Cards beat Cards:

[Catfish]

In a game where Cards mistakes were numerous enough to have made this game a laugher for the Iggles, the defense kept it close enough for the outcome to be in doubt until the very end. Even at that, the defense contributed to the mistake notepad today.

I am sure that there will be a lot of lamenting Bradley Sowell at LT today, especially since the guy he blocked had a lot to do with the Palmer fumble that was recovered by Philly. The problem with that was that there was actually a clear pocket for Palmer to step up into, and he failed once again to do so. Yes Sowell's man knocked the ball out of Palmer's hand, but clearly Palmer should have stepped up and let Sowell direct his man past Palmer, but he didn't so Sowell gets credit for the caused fumble.

Clearly, Palmer reverted to his old habits again today. He was slow setting up. He set up deep a stayed there for the most part, even when he had a clear pocket ahead, often throwing off his back foot. As the game wore on however, that clear pocket began to diminish as Philly's line simply overpowered Sendlein and Colledge. This was one game that really pointed out the lack of strength in the middle of our O-line.

Then again, there was one play where Palmer did step up on a throw to Fitz who had his man beaten. Palmer finally stepped into a throw and threw it well over Fitz' head and far out of reach. For some reason today, it appeared to me that Palmer seemed slow and indecisive. It seemed to take him as long to drop three steps from the gun, as it takes most QB's to drop seven steps from under center. Having him run a play that called for a seven step drop on third down was simply a recipe for disaster today.

I thought that BA was clearly outcoached by the Philly staff today. For one thing, after acknowledging two or three games ago that clearly Peterson's heart is not in punt returning, (and saying then that he would contemplate that matter), it has only gotten to be a much sadder state than it was even then. The man is giving away field position, simply by not being willing to go catch the ball. Hell, even I could have stood there and waved for a fair catch, then let the ball hit ten yards short, or sail over my head like he did.
Somehow, that needs to change.

The Cardinals also didn't seem to have an answer for the empty backfield all day either. I have already alluded to calling for CP to take a deep drop on third and long against the middle rush of the Eagles. All in all, I thought there were enough Cardinals mistakes that the bad calls by officials should have been pretty much inconsequential. I don't see the officials as losing the game for us, as most of them were letting the boys play ball, except for the one ticky-tack call on Matthieu.

All in all, I feel we deserved to lose this one, (and that loss just might be a blessing in disguise because we can go over film tomorrow and fix what went wrong today, and re-dedicate ourselves to winning football). This was pretty much a team loss in my opinion.

 

[Cheesebeef]

In a game where Cards mistakes were numerous enough to have made this game a laugher for the Iggles, the defense kept it close enough for the outcome to be in doubt until the very end. Even at that, the defense contributed to the mistake notepad today.

I am sure that there will be a lot of lamenting Bradley Sowell at LT today, especially since the guy he blocked had a lot to do with the Palmer fumble that was recovered by Philly. The problem with that was that there was actually a clear pocket for Palmer to step up into, and he failed once again to do so. Yes Sowell's man knocked the ball out of Palmer's hand, but clearly Palmer should have stepped up and let Sowell direct his man past Palmer, but he didn't so Sowell gets credit for the caused fumble.

Clearly, Palmer reverted to his old habits again today. He was slow setting up. He set up deep a stayed there for the most part, even when he had a clear pocket ahead, often throwing off his back foot. As the game wore on however, that clear pocket began to diminish as Philly's line simply overpowered Sendlein and Colledge. This was one game that really pointed out the lack of strength in the middle of our O-line.

Then again, there was one play where Palmer did step up on a throw to Fitz who had his man beaten. Palmer finally stepped into a throw and threw it well over Fitz' head and far out of reach. For some reason today, it appeared to me that Palmer seemed slow and indecisive. It seemed to take him as long to drop three steps from the gun, as it takes most QB's to drop seven steps from under center. Having him run a play that called for a seven step drop on third down was simply a recipe for disaster today.

I thought that BA was clearly outcoached by the Philly staff today. For one thing, after acknowledging two or three games ago that clearly Peterson's heart is not in punt returning, (and saying then that he would contemplate that matter), it has only gotten to be a much sadder state than it was even then. The man is giving away field position, simply by not being willing to go catch the ball. Hell, even I could have stood there and waved for a fair catch, then let the ball hit ten yards short, or sail over my head like he did.
Somehow, that needs to change.

The Cardinals also didn't seem to have an answer for the empty backfield all day either. I have already alluded to calling for CP to take a deep drop on third and long against the middle rush of the Eagles. All in all, I thought there were enough Cardinals mistakes that the bad calls by officials should have been pretty much inconsequential. I don't see the officials as losing the game for us, as most of them were letting the boys play ball, except for the one ticky-tack call on Matthieu.

All in all, I feel we deserved to lose this one, (and that loss just might be a blessing in disguise because we can go over film tomorrow and fix what went wrong today, and re-dedicate ourselves to winning football). This was pretty much a team loss in my opinion.

completely agree with all of the above.

 

[DoTheDew]

Agreed. If we'd played our best ball all 4 quarters, we'd have never been in position to lose the game on ticky-tack calls. That being said, I still wish we could have seen the final outcome without the questionable calls/no calls at the end.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Agreed. If we'd played our best ball all 4 quarters, we'd have never been in position to lose the game on ticky-tack calls. That being said, I still wish we could have seen the final outcome without the questionable calls/no calls at the end.

yup. the loss stings anyway, but it stings just a little bit more by how the end went down.

really too bad. very interested to see how this team comes out next week. It's another playoff game. literally, the do or die game. Hope there's no hangover. If we come out and unleash hell, it might not enable us to get to the playoffs this year, but it will say a lot to me how Arians is able to get this team to rebound after a really, really tough loss.

 

[Duckjake]

yup. the loss stings anyway, but it stings just a little bit more by how the end went down.

really too bad. very interested to see how this team comes out next week. It's another playoff game. literally, the do or die game. Hope there's no hangover. If we come out and unleash hell, it might not enable us to get to the playoffs this year, but it will say a lot to me how Arians is able to get this team to rebound after a really, really tough loss.

The playoffs are a very long shot for the Cardinals now. They're 2 games behind Carolina, a game and a half behind SF and a half game behind the Eagles. That's a big hill to climb.

 

[MrYeahBut]

All in all, I feel we deserved to lose this one,

Deserve's got nothin to do with it.

Sincerely,

William Munny

.

 

[Assface]

Despite everything this was still a 3 point loss and we held one of the league's best offenses below their season averages in every category. Our offense out gained theirs. This Cardinals team is still pretty damn good. The 2 interceptions didn't hurt nearly as bad as that sack/fumble to start the game. Replace any one of those plays and this is a win for us. A loss is a loss but the point is that this was a "one play" kind of loss....not getting manhandled. Even if we miss the playoffs a 10 win season is still well within reach wish is far better than anyone expected.