Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
While I believe that the current Cardinal coaching staff, headed by Ken Whisenhunt, is by far the best we've had in Arizona, it seems evident to me that this staff still does not understand the real strengths of its personnel, nor does the staff have a true grasp of the big picture with regard to conjuring up the best formula for consistently winning games.
Let's start with the big picture itself...what last year should have taught the current coaching staff is that they have an offense capable of scoring on an average of 28-30 points a game, if not more. Therefore, the thinking should be that if the Cardinal defense can wreak havoc enough to generate a couple of turnovers and drive busting sacks a game, the Cardinals will win far more games than it loses.
In order to accomplish this goal, the staff needs to open up the offense and keep it open...and it needs to adopt a more aggressive defensive approach which includes playing a ballhawking man-to-man coverage in the secondary, especially because, with a stronger pass rush and commitment to the pass rush, the ball is likely to come out quickly and hot.
Now let's look at the offensive philosophy...
The significant question is: are the Cardinals a run to set up the pass team...or...are they a pass to set up the run team?
What should they be?
Why don't we ask the Redskins' defensive coordinator Greg Blache who studied the game tapes of the Cardinals' first two games, and likely several of the tapes from the second half of last season.
What were Blache's main points of emphasis and coaching adjustments heading into the Cardinal game?
1. He decided to take his biggest, strongest CB in Shawn Springs and have him press and shadow Anquan Boldin for virtually the entire game...
What does this tell you?
If you want to beat the Cardinals you first have to slow down Anquan Boldin and limit his touches.
Did the Cardinal coaches adjust to this?
No. They did not. They elected instead to run the ball more and to try to take advantage of other mismatches.
This mistake played right into Blache's hands.
Was Blache afraid of getting beat by Edgerrin James and the Cardinal running attack?
Every time the Cardinals ran the ball, Blache was thankful.
2. He played tight coverage on Larry Fitzgerald and gave Carlos Rogers or whichever CB was assigned to Fitz safety help behind.
Problem was Fitz was able to shake free on some intermediate routes underneath the safety and when he was able to draw the safety closer to the intermediate area, he beat both his man and the safety for a long, homerun TD.
3. Blache's security blanket was bringing in a third safety and playing three deep, so as to avoid the big plays he saw the Cardinal make against the Dolphins.
All 3 of Blache's priorities were in slowing down the Cardinal passing game.
We saw no easy completions in this game...there was consistently tight coverage...and very few blitzes.
Again...the fact that Edgerrin James rushed for 93 yards is totally irrelevant. Blache was conceding those yards in favor of not getting beat by the Cardinal passing game.
James' 93 yards looks nice on the stat sheet, but it fed right into Blache's plan to keep the ball out of the hands of Boldin and Fitzgerald.
It also helped Blache's plan a great deal to have Kurt Warner sitting for the entire first portion of the first quarter...and for Blache it was even better that the Cardinals came out running more than passing, which further delayed the propspect of Warner getting into a rhythm.
Ken Whisenhunt has been preaching smashmouth football since he arrived in Arizona...which is all well and good, if smashmouth football is the perfect fit for the personnel.
The reality is, for the current Cardinal personnel, smashmouth football is not the best fit.
Some might say, well, can't you have a smashmouth running game AND have The Greatest Show on Turf passing attack?
The answer is a resounding no.
Sure you can be fairly good at both...but, to have an elite aerial attack, you have to pass enough to get the QB and the WRs/TEs in a rhythm.
To do what Whiz is trying to pull off, a.k.a. establish the running game, he needs a legitimate RB threat...not a slow, albeit steady and tough plodder in Edgerrin James.
The Cardinals said all off-season they wanted to acquire a homerun threat at RB...and while they expended a 5th round pick to land a gem in Tim Hightower, we have yet to see for sure whether TD Tim is enough of a threat to pose serious concerns for opposing defenses.
Thus, the planning here, personnel-wise, did not aid and abet the coach's cause...and he should have fully realized that...which he hasn't yet.
By switching the QB reins back to Warner, Whiz at least realizes that he has his best passer running the show. But...now...he has to commit himself to opening up the offense to play his cards to the team's strengths. Whiz could have had the prescience to do that from day one of training camp, which could have solidified the offense's identity...but the moves have been slow and somewhat uncertain.
One may have thought the Dolphin game was a strong enough reminder of the offense's true strengths...the TD bomb to Boldin broke the Dolphins' backs right from get-go and there was no looking back.
