Can anybody spare a little slack?

[AzStevenCal]

In yards allowed by our defense.

No wait, we're not even #1 in that. Only 3rd. Dang Miami.

Give us time, we've only played the worst team in the NFL and a rookie QB to boot. Seriously, I'm not worried. I think the people that expect this team to be as bad as last year will miss the mark by just as much as the people that think this will actually be a good team. We'll be competitive because the rest of our division has at least as many holes as we do but we're 3 or 4 players away from competing with the upper tier teams. I can wait.

Steve

 

[Duckjake]

Give us time, we've only played the worst team in the NFL and a rookie QB to boot. Seriously, I'm not worried. I think the people that expect this team to be as bad as last year will miss the mark by just as much as the people that think this will actually be a good team. We'll be competitive because the rest of our division has at least as many holes as we do but we're 3 or 4 players away from competing with the upper tier teams. I can wait.

Steve

We play 12 teams that had losing records last season. It's going to be tough to get that #1 ranking.

 

[conraddobler]

Kind of how I felt, I knew the pass defense would be a problem with 2 young CB's and AW playing hurt. I didn't expect that bad but then I didn't think Newton could make the throws he did. It was like a basketball game where you lay off non shooters and they keep making 3's either you eventually decide ok he can shoot, or you take the risk he keeps making the shots. Newton kept making the shots.

People keep saying Levi improved as the game went on but that's like saying Bob Saget is less annoying on stage than he was on Funniest Home Videos, probably true but how could he not be? Levi was terrible pass blocking in the first half the first sack was on him, the fumble was caused by his man beating him, he didn't block johnson on the pass to Fitz that nearly got Kolb nailed etc. Yeah he did better as the game went on but maybe the Panther DE's were just tired from chasing Kolb after they blew by Levi.

He run blocks well, I think his pass blocking is a big key to this season because it's apparent Kolb is good enough if he can get time.

Ding Ding Ding Ding!

Whoop Whoop Whoop Whoop!

500 imaginary bonus points for working Bob Saget into the any Cardinal thread.

 

[Stout]

Levi did. Lenon did not.

Agreed. Lenon did have one awful play, smashing inside and completely missing the RB, but he wasn't the only one to mess up on that play. Levi gave up constant pressure on the QB all game long.

 

[jerseyred]

I agree the d Held the panthers to 74 yards rushing and Paris had the big Stop to win the games, but everybody wants a guy Who was on the eagles bench to Start its crazy

 

[oaken1]

Agreed. Lenon did have one awful play, smashing inside and completely missing the RB, but he wasn't the only one to mess up on that play. Levi gave up constant pressure on the QB all game long.

I am a firm believe that Levi should be at RT where we drafted him to play....but in his defense, when he rides the pass rusher to the outside, the QB(Kolb) is SUPPOSED to step forward into the pocket to buy time..... instead, Kolb spins to his left to roll to the right....which takes his eyes off of the defense..... there were many plays when Levi did exactly what he was supposed to do, and did it pretty well, then Kolb rolled instead of stepping up...which effectively increased the pressure he was under.....I like Kolb, but he needs to lose the happy feet and just hop forward into the pocket just like those professional QB's do.

 

[JeffGollin]

While I'm not thrilled with all the things we need to clean up, I like where we are right now as a football team.

One caveat - I'm a great believer that nothing is a given for any team unless you see it happen 3 games in a row. We've only played one game so (despite feeling pretty good about things) nothing is for certain (at least not yet).

Physically, we match up with just about any other team in the NFL.

The whole key to our season (assuming no more than the average impact from injuries) is how quickly and completely we square away all our technique and mental flaws (so that we'll execute like a Swiss watch).

If the Cardinals can come close to playing our "A" Game each week, we're going to surprise a lot of people.

(But if we can't, it's going to be a long season).

 

[conraddobler]

Our pass defense looks to me to be horrid.

Horton I think will try and use pressue to compensate for lack of coverage, this will work with some teams and when it dosen't then we'll get pinball machine numbers put up on us.

Watch.

Still an amazing turn around from last year, we need a better secondary and Lber core to be elite as a team, we'll beat some people with just a sound offense and a good run defense, that's enough to probably win our division, and then draw someone in the playoffs like Green Bay or New Orleans that has to take oxygen at halftime to keep from passing out.

People need to accept reality here, there's not going to be a SB run this year, just getting back to winning the division is a huge accomplishment.

We're going to probably need about 3 years to become really elite.

That's ok by me as long as we're getting better.

