Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
The Myth of Sisyphus
Why is it that teams that get close to winning a Super Bowl tend to come out of the gates sluggishly the next year?
Teams that get oh so close understand the tremendous grind they have to endure to push the rock all the way back up the mountain.
They also worry about stamina, so they try to conserve themselves in order to build strength as they go....like NBA teams try to do during the first half of regular season games.
But, conserving themselves is not the way to win September and October football games. In the NFL, especially playing on the road, it takes a full-bore effort from the team and every individual on it.
if some players aren't up for pushing that rock, that rock will fall back to the bottom early and often.
Complacency
One would think that last year's disappointment in Carolina would be ample fuel for the Cardinals to motivate themselves---but for some reason the Cardinals, be it their brief stardom on "All or Nothing" or a series of questionable off-season decisions by Steve Keim and Bruce Arians, have become stale and complacent.
One of the main reasons is the lack of competition at key spots. Take QB Carson Palmer, for example. After watching Drew Stanton lay down another pre-season of rotten eggs and after watching the one productive QB in the pre-season, Matt Barkley, get cut, Carson Palmer knows he can play as lousy as he did yesterday and not have the least bit of worry that he could be taken out.
One of the absolute worst decisions made by an ill-prepared Bruce Arians yesterday was keeping Carson Palmer in the game when it was crystal clear that Palmer was having one of his more robotic, zombie-like games and that the Cardinals had zero chance to win.
Thank goodness that Palmer---who was taking a good beating which resulted in numerous head whiplashes and butt bruises---was not injured in those meaningless late in the gamer snaps.
But here again---with the choice being to turn to Drew Stanton, BA would just as soon risk keeping Palmer in there, than resort to watching Stanton flounder the way he did in pre-season.
Discipline
One sure sign that defensive players are not responding to the coaching is when they do their own thing on the field and abandon their position disciplines.
For example, on what was a game and momentum turning play for the Bills in a 0-0 game, Tyron Taylor ran the read option to his left.
Now---any coach or team that plays the Bills should be prepared for Taylor's read option.
OLB Chandler Jones should know this just from playing the Bills twice last year.
But, what does Jones do when the option is run to his side?
He crashes down on the RB and abandons his job which is to keep contain on the QB, thus leaving a hole as wide as an interstate highway for Taylor to accelerate through.
Later in the game, on a deep out pass, WR Michael Floyd elects to abandon his route and does not cross the face of his defender in order the shield the defender fro being able to jump the route---instead Floyd inexplicably rounds his shabby route outward instead of inward and thus makes Carson Palmer's good throw to the pylon look foolish.
Thirdly, how about the play where perennially unproductive DT/DE Ed Stinson is for some reason in there in a passing situation and not only does Stinson get zero push on the RG---he stops his feet, is completely stood up, and makes absolutely zero effort to disengage from his block as Tyron Taylor scrambles right by him untouched and unthreatened.
Finally, even BA himself---how in the world can a coach not throw a challenge flag on a crystal clear drop by a WR when the Bills are up 3-0 and threatening to make it 10-0?
Oh and by the way, did anyone see the block that LG Richie Incognito put on DE/DT Rodney Gunter on Shady McCoy's second easy TD run? Talk about abandoning position discipline. Incognito took Gunter and rode him past the guard on the other side of the line.
Talk Talk Talk
BA said after the game, "We talked about getting off to a fast start."
Well, Bill Belichick had something to say about the Cardinals' talk, didn't he---when in his post game presser he basically said about the Cardinals as Super Bowl contenders, "at least that's what THEY are TALKING about."
BA spent the week talking about how he is "brutally honest" with the players. Now BA has resorted more frequently to issuing scathing critiques of some of his players publicly to the media---well---that's a practice that can backfire very easily, especially when the coach himself has been making glaring errors.
New Rule: no more mention of Super Bowl until it is relevant (when the team wins an NFC Championship and qualifies).
New Rule #2: Whatever the talk has been at half-time, it needs to change. Team not responding at all.
