J. Swearinger emerged as the star of the secondary on this night, as he made the hit of the night on one of the Jets' crossing patterns and then put an end to the Jets' best drive of the night with a fabulous interception in the end zone on a play that he said he knew was coming from studying the Jets' tapes during the week.
The special teams were highly competitive and have now played two good games in a row. Nothing spectacular---just solid all the way around. Ryan Quigley has stabilized the punting and holding situation.
Now there are the ghosts from recent Seahawks' routs of the Cardinals in Glendale to contend with. October nights..."Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little team like you..."
With all that history looming, plus none other than Joe Namath on the ESPN set with Chris Berman during the pre-game, the Cardinals came out and shooed the ghosts of the past present away in mustering an impressive, dominant 28-3 win over the now hapless Jets.
The winning formula for the Cardinals in this game was tough, physical play on both sides of the ball and an outstanding mixture of discipline and patience (two improvement areas the Cardinals have been addressing in recent weeks).
Going in against the NFL's best run defense in the Jets, it was going to be quite a challenge to run versus their highly-talented front...which is made all the more difficult by Todd Bowles' prolific run blitzes---he even had Sheldon Richardson line up as an ILB and come storming up the A and B gaps---which for the Cardinals' two substitute guards, John Wetzel and Earl Watford posed quite a challenge.
Yet, BA adjusted and called a counter play left, which was blocked to perfection and run to perfection by emerging star David Johnson, who glided to his left to let the blocks develop and then slalomed his way around three blocks un till he could race straight downhill to the end zone---and finally the Cardinals had scored a first quarter TD.
The offense would go on to rush for 171 yards thanks to some timely plant and cut runs by Johnson, two 14 yard, methodical TD drives which were capped off by two more TD runs by Johnson, both of which were the result of the Cardinals' offensive line opening up wide paths to the end zone---can anyone recall a game where a Cardinals' RB scored 3 TD on plays where he was never touched? Plus, BA mixed in a couple of effective reverses by J.J. Nelson and then got some chunk runs late in the game by Andre Ellington and Stepfan Taylor.
In the end, Wetzel and Watford played so well that Jon Gruden awarded them as his "Gruden's Grinders."
This was a breakthrough game for QB Carson Palmer in that he stayed committed to taking what the Jets' defense was giving him. For a while there he, J.J. Nelson and John Brown were putting on a comeback route clinic, knowing the Jets had backed off their coverage to avoid the deep ball. And perhaps Palmer's best throw of the night came on a TD corner pass to Michael Floyd who had to wait patiently for his opportunity to make a big catch.
The Cardinals' defense was the most disciplined it has been in quite some time---they bottled up Matt Forte (9/18 yards) thanks to stout interior run defense by Calais Campbell, Corey Peters and Frostee Rucker and some good fast ILB fills by Kevin Minter and Deone Bucannon. Then the pass rush led by Chandler Jones and Markus Golden put consistent pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick who was rushing the ball all night trying to avoid sacks. Alex Okafor registered to one sack of the night, a strip sack that the Cardinals were not able to pounce on, but a big play nonetheless. Golden was all over the field chasing plays down. But there real key is that the Cardinals interior rushers stayed in their lanes this week and didn't give Fitzgerald easy escape routes---in fact the one time he tried to escape up the middle he was converged on quickly by Rodney Gunter and Robert Nkemdiche and got away with an incomplete shovel pass that looked like a fumble. This rush lane discipline is key to the Cardinals' success in the games ahead.
In the secondary, it looked for some reason like Patrick Peterson was running on ice, slipping and sliding every time Brandon Marshall broke into his route. Tyrann Mathieu was a step behind in nickel coverage as he battles back to regaining his game speed. However, Peterson and Mathieu rebounded with strong performances in the second half, including a sweet sideline interception from the Honey Badger. In addition, the Cardinals got very good coverage from Marcus Cooper and Tharold Simon. Furthermore, FS D.J. Swearinger emerged as the star of the secondary on this night, as he made the hit of the night on one of the Jets' crossing patterns and then put an end to the Jets' best drive of the night with a fabulous interception in the end zone on a play that he said he knew was coming from studying the Jets' tapes during the week.
The special teams were highly competitive and have now played two good games in a row. Nothing spectacular---just solid all the way around. Ryan Quigley has stabilized the punting and holding situation.
Now there are the ghosts from recent Seahawks' routs of the Cardinals in Glendale to contend with. October nights..."Love is kind of crazy with a spooky little team like you..."
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