 

[Russ Smith]

I am a firm believe that Levi should be at RT where we drafted him to play....but in his defense, when he rides the pass rusher to the outside, the QB(Kolb) is SUPPOSED to step forward into the pocket to buy time..... instead, Kolb spins to his left to roll to the right....which takes his eyes off of the defense..... there were many plays when Levi did exactly what he was supposed to do, and did it pretty well, then Kolb rolled instead of stepping up...which effectively increased the pressure he was under.....I like Kolb, but he needs to lose the happy feet and just hop forward into the pocket just like those professional QB's do.

This is true but it's a direct result of him not trusting Levi. He's getting ready to roll right because he's assuming Levi's man will bring pressure. You are right that he needs to start stepping up that was mentioned repeatedly on the game thread, but when the same guy is pressuring you pass after pass I can see where you start thinking if I just roll right, it'll take him longer to get to me.

That's why in the 2nd half people were criticizing Keith more on passing downs, because the QB was always rolling to his side bringing his man closer to Kolb.

 

[Duckjake]

Still an amazing turn around from last year,

True, this time last year there were a bunch of posts about how awful Dereck Anderson was and how the Cards wouldn't even win 5 games with him at QB.

Nobody is having to make excuses for Kolb this week.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Our pass defense looks to me to be horrid.

Horton I think will try and use pressue to compensate for lack of coverage, this will work with some teams and when it dosen't then we'll get pinball machine numbers put up on us.

Watch.

Still an amazing turn around from last year, we need a better secondary and Lber core to be elite as a team, we'll beat some people with just a sound offense and a good run defense, that's enough to probably win our division, and then draw someone in the playoffs like Green Bay or New Orleans that has to take oxygen at halftime to keep from passing out.

People need to accept reality here, there's not going to be a SB run this year, just getting back to winning the division is a huge accomplishment.

We're going to probably need about 3 years to become really elite.

That's ok by me as long as we're getting better.

agreed for the most part, but i really think we're two players away from having a very good D. unfortunately, those two players are OLB and CB, which are tough positions to find.

I expect Peterson, Washington and Williams to be the leaders of the new D and each one of them can and will be disruptive forces. We get one stud OLB and everyone else can really just be solid to okay as long as the scheme is sound.

3 years? With the right moves, we can be back in the running next year IMO.

For this year, I'll take a lot of shoot-outs, improvement by Peterson and growth by Kolb. 8-8 would be great compared to last year, with a big jump next season.

 

[kerouac9]

This is true but it's a direct result of him not trusting Levi. He's getting ready to roll right because he's assuming Levi's man will bring pressure. You are right that he needs to start stepping up that was mentioned repeatedly on the game thread, but when the same guy is pressuring you pass after pass I can see where you start thinking if I just roll right, it'll take him longer to get to me.

That's why in the 2nd half people were criticizing Keith more on passing downs, because the QB was always rolling to his side bringing his man closer to Kolb.

Hopefully this is what Kolb sees on tape. Levi can push a guy more or less out of the play (or give Kolb time to pass), and sometimes can prevent the counter-move. But Kolb can't drift outside the pocket as much as he needs to move up in it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

agreed for the most part, but i really think we're two players away from having a very good D. unfortunately, those two players are OLB and CB, which are tough positions to find.

I expect Peterson, Washington and Williams to be the leaders of the new D and each one of them can and will be disruptive forces. We get one stud OLB and everyone else can really just be solid to okay as long as the scheme is sound.

3 years? With the right moves, we can be back in the running next year IMO.

For this year, I'll take a lot of shoot-outs, improvement by Peterson and growth by Kolb. 8-8 would be great compared to last year, with a big jump next season.

I agree completely although if Wilson can't bounce back to at least average we're going to have real problems at this position also. Still, with the draft and FA, filling those 2 slots (or perhaps 3 slots) shouldn't be out of our reach.

Steve

 

[Catfish]

every team in the league "survived" the same thing.



we played the worst team in the league last year... who had a rookie head coach... with a rookie QB... with the same patchwork planning... at home. I think it's fair for some to have issue with barely winning that type of game. Personally, I don't, but you're acting like the Cardinals were the only ones who were locked out of the off-season.



so NO ONE in your opinion should be able to find fault with anything on this team at this stage of the game? Should we ONLY talk about facets of the game which are positive? That should make for a lot of 4 post threads.

I'm not sure what a lot of you want. It's not like it's been all doom and gloom. People pretty much unanimously PRAISED Kolb, Washington, Fitz, Peterson's return skills and a lot of Beanie's game, not to mention the ability to close out a game while coming from behind, but the idea that the above is ALL we should talk about and not comment on the negatives just doesn't make for very interesting conversation, nor does it really discuss the team as a whole.