Instead, Whiz gave Greg Blache a reprieve. Blache may have helped by covering Q the moment he stepped out of the tunnel, but there are easy ways for a WR as strong and determined and talented as Q to shake press man coverage...and let's not forget that the Cardinals have a QB in Warner who knows exactly how to exploit such aggressive cover tactics.
Over on defense...the plan is all the more dubious...and while at times the plans looks aggressive, the aggressiveness in the form of blitzes is negated by passive, tentative cover schemes.
As far as off-season planning is concerned, Clancy Pendergast received significant pass rushing help in the form of Travis LaBoy, Calais Campbell, Bryan Robinson, Kenny Iwebema, and Clark Haggans, to join an athletic front seven that already boasts the likes of Chike Okeafor, Darnell Dockett, Antonio Smith, Gerald Hayes, Karlos Dansby, Alan Branch, Gabe Watson and Bertrand Berry.
Is there a deeper front seven in the NFL?
What does Pendergast have this unit do repeatedly in the Washington game?
Pinch inside to clog the running lanes.
What should Pendergast's top priority have been?
Just as Greg Blache's top priority was to limit Anquan Boldin...Pendergast's should have been to get in Jason Campbell's face all afternoon. Just ask Harry...he knew it. Why didn't the Cardinal coaches?
But wouldn't Clinton Portis have just run wild all day?
The irony is...when teams get off the ball and rush the passer every play, it disprupts the timing of the running game, and as the philosophy goes, you defend the run WHILE rushing the passer.
If you watch the Cardinals' defensive line, they were trying to clog gaps and were not penetrating at all.
So what happened?
How many tackles did Darnell Dockett, Bryan Robinson, Antonio Smith, Alan Branch, Calais Campbell, Kenny Iwebema, Chike Okeafor and Travis LaBoy combine for? Most of them were so low on tackles they weren't even in the newspaper box scores.
What happened was, yes the Cardinals pinched the inside gaps, but Portis was able to bounce the plays outside where he would routinely picking up 4-7 yards.
But, worst of all, when Jason Campbell passed the Cardinal line was late getting off the ball and late collapsing the pocket.
Combine that with loose coverage downfield and what you get is 24/31, 204 yards and 2 TDs...and a QB passer rating well over 100.
And these numbers would have been more like 25/32, 270 yards and 3 TDs if the long wide open TD pass to Devin Thomas wasn't negated by a stupid unnecessary roughness penalty.
And the most telling stat: 0 turnovers.
The other noteworthy aspect of rushing the passer every play...because you are rushing the edges, guess what you get? Built-in contain!
The only nice contain the Cardinals had all day, ironically, was on the Redskins' first TD, the 3 yard run by Portis, where Travis LaBoy at RDE rushed the edge, and inexplicably the Cardinals had lined up with no DT to LaBoy's side...in a goalline defense situation!!!
What was that?
That was about as non-sensical as, er, punting the ball near midfield with 2:32 left, down seven points.
In summary, what Whiz and his staff need to do is realize that:
1. It's better to TAKE THE BALL to start a game, and come out attacking...to get a lead and freeze the other team's offense...
2. Commit themselves to the reality that they have two Pro Bowl WRs who DON'T NEED a running attack to help them get open...they need a play caller and the right schemes...
The most telling stat this week won't be how many yards Edge gets...it will be how many yards someone like Ben Patrick or Steve Breaston gets in addition to a renewed commitment to get the ball into Boldin and Fitzgerald's hands.
We look back on the 49er game and remember the running attack as being the reason the Cardinals won the game...and sure, it was huge...but what turned the game around, in actuality, was coming out of the locker room with the commitment to get the ball to Anquan Boldin. Once he was involved and was striking fear in the Niners' defense, the game was already being won.
In the Dolphin game it took all of one play to the tune of 79 yards to set that tone.
3. Call a defensive huddle and say, "OK, guys, we want you five to rush the passer...and you five to lock up man-to-man, and you, Antrel to read the QBs eyes and race to the ball. Let's go make plays...as in big plays."
The mantra should be two turnovers = a win, three or more = a rout.
Plus, when you line up man-to-man, you don't let a Chris Cooley run a screen pass for 35 yards, and you get to a Santana Moss just as he's catching the hitch pass. Yes, you may give up some big plays here and there, but, like the Redskins DBs showed, they were scratching and clawing to win the game...while the Cardinal DBs were sitting in cement with their hands tied.
