Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
I disagree with those saying the coaching staff is not making enough progress. The offense is clearly a work in progress. The defense lacks impact players. Still there are things I like about this coaching staff’s impact on the Cards play. It starts with the Cards come ready to play when the games start. In recent years too often the Cards seemed to be unprepared when the kickoff took place. They’d rarely scored early and once they fell behind, they’d rarely caught up.
Closely related to being ready to play is the Cards play hard the entire game. Too often in the past it looked like the Cards were phoning it in; not now. They hit hard; they play aggressively and they get the most out of their limited talent. This is especially true on defense where in several game they’ve played above expectations. If they can maintain this level of intensity, they can challenge in most games.
Now the Cards try to establish the run early and present a balanced attack, making their play calling a little more unpredictable. They target a range of receivers getting multiple players involved. They are also throwing deep a little more this season. They have better weapons than in the past. Several of those weapons can be even better with more experience.
By pushing the run throughout the game, even when it’s not gaining yardage, they can wear down the opposition. Clearly their conditioning is excellent. In the Niners game much of the credit for the win goes to the fact the Cards were stronger in the fourth quarter. The Niners were sucking wind.
The best thing about the Cards is they are typically facing teams with superior personnel. To me this means when this team adds more talent (likely next season), this could well be the team no one wants to play. They’ll have to overachieve in Green Bay to be in the game. However, if the Pack takes them for granted, the Cards could make this a challenging game. Sure the coaches also need to improve and the should with experience. Nonetheless there at least a reason to believe the Cards games are worth watching and the future looks exciting.
Closely related to being ready to play is the Cards play hard the entire game. Too often in the past it looked like the Cards were phoning it in; not now. They hit hard; they play aggressively and they get the most out of their limited talent. This is especially true on defense where in several game they’ve played above expectations. If they can maintain this level of intensity, they can challenge in most games.
Now the Cards try to establish the run early and present a balanced attack, making their play calling a little more unpredictable. They target a range of receivers getting multiple players involved. They are also throwing deep a little more this season. They have better weapons than in the past. Several of those weapons can be even better with more experience.
By pushing the run throughout the game, even when it’s not gaining yardage, they can wear down the opposition. Clearly their conditioning is excellent. In the Niners game much of the credit for the win goes to the fact the Cards were stronger in the fourth quarter. The Niners were sucking wind.
The best thing about the Cards is they are typically facing teams with superior personnel. To me this means when this team adds more talent (likely next season), this could well be the team no one wants to play. They’ll have to overachieve in Green Bay to be in the game. However, if the Pack takes them for granted, the Cards could make this a challenging game. Sure the coaches also need to improve and the should with experience. Nonetheless there at least a reason to believe the Cards games are worth watching and the future looks exciting.