Every team in the league DID NOT experience the same thing. A couple of teams came through this NON off season nearly intact from last year. The only thing they missed was OTA's. Pittsburgh is one of those teams. Very little changed for them. Green Bay too had very little change. The only thing they really missed was time to observe what their new draftees could bring to the table. They were already pretty set for depth however.

Find fault if you will. There are enough things to correct without the staff needing me to point them out. I prefer to be content with a win at this point in the season. We are 1 and 0, and the Stiller's are 0 and 1. I'll happily take that after last season and this off-season. I predict that we will get better each week, and by the break might be considerably improved.

 

[Catfish]

This is true but it's a direct result of him not trusting Levi. He's getting ready to roll right because he's assuming Levi's man will bring pressure. You are right that he needs to start stepping up that was mentioned repeatedly on the game thread, but when the same guy is pressuring you pass after pass I can see where you start thinking if I just roll right, it'll take him longer to get to me.

That's why in the 2nd half people were criticizing Keith more on passing downs, because the QB was always rolling to his side bringing his man closer to Kolb.

How can you possibly know that Kevin's rolling out to the right is a product of his failure to trust Levi. They did that a lot in Philly, and his right is the natural side for him to be able to pass from. Seems to me to be a question of learning to step up into the pocket more than trusting.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Every team in the league DID NOT experience the same thing. A couple of teams came through this NON off season nearly intact from last year.

The Steelers/Packers DID experience the same thing. Just because those teams brought back a majority of Super Bowl personnel didn't mean they weren't hamstrung the same way this off-season. They just didn't put themselves in the hole we did by punting on the entire season last year.

The only thing they missed was OTA's. Pittsburgh is one of those teams. Very little changed for them. Green Bay too had very little change. The only thing they really missed was time to observe what their new draftees could bring to the table. They were already pretty set for depth however.

Find fault if you will.

I will... just as I found the good.

There are enough things to correct without the staff needing me to point them out.

huh? who on this board REALLY believes that what we say helps "the staff" pointing out the problems on the team? It's just points of discussion. Both good and bad.

I prefer to be content with a win at this point in the season.

You can be content... I'm downright happy. Doesn't mean that's going to limit me to just posting glowing reviews of everything or following up positive posts with or . Sue me, I like to talk football. Both the good and bad.

We are 1 and 0, and the Stiller's are 0 and 1.

who cares what the Steelers are?

I'll happily take that after last season and this off-season. I predict that we will get better each week, and by the break might be considerably improved.

I believe certain aspects of the team will improve. i pray for Schohawk to get more playing time to increase the pass rush, but I remain dubious about our secondary. I don't think there's much that can be done about them at this point.

 

[Catfish]

I am a firm believe that Levi should be at RT where we drafted him to play....but in his defense, when he rides the pass rusher to the outside, the QB(Kolb) is SUPPOSED to step forward into the pocket to buy time..... instead, Kolb spins to his left to roll to the right....which takes his eyes off of the defense..... there were many plays when Levi did exactly what he was supposed to do, and did it pretty well, then Kolb rolled instead of stepping up...which effectively increased the pressure he was under.....I like Kolb, but he needs to lose the happy feet and just hop forward into the pocket just like those professional QB's do.

I agree with you wholeheartedly Oaken1. I believe with a little time to gell, this line will be OK and Kolb will learn to step up into the pocket. Levi and Colledge already have resolved the snafu that led to the first sack.

 

[Catfish]

Our pass defense looks to me to be horrid.

Horton I think will try and use pressue to compensate for lack of coverage, this will work with some teams and when it dosen't then we'll get pinball machine numbers put up on us.

Watch.

Still an amazing turn around from last year, we need a better secondary and Lber core to be elite as a team, we'll beat some people with just a sound offense and a good run defense, that's enough to probably win our division, and then draw someone in the playoffs like Green Bay or New Orleans that has to take oxygen at halftime to keep from passing out.

People need to accept reality here, there's not going to be a SB run this year, just getting back to winning the division is a huge accomplishment.

We're going to probably need about 3 years to become really elite.

That's ok by me as long as we're getting better.

I think that we will learn that Newton might just be something special. He was uncannily accurate with most of his throws, and several of the receivers were pretty well covered for a first game. He still managed to put the pass into a fine window where only his receiver could touch it. I don't know if this was a special game for him or whether he can repeat this often. I do know that his effort was superb and so were the results. From his after the game response, I believe he feels that he had a pretty normal passing day.