Off-Season Decisions
It still remains a mind-boggling reality that Steve Keim did so little to address some of the key personnel and coaching issues and vulnerabilities. Cases in point:
1. Improving the QB situation and depth.
2. Adding a veteran to challenge D.J. Humphries at RT.
3. Improving the pass rush---I think we all knew that adding Chandler Jones wasn't going to be a cure-all. How many of us were begging Keim to re-sign Dwight Freeney?
4. Doing something about Calais Campbell's prohibitive $15.4M cap figure.
5. Signing a one of the better FA CBs in case Justin Bethel doesn't improve.
6. Signing an ILB who can replace Kevin Minter on passing downs.
7. Signing an experienced long snapper.
8. Upgrading the punting situation.
9. Adding a bona fide, aggressive punt and kick returner.
10. Improving the STs cover teams.
Strangely, it almost feels like Keim expects this to be a down year and is thinking more about next year and the moves he can make then.
Players Who Showed Up in Buffalo:
RB David Johnson---has been highly productive, but needs a greater every now and then.
WR Larry Fitzgerald---a consummate pro in every which way.
WR John Brown---good to see him making strides in passing game and on punt returns.
WR Jaron Brown---better and more reliable than Floyd and deserves to start.
TE Darren Fells---good catches and tough RACs.
LG Mike Iupati---got tremendous push on run plays.
LB Gabe Martin---best tackle on cover teams.
SS Tony Jefferson---best tackler in the box.
CB Patrick Peterson---tremendous one handed interception.
CB Marcus Cooper---played with good leverage and timing.
FS D.J. Swearinger---made some solid tackles and assists in the open field.
FS Tyran Mathieu---leave it to Badger to show the team the textbook way to defend the option and good clean back shoulders hit on WR.
K Chandler Catanzaro---60 yard FG was perfecto. Not sure why coaches had hi pooch kicking to the 20 yard line, however.
Players Who Struggled Mightily:
QB Carson Palmer---robotic, mechanical, overly programmed and unemotional.
RB Andre Ellington---not a factor as kickoff returner.
WR Michael Floyd---his drop of the easy first pass (which was scripted no less_, further confirms that not only is he not a #1 WR, he is reluctant to make plays over the middle.
LT Jared Veldheer---wow has this guy regressed.
C A.Q. Shipley---got manhandled by Kyle Williams
RB Earl Watford---Cole Toner so outplayed him in the pre-season---something is not right about Watford.
RT D.J. Humphries---Jerry Hughes dominated him, but Humphries has no player with Hughes' burst and speed to block in practice. He should improve with more experience, but his first game on the road was a major challenge.
TE Troy Niklas---way over-rated, uninspired. WTF was that one yard pass play to him on 2nd and 10? Got pushed back into David Johnson on a key running play that could have been a TD.
NT Corey Peters---no show through 3 games.
DE Rodney Gunter---same.
DE Calais Campbell---is making a few plays in the running game, but in a no show in the pass rush, even with teams keying on Chandler Jones.
DE Ed Stinson---par for the course, zero production.
ILB Deone Bucannon---not the same player, something is wrong with him.
ILB Kevin Minter---had the big sack and made a couple of plays, but left a lot of stops out there.
OLB Chandler Jones---does not look suited to play OLB---he not a fluid enough athlete. Doesn't wow you on his initial rush, but gets hustle sacks. Needs to be rested a little---can't expect his to play every snap---but agin here is where having an injured or far less effective player behind him hurts him and the team.
OLB Markus Golden---lost his contain technique---he HAS to keep his outside shoulder free and channel the plays inside to where the help is. He got pinned inside way too often. Worked hard on his pass rushes.
LS Kam Canaday---just too inexperienced and as BA said last week, "erratic."
P Drew Butler---has struggled health and punting-wise for far too long.
Players We Desperately Need Back:
RG Evan Mathis---not the same offense without him, plus we need him badly versus Aaron Donald.
DE Frostee Rucker---he's the only real penetrator and decent pass rusher in the middle to date---hope at some point to get penetration and inside pressure too from Robert Nkemdiche. Best inside pass rusher in pre-season otherwise was Olsen Pierre, who is athletic enough to disengage his man and prevent QBs from bolting untouched up the middle.
