Cards Run Defense underrated?

[Duckjake]

If you take out the rushing totals from the three games where the Cards didn't bother to show up because they were essentially meaningless contests (Eagles,Vikings & Patriots) the Cards average for the other 13 games was 89 yards per game.

That would have ranked them 4th in the NFL for the regular season.

Add in the 3 playoff games and the average drops to 86.8. (The Steelers average is below 80.)

So, if people had been watching closely it wouldn't have been such a surprise that the Cards played the run so well in the post season.

Of course now that I've posted this the teams will run for 150 yards each Sunday.

 

[football karma]

I always prefer the yards per attempt stat --

It kind of eliminates the "who is ahead and has a chance to call alot of runs" variable

Cards are #11 overall at 4 yards per carry. Steelers are at #1 at 3.3

I think anyone who has watched this team knows that far more often than not -- the rush defense is very solid.

 

[Perfectionist]

I think that the Steeler defense is so engrossed in figuring out how to stop our passing offense that Edge might come out and rip off a few decent runs. Then when they start figuring out they have to stop the run, bingo, Kurt kills them with a big pass. Keep them off balance just like we did the Eagles in the Champioship game.

And yes our run defense is underrated, just hope are defense backs are up to the challenge when big Ben is running around looking for a receiver.

 

[JeffGollin]

The problem with season stats - at least with the Cardinals - is that the team has played differently at different points of the season. If you isolate the past 4 weeks worth of stats, we're all world compared to what we did earlier.

There are 2 Cardinal run defenses - the one that looks like a Chinese fire drill, with players losing contain, failing to maintain gap discipline line and failing to hit-thru and wrap up; and the one we've seen during the 4 most recent games where everyone does their job and plays with good technique.

Which defense will show up Sunday?

Logic suggests that (a) this obviously is a very important game, so that intensity should be high and (b) the defense is more likely to play as it has most recently. The danger, of course, is that the Cardinal defense comes out "too high" and then loses its poise. But I think both the Cardinal players and coaches know that and will be able to handle it.

Biggest remaining emotional variable - What happens should the Cards fall behind by a couple of TD's early ? Will they fall apart, forget what they need to do and head due south? Or will they instead realize there's plenty of time left in the game and - if they just keep their heads down - the ship will tend to right itself. Usually teams have to play their way past adversity in order to achieve that much sense of stability, and the Cards haven't had many if any positive come-back experiences to learn from and feed off of. That's my main concern.

 

[Perfectionist]

Usually teams have to play their way past adversity in order to achieve that much sense of stability, and the Cards haven't had many if any positive come-back experiences to learn from and feed off of. That's my main concern.

Except maybe one? Eagles, championship game.

 

[Shogun]

Our run defense is very good, but overlooked because of how many points we gave up and our crappy games.

 

[so far away]

What happens if you throw out the 3 worst rush defense games that the Steelers had? I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we're going to throw games out to get an accurate statistical match up then we might as well throw out the whole regular season. This Cardinal team is completely different, it's a living breathing entity.

It's nearly impossible to make a statistical comparison, there's no history. We're in virgin territory here, most of us don't even know how to act. I was actually embarrassed for a second that I was crying at the NFC Championship (I'm a grown man right?) until I realized everyone around me was crying too.

 

[Duckjake]

What happens if you throw out the 3 worst rush defense games that the Steelers had? I guess what I'm trying to say is that if we're going to throw games out to get an accurate statistical match up then we might as well throw out the whole regular season. This Cardinal team is completely different, it's a living breathing entity.

It's nearly impossible to make a statistical comparison, there's no history. We're in virgin territory here, most of us don't even know how to act. I was actually embarrassed for a second that I was crying at the NFC Championship (I'm a grown man right?) until I realized everyone around me was crying too.

Well your post confirms my theory as to why the Cards rush defense is underrated and their playoff success against the run such a surprise to many.

The 3 worst games for the Steelers wouldn't make much difference. I think it would drop their average from 80 to 73ypg (Interestingly 3 of the 5 100 yard games against them were given up in their last 3 games of the regular season.) Meanwhile the Cards average drops from 110 to 89!

But you can't make that comparison because the Steelers were never in a position to coast like the Cards were.

The 3 games I listed were an anomaly because a team that had never been there before had their division essentially in the bag with no chance of really improving their seeding. Everyone including the coaches and players know the Cards didn't show up to play those 3 games. Over 35% of the rushing yards gained against the Cards came in those 3 games. So taking the stats from those games and spreading them over the entire season would skew your analysis.

Its like the year that LeShon Johnson rushed for 214 yards against New Orleans, 34 % of his total for the season. That completely skewed his numbers for the year jumping his ypc from 3.5 to 4.5. Anyone who followed the team knew that LeShon Johnson wasn't a 4.5 ypc back.

Another example would be budgeting sales for a car dealership where one month a company came in and made a one time purchase of 20 vehicles. If you didn't weigh that properly your entire budget projection would be ruined.

 

[CardLogic]

Biggest remaining emotional variable - What happens should the Cards fall behind by a couple of TD's early ? Will they fall apart, forget what they need to do and head due south? Or will they instead realize there's plenty of time left in the game and - if they just keep their heads down - the ship will tend to right itself. Usually teams have to play their way past adversity in order to achieve that much sense of stability, and the Cards haven't had many if any positive come-back experiences to learn from and feed off of. That's my main concern.

Many if any... ???

The Cardinals were down at half against Atlanta and WON.

Carolina rammed it down the Cardinals throats on the first drive. Every Cardinals fan in the world was thinking, Oh crap... But Cardinals WON.

Philadelphia took the lead with 10:56 remaining in the game after the Cardinals had a big lead. But Cardinals mount "the Winning Drive" and WON.

Sorry Jeff, but I think the Cardinals have had a few worthy experiences lately.

Or weren't you watching?

 

[so far away]

Biggest remaining emotional variable - What happens should the Cards fall behind by a couple of TD's early ? Will they fall apart, forget what they need to do and head due south? Or will they instead realize there's plenty of time left in the game and - if they just keep their heads down - the ship will tend to right itself. Usually teams have to play their way past adversity in order to achieve that much sense of stability, and the Cards haven't had many if any positive come-back experiences to learn from and feed off of. That's my main concern.[/color][/QUOTE]

My biggest concern is not having a heart attack before, during, or after the game.

 

[CardLogic]

My biggest concern is not having a heart attack before, during, or after the game.

No kidding!

 

[LVG]

Biggest remaining emotional variable - What happens should the Cards fall behind by a couple of TD's early ? Will they fall apart, forget what they need to do and head due south? Or will they instead realize there's plenty of time left in the game and - if they just keep their heads down - the ship will tend to right itself. Usually teams have to play their way past adversity in order to achieve that much sense of stability, and the Cards haven't had many if any positive come-back experiences to learn from and feed off of. That's my main concern.

Agree with you there - I think if the Cards jump up early, they'll do fine. What worries me is if they are very slow starting out, abandon the run, and KW starts spraying the field with passes. That's when the Steelers D will start jumping routes and getting INTs.

 

[so far away]

No kidding!

My friends, family, and co workers have all pretty much had enough of me. I'm answering the phone "Hi this is Jeff and the Cardinals are in the Superbowl".