Let's start with the big picture itself...what last year should have taught the current coaching staff is that they have an offense capable of scoring on an average of 28-30 points a game, if not more. Therefore, the thinking should be that if the Cardinal defense can wreak havoc enough to generate a couple of turnovers and drive busting sacks a game, the Cardinals will win far more games than it loses.
In order to accomplish this goal, the staff needs to open up the offense and keep it open...and it needs to adopt a more aggressive defensive approach which includes playing a ballhawking man-to-man coverage in the secondary, especially because, with a stronger pass rush and commitment to the pass rush, the ball is likely to come out quickly and hot.
Now let's look at the offensive philosophy...
The significant question is: are the Cardinals a run to set up the pass team...or...are they a pass to set up the run team?
What should they be?
Why don't we ask the Redskins' defensive coordinator Greg Blache who studied the game tapes of the Cardinals' first two games, and likely several of the tapes from the second half of last season.
What were Blache's main points of emphasis and coaching adjustments heading into the Cardinal game?
1. He decided to take his biggest, strongest CB in Shawn Springs and have him press and shadow Anquan Boldin for virtually the entire game...
What does this tell you?
If you want to beat the Cardinals you first have to slow down Anquan Boldin and limit his touches.
Did the Cardinal coaches adjust to this?
No. They did not. They elected instead to run the ball more and to try to take advantage of other mismatches.
This mistake played right into Blache's hands.
Was Blache afraid of getting beat by Edgerrin James and the Cardinal running attack?
Every time the Cardinals ran the ball, Blache was thankful.
2. He played tight coverage on Larry Fitzgerald and gave Carlos Rogers or whichever CB was assigned to Fitz safety help behind.
Problem was Fitz was able to shake free on some intermediate routes underneath the safety and when he was able to draw the safety closer to the intermediate area, he beat both his man and the safety for a long, homerun TD.
3. Blache's security blanket was bringing in a third safety and playing three deep, so as to avoid the big plays he saw the Cardinal make against the Dolphins.
All 3 of Blache's priorities were in slowing down the Cardinal passing game.
We saw no easy completions in this game...there was consistently tight coverage...and very few blitzes.
Again...the fact that Edgerrin James rushed for 93 yards is totally irrelevant. Blache was conceding those yards in favor of not getting beat by the Cardinal passing game.
James' 93 yards looks nice on the stat sheet, but it fed right into Blache's plan to keep the ball out of the hands of Boldin and Fitzgerald.
It also helped Blache's plan a great deal to have Kurt Warner sitting for the entire first portion of the first quarter...and for Blache it was even better that the Cardinals came out running more than passing, which further delayed the propspect of Warner getting into a rhythm.
Ken Whisenhunt has been preaching smashmouth football since he arrived in Arizona...which is all well and good, if smashmouth football is the perfect fit for the personnel.
The reality is, for the current Cardinal personnel, smashmouth football is not the best fit.
Some might say, well, can't you have a smashmouth running game AND have The Greatest Show on Turf passing attack?
The answer is a resounding no.
Sure you can be fairly good at both...but, to have an elite aerial attack, you have to pass enough to get the QB and the WRs/TEs in a rhythm.
To do what Whiz is trying to pull off, a.k.a. establish the running game, he needs a legitimate RB threat...not a slow, albeit steady and tough plodder in Edgerrin James.
The Cardinals said all off-season they wanted to acquire a homerun threat at RB...and while they expended a 5th round pick to land a gem in Tim Hightower, we have yet to see for sure whether TD Tim is enough of a threat to pose serious concerns for opposing defenses.
Thus, the planning here, personnel-wise, did not aid and abet the coach's cause...and he should have fully realized that...which he hasn't yet.
By switching the QB reins back to Warner, Whiz at least realizes that he has his best passer running the show. But...now...he has to commit himself to opening up the offense to play his cards to the team's strengths. Whiz could have had the prescience to do that from day one of training camp, which could have solidified the offense's identity...but the moves have been slow and somewhat uncertain.
One may have thought the Dolphin game was a strong enough reminder of the offense's true strengths...the TD bomb to Boldin broke the Dolphins' backs right from get-go and there was no looking back.
