Broncos 19 Cardinals 0: Game Notes and Roster Prediction

[Mitch]

Mark Jones was just waived by Tennessee. He led Carolina to the 3rd highest punt return average in the NFL last year (39/443/11.4/55) and was signed by the Titans this off-season. Lost the job to the #30 pick WR Kenny Britt of Rutgers (remember our conversation about him Joe?).

He signed a two year deal and was already paid a signing bonus of $200K (which is money in his bank at this point)...so if the Cardinals claim him they'd have him for two years.

Also returned 40 kickoffs last year for a 24.0 average and a long of 59.

 

[Mitch]

Agree with everything you said Mitch. Yeah, the drinkers on the board can keep saying "It's only preseason, wait until they count". How many times do you see the best teams in the league get smoked and lack the desire to even compete whether the games count or dont? Maybe once a year. There are some serious problems with these players mindset, thinking they can turn it off & turn it on when they want to. Does the HC have to go postal on these guys once a year to shake them out of funk? It;s only going to work so many times. Wiz is ultimately responsible for getting a team prepared, but if the damn team doesn't want to suit up for battle and fight for pride then shame on them.

It's only preseason, right? Let's just see how this team responds in the 1st 4 games when they count. To me this team is mentally out of it & some players see the signs of whats ahead, just ask AW or Fitz. The warnings sign are there!!!

Yeah, Bucky. You know the Cardinals were actually more consistently competitive during the regular season in Whiz's first year, when they were in 14 of the 16 games right down to the wire.

It will be interesting to see just how consistently competitive they are this year.

 

[lobo]

All I meant was sharing 3rd down duties with LSH.

Beanie will get plenty of touches, you're right.[/quote



Mr. Mitchell....good reading!!! Agreeing or not is far from the point... happen to be pretty much under the tent.....I never have nor ever expect to look at preseason as anything put organized excercise....yeah, one can through the discipline etc stuff out, but in my opinion the team is fundamentally sound albeit to play a consistant 3/4 the front line MUST look better than they have shown to this point

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

lance long. i've never seen a guy who's 6th,or 7th, best at his position and will have a very minimal,at best, impact on the Cards season get so much attention.

 

[lauraw]

Hi Mitch!! Thank you for your analysis, which was right one as far as I'm concerned!!

 

[binkar]

Mitch,

I haven't read over much of this thread so I don't know what has been said and what hasn't. I agree with many of your comments and think your list of 53 is pretty solid. That said, I think the idea of having Warner call the plays is absolute insanity. Why are you calling for a change in the play calling when there has been zero game planning done thus far? Whis has said multiple times that he often calls plays in the preseason to get a closer look at certain players in certain circumstances as opposed to simply trying to exploit weaknesses. Does this mean that he doesn't want to win the game? Absolutely not. Nor does it mean that he doesn't expect the plays he called to work. But when his first priority is to take a look at certain players in certain situations (in order to gather the best 53 football players) it should be expected that the results aren't going to be as successful. The players he knows most about, and thus doesn't need to evaluate, are the ones who generally win us the ball games (Fitz, Boldin, etc.).

I simply think it is very premature and unwise to say that the play calling hasn't been great, and to have Warner, who has an obvious agenda/bias, call plays is crazy. there are definitely things to be concerned about, but IMO the play calling isn't one of them.

 

[az1965]

To me, Karlos Dansby, the player you are citing, is one of the players who has been at the very heart of this problem. Did you watch how Dansby played in the Philadelphia, Minnesota and New England games last year? This is why it's very hard to accept the term "leader" applied to Karlos Dansby.

In essence, Dansby is a symbol of the team's problem. Blessed with a great deal of natural ability, Dansby shows up when he wants to...in games, that he thinks are meaningful. And sure, in those games, he has a penchant for turning in good performances...but...a true leader plays hard every snap of every practice, pre-season game and regular season game...he doesn't dog it when the lights are low, or ham it up just when the lights are the brightest.

I agree regarding Dansby not being a team leader. Neither do I consider him a "core" player for the same reasons even though their is no question about his physical abilities.

 

[WildBB]

RB (3): Hightower, Wells, Stephens-Howling. Wright did not do enough and he did not stand out on STs either. It came down to him or Lance Long and Long offers more on STs, and offers depth at a position where three of the top 5 WRs are currently injured. Look for Beanie Wells and LSH to split time as 3rd down RBs. And, at some point another RB may be added through waivers.

I disagree with you assessment here Walter. I think that in the GB game Wright ran hard in the 2nd half of that game. He's tough and brings toughness to the ST's as well. I think he sticks.

 

[az1965]

Ralph Brown epitomizes the current Cardinal apathy...as does Bertrand Berry.

I thought Brown played well in playoffs.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Reggie Wells was on Sirius NFL radio today just before noon. He mentioned that a few young guys had already been cut but didn't mention names.

My guess is that a list of the cuts should be coming out shortly.