Moves That Should/Could Be Made But Most Likely Won't:
* Stop scripting the plays---it's just making Carson Palmer all the more programmed and robotic.
* Whoever is assigned to tell BA when to challenge a play should be replaced.
* Start Jaron Brown at WR in place of Michael Floyd.
* If Mathis can't play, start Cole Toner at RG.
* Try C Evan Boehm for a series or two if possible.
* Stop throwing those ill-advised WR screens---other teams know when they are coming---plus if you are going to run them the tackle HAS to cut the DE.
* Have Carson Palmer play with emotion like he did in the second half of the Cincy game last year.
* When behind the offense has to play with much more urgency---Palmer's deal of game penalty was totally inexcusable and a key error in the game---and then he nearly got another one when somehow they were bailed out by the Bills calling TO.
* Run more 2 RB sets with Chris Johnson at RB and David Johnson in the slot.
* Have Gabe Martin sub for Kevin Minter on passing downs.
* Re-assign STs coordinator Amos Jones and switch James Bettcher over the STs coordinator. Bettcher was a STs coordinator twice in college and did a very good job---that's where he can thrive.
* Promote Bob Sanders, Nick Rapone or Larry Foote to DC. Sanders has NFL DC experience, Rapone was an outstanding DC at Delaware and no one knows the 34 defense and how to call it better than Larry Foote. The players might relate to Foote especially well and might respond with a bang. But a change needs to happen. BA said last week that "Bettch took the bullet", but BA you made him the target of bullets when you assigned him as DC without him having paid his NFL dues or him ever having any experience coordinating a defense. Bettch could discover his niche for now in building up the STs.
Personnel Additions:
* OLB---Alex Okafor isn't cutting it and we need to give Golden and Jones some breathers so their legs can be fresh in the 4th quarter.
* P---not just as a fill in until Butler's ankle is healed, but for the season.
* LS---try to coax Mike Leach out of retirement---let him fly back to his family for a couple of days early in each week. What an MVP he could be on STs---which he was all those year in a highly using way.
Why is it that teams that get close to winning a Super Bowl tend to come out of the gates sluggishly the next year?
Teams that get oh so close understand the tremendous grind they have to endure to push the rock all the way back up the mountain.
They also worry about stamina, so they try to conserve themselves in order to build strength as they go....like NBA teams try to do during the first half of regular season games.
But, conserving themselves is not the way to win September and October football games. In the NFL, especially playing on the road, it takes a full-bore effort from the team and every individual on it.
if some players aren't up for pushing that rock, that rock will fall back to the bottom early and often.
Complacency
One would think that last year's disappointment in Carolina would be ample fuel for the Cardinals to motivate themselves---but for some reason the Cardinals, be it their brief stardom on "All or Nothing" or a series of questionable off-season decisions by Steve Keim and Bruce Arians, have become stale and complacent.
One of the main reasons is the lack of competition at key spots. Take QB Carson Palmer, for example. After watching Drew Stanton lay down another pre-season of rotten eggs and after watching the one productive QB in the pre-season, Matt Barkley, get cut, Carson Palmer knows he can play as lousy as he did yesterday and not have the least bit of worry that he could be taken out.
One of the absolute worst decisions made by an ill-prepared Bruce Arians yesterday was keeping Carson Palmer in the game when it was crystal clear that Palmer was having one of his more robotic, zombie-like games and that the Cardinals had zero chance to win.
Thank goodness that Palmer---who was taking a good beating which resulted in numerous head whiplashes and butt bruises---was not injured in those meaningless late in the gamer snaps.
But here again---with the choice being to turn to Drew Stanton, BA would just as soon risk keeping Palmer in there, than resort to watching Stanton flounder the way he did in pre-season.
Discipline
One sure sign that defensive players are not responding to the coaching is when they do their own thing on the field and abandon their position disciplines.
For example, on what was a game and momentum turning play for the Bills in a 0-0 game, Tyron Taylor ran the read option to his left.
Now---any coach or team that plays the Bills should be prepared for Taylor's read option.