Instead, Whiz gave Greg Blache a reprieve. Blache may have helped by covering Q the moment he stepped out of the tunnel, but there are easy ways for a WR as strong and determined and talented as Q to shake press man coverage...and let's not forget that the Cardinals have a QB in Warner who knows exactly how to exploit such aggressive cover tactics.
Over on defense...the plan is all the more dubious...and while at times the plans looks aggressive, the aggressiveness in the form of blitzes is negated by passive, tentative cover schemes.
As far as off-season planning is concerned, Clancy Pendergast received significant pass rushing help in the form of Travis LaBoy, Calais Campbell, Bryan Robinson, Kenny Iwebema, and Clark Haggans, to join an athletic front seven that already boasts the likes of Chike Okeafor, Darnell Dockett, Antonio Smith, Gerald Hayes, Karlos Dansby, Alan Branch, Gabe Watson and Bertrand Berry.
Is there a deeper front seven in the NFL?
What does Pendergast have this unit do repeatedly in the Washington game?
Pinch inside to clog the running lanes.
What should Pendergast's top priority have been?
Just as Greg Blache's top priority was to limit Anquan Boldin...Pendergast's should have been to get in Jason Campbell's face all afternoon. Just ask Harry...he knew it. Why didn't the Cardinal coaches?
But wouldn't Clinton Portis have just run wild all day?
The irony is...when teams get off the ball and rush the passer every play, it disprupts the timing of the running game, and as the philosophy goes, you defend the run WHILE rushing the passer.
If you watch the Cardinals' defensive line, they were trying to clog gaps and were not penetrating at all.
So what happened?
How many tackles did Darnell Dockett, Bryan Robinson, Antonio Smith, Alan Branch, Calais Campbell, Kenny Iwebema, Chike Okeafor and Travis LaBoy combine for? Most of them were so low on tackles they weren't even in the newspaper box scores.
What happened was, yes the Cardinals pinched the inside gaps, but Portis was able to bounce the plays outside where he would routinely picking up 4-7 yards.
But, worst of all, when Jason Campbell passed the Cardinal line was late getting off the ball and late collapsing the pocket.
Combine that with loose coverage downfield and what you get is 24/31, 204 yards and 2 TDs...and a QB passer rating well over 100.
And these numbers would have been more like 25/32, 270 yards and 3 TDs if the long wide open TD pass to Devin Thomas wasn't negated by a stupid unnecessary roughness penalty.
And the most telling stat: 0 turnovers.
The other noteworthy aspect of rushing the passer every play...because you are rushing the edges, guess what you get? Built-in contain!
The only nice contain the Cardinals had all day, ironically, was on the Redskins' first TD, the 3 yard run by Portis, where Travis LaBoy at RDE rushed the edge, and inexplicably the Cardinals had lined up with no DT to LaBoy's side...in a goalline defense situation!!!
What was that?
That was about as non-sensical as, er, punting the ball near midfield with 2:32 left, down seven points.
In summary, what Whiz and his staff need to do is realize that:
1. It's better to TAKE THE BALL to start a game, and come out attacking...to get a lead and freeze the other team's offense...
2. Commit themselves to the reality that they have two Pro Bowl WRs who DON'T NEED a running attack to help them get open...they need a play caller and the right schemes...
The most telling stat this week won't be how many yards Edge gets...it will be how many yards someone like Ben Patrick or Steve Breaston gets in addition to a renewed commitment to get the ball into Boldin and Fitzgerald's hands.
We look back on the 49er game and remember the running attack as being the reason the Cardinals won the game...and sure, it was huge...but what turned the game around, in actuality, was coming out of the locker room with the commitment to get the ball to Anquan Boldin. Once he was involved and was striking fear in the Niners' defense, the game was already being won.
In the Dolphin game it took all of one play to the tune of 79 yards to set that tone.
3. Call a defensive huddle and say, "OK, guys, we want you five to rush the passer...and you five to lock up man-to-man, and you, Antrel to read the QBs eyes and race to the ball. Let's go make plays...as in big plays."
The mantra should be two turnovers = a win, three or more = a rout.
Plus, when you line up man-to-man, you don't let a Chris Cooley run a screen pass for 35 yards, and you get to a Santana Moss just as he's catching the hitch pass. Yes, you may give up some big plays here and there, but, like the Redskins DBs showed, they were scratching and clawing to win the game...while the Cardinal DBs were sitting in cement with their hands tied.
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