OLB Chandler Jones should know this just from playing the Bills twice last year.
But, what does Jones do when the option is run to his side?
He crashes down on the RB and abandons his job which is to keep contain on the QB, thus leaving a hole as wide as an interstate highway for Taylor to accelerate through.
Later in the game, on a deep out pass, WR Michael Floyd elects to abandon his route and does not cross the face of his defender in order the shield the defender fro being able to jump the route---instead Floyd inexplicably rounds his shabby route outward instead of inward and thus makes Carson Palmer's good throw to the pylon look foolish.
Thirdly, how about the play where perennially unproductive DT/DE Ed Stinson is for some reason in there in a passing situation and not only does Stinson get zero push on the RG---he stops his feet, is completely stood up, and makes absolutely zero effort to disengage from his block as Tyron Taylor scrambles right by him untouched and unthreatened.
Finally, even BA himself---how in the world can a coach not throw a challenge flag on a crystal clear drop by a WR when the Bills are up 3-0 and threatening to make it 10-0?
Oh and by the way, did anyone see the block that LG Richie Incognito put on DE/DT Rodney Gunter on Shady McCoy's second easy TD run? Talk about abandoning position discipline. Incognito took Gunter and rode him past the guard on the other side of the line.
Talk Talk Talk
BA said after the game, "We talked about getting off to a fast start."
Well, Bill Belichick had something to say about the Cardinals' talk, didn't he---when in his post game presser he basically said about the Cardinals as Super Bowl contenders, "at least that's what THEY are TALKING about."
BA spent the week talking about how he is "brutally honest" with the players. Now BA has resorted more frequently to issuing scathing critiques of some of his players publicly to the media---well---that's a practice that can backfire very easily, especially when the coach himself has been making glaring errors.
New Rule: no more mention of Super Bowl until it is relevant (when the team wins an NFC Championship and qualifies).
New Rule #2: Whatever the talk has been at half-time, it needs to change. Team not responding at all.
Off-Season Decisions
It still remains a mind-boggling reality that Steve Keim did so little to address some of the key personnel and coaching issues and vulnerabilities. Cases in point:
1. Improving the QB situation and depth.
2. Adding a veteran to challenge D.J. Humphries at RT.
3. Improving the pass rush---I think we all knew that adding Chandler Jones wasn't going to be a cure-all. How many of us were begging Keim to re-sign Dwight Freeney?
4. Doing something about Calais Campbell's prohibitive $15.4M cap figure.
5. Signing a one of the better FA CBs in case Justin Bethel doesn't improve.
6. Signing an ILB who can replace Kevin Minter on passing downs.
7. Signing an experienced long snapper.
8. Upgrading the punting situation.
9. Adding a bona fide, aggressive punt and kick returner.
10. Improving the STs cover teams.
Strangely, it almost feels like Keim expects this to be a down year and is thinking more about next year and the moves he can make then.
Players Who Showed Up in Buffalo:
RB David Johnson---has been highly productive, but needs a greater every now and then.
WR Larry Fitzgerald---a consummate pro in every which way.
WR John Brown---good to see him making strides in passing game and on punt returns.
WR Jaron Brown---better and more reliable than Floyd and deserves to start.
TE Darren Fells---good catches and tough RACs.
LG Mike Iupati---got tremendous push on run plays.
LB Gabe Martin---best tackle on cover teams.
SS Tony Jefferson---best tackler in the box.
CB Patrick Peterson---tremendous one handed interception.
CB Marcus Cooper---played with good leverage and timing.
FS D.J. Swearinger---made some solid tackles and assists in the open field.
FS Tyran Mathieu---leave it to Badger to show the team the textbook way to defend the option and good clean back shoulders hit on WR.
K Chandler Catanzaro---60 yard FG was perfecto. Not sure why coaches had hi pooch kicking to the 20 yard line, however.
Players Who Struggled Mightily:
QB Carson Palmer---robotic, mechanical, overly programmed and unemotional.
RB Andre Ellington---not a factor as kickoff returner.
WR Michael Floyd---his drop of the easy first pass (which was scripted no less_, further confirms that not only is he not a #1 WR, he is reluctant to make plays over the middle.
LT Jared Veldheer---wow has this guy regressed.
C A.Q. Shipley---got manhandled by Kyle Williams
RB Earl Watford---Cole Toner so outplayed him in the pre-season---something is not right about Watford.
RT D.J. Humphries---Jerry Hughes dominated him, but Humphries has no player with Hughes' burst and speed to block in practice. He should improve with more experience, but his first game on the road was a major challenge.
TE Troy Niklas---way over-rated, uninspired. WTF was that one yard pass play to him on 2nd and 10? Got pushed back into David Johnson on a key running play that could have been a TD.
NT Corey Peters---no show through 3 games.
DE Rodney Gunter---same.
DE Calais Campbell---is making a few plays in the running game, but in a no show in the pass rush, even with teams keying on Chandler Jones.
DE Ed Stinson---par for the course, zero production.
ILB Deone Bucannon---not the same player, something is wrong with him.
ILB Kevin Minter---had the big sack and made a couple of plays, but left a lot of stops out there.
OLB Chandler Jones---does not look suited to play OLB---he not a fluid enough athlete. Doesn't wow you on his initial rush, but gets hustle sacks. Needs to be rested a little---can't expect his to play every snap---but agin here is where having an injured or far less effective player behind him hurts him and the team.
OLB Markus Golden---lost his contain technique---he HAS to keep his outside shoulder free and channel the plays inside to where the help is. He got pinned inside way too often. Worked hard on his pass rushes.
LS Kam Canaday---just too inexperienced and as BA said last week, "erratic."
P Drew Butler---has struggled health and punting-wise for far too long.
Players We Desperately Need Back:
RG Evan Mathis---not the same offense without him, plus we need him badly versus Aaron Donald.
DE Frostee Rucker---he's the only real penetrator and decent pass rusher in the middle to date---hope at some point to get penetration and inside pressure too from Robert Nkemdiche. Best inside pass rusher in pre-season otherwise was Olsen Pierre, who is athletic enough to disengage his man and prevent QBs from bolting untouched up the middle.
Moves That Should/Could Be Made But Most Likely Won't:
* Stop scripting the plays---it's just making Carson Palmer all the more programmed and robotic.
* Whoever is assigned to tell BA when to challenge a play should be replaced.
* Start Jaron Brown at WR in place of Michael Floyd.
* If Mathis can't play, start Cole Toner at RG.
* Try C Evan Boehm for a series or two if possible.
* Stop throwing those ill-advised WR screens---other teams know when they are coming---plus if you are going to run them the tackle HAS to cut the DE.
* Have Carson Palmer play with emotion like he did in the second half of the Cincy game last year.
* When behind the offense has to play with much more urgency---Palmer's deal of game penalty was totally inexcusable and a key error in the game---and then he nearly got another one when somehow they were bailed out by the Bills calling TO.
* Run more 2 RB sets with Chris Johnson at RB and David Johnson in the slot.
* Have Gabe Martin sub for Kevin Minter on passing downs.
* Re-assign STs coordinator Amos Jones and switch James Bettcher over the STs coordinator. Bettcher was a STs coordinator twice in college and did a very good job---that's where he can thrive.
* Promote Bob Sanders, Nick Rapone or Larry Foote to DC. Sanders has NFL DC experience, Rapone was an outstanding DC at Delaware and no one knows the 34 defense and how to call it better than Larry Foote. The players might relate to Foote especially well and might respond with a bang. But a change needs to happen. BA said last week that "Bettch took the bullet", but BA you made him the target of bullets when you assigned him as DC without him having paid his NFL dues or him ever having any experience coordinating a defense. Bettch could discover his niche for now in building up the STs.
Personnel Additions:
* OLB---Alex Okafor isn't cutting it and we need to give Golden and Jones some breathers so their legs can be fresh in the 4th quarter.
* P---not just as a fill in until Butler's ankle is healed, but for the season.
* LS---try to coax Mike Leach out of retirement---let him fly back to his family for a couple of days early in each week. What an MVP he could be on STs---which he was all those year in a highly using way.
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