azdad1978
Championship!!!!
For Arizona, usual results give no reason to be proud
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 7, 2005 12:00 AM
The Cardinals proved again Sunday that consistency is not always a virtue. They made their familiar mistakes, displayed their same old weaknesses and delivered their usual result, losing to Seattle 33-19 at Sun Devil Stadium.
Oh, some of the faces were different, the furniture rearranged. Kurt Warner started at quarterback instead of Josh McCown, and the starting offensive line was shuffled.
The changes didn't help much. The Cardinals (2-6) made too many mistakes and failed too often in critical situations to beat a team as good as the Seahawks (6-2).
There were four turnovers, including three interceptions on Warner passes. Twice inside the Seahawks' 10-yard line, the Cardinals settled for field goals. The defense gave up 208 yards rushing, and three of the team's nine penalties contributed heavily to Seattle scores.
"We gave the game away on a lot of mistakes," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "Every mistake we made, they took advantage of it."
The most obvious mistake Sunday was the one the Cardinals made five years ago when they passed over running back Shaun Alexander in the draft to take Thomas Jones.
Alexander gained 173 yards on 23 carries, including an 88-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. It was the longest run ever against the Cardinals, and it tied Alexander's Seahawks record, which he set in 2001 vs. Oakland.
Alexander took a handoff off to the right side, cut back to the left against the over-pursuing Cardinals and then outran safeties Adrian Wilson and Robert Griffith to give Seattle 24-6 lead.
Alexander accomplished all that despite playing with an upset stomach.
"It was just a little tummy ache," Alexander said. "The first half was rough. I felt like I was going to throw up or go the other way."
The Cardinals know the feeling.
"If you are going to beat a good team, you have to play good football," Cardinals coach Dennis Green said. "You have to do good things at the right time. We did a lot of things that . . . it just wasn't very good."
When asked if Warner would remain the starter, Green left the possibility of a change on the table. But, then, he left everything on the table. "I think when you're in a 2-6 year, you're in territory you're not accustomed to, nor do you like being. There's no telling what you do."
There's only so much Green can do, however. He's changed quarterbacks and running backs and now the offensive line. Sunday, center Alex Stepanovich moved to guard and Nick Leckey started at center.
There was some improvement, but not enough.
Twice in the first half, they were inside the Seahawks' 10, yet settled for field goals by Neil Rackers. He made four of them, giving him 26 straight this season.
Rackers proved, again, to be the team's MVP. But while the Cardinals scored field goals in the first half, Seattle scored touchdowns and led 17-6 at intermission.
On the year, the Cardinals have scored just three touchdowns in 21 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
"That changes the game a lot when you drive 80 yards and you come out with three points," Warner said. "That is a big victory for the defense."
The Cardinals could have stayed in the game, however, without three critical penalties. Near the end of the first half, the Cardinals punted and had Seattle pinned at its 11. But Cardinals cornerback Lamont Reid, who was covering the punt, was penalized for not returning immediately to the field of play after being shoved out of bounds.
The Seahawks gained 29 yards on the exchange, and scored in four plays.
In the fourth quarter, Warner found tight end Eric Edwards on a 79-yard touchdown pass. But it was nullified by a block in the back call on receiver Bryant Johnson.
That put the Cardinals at the Seattle 26, where they failed to gain a yard and settled for another field goal. That brought them to within 27-19 with 12:09 left. Seattle started its next possession at the 7. Aided by a questionable pass-interference call on Wilson, the Seahawks drove 93 yards for the touchdown.
"We just didn't play very well defensively today," said Green, who noted that Seattle is No. 1 in the NFL in offense. "We had a few third-down plays that we should have done a little bit better on. That's down to crunch time, and they were very good at it and we were very poor at it."
View from the Press Box
The most startling thing about this season is the team's lack of improvement. The running game isn't any better. The quarterback position isn't settled and the defense still has trouble stopping the run. That, not the 2-6 record, should be the most troubling thing to management.
- Kent Somers
What we learned
Offense
The lack of a running game hinders the Cardinals greatly in the red zone. They entered Sunday's game ranked last in the NFL in red-zone offense, scoring two touchdowns on 18 possessions. They were 1 of 3 there Sunday.
The Cardinals don't have a rushing touchdown this season, and teams don't respect the run even when the Cardinals are threatening to score. If the Cardinals could run the ball in that area opponents might be forced to play man coverage on the receivers, and Larry Fitzgerald could win many of those battles.
Instead, said coach Dennis Green, opponents can drop seven defenders into a zone, and that leaves few open spaces in such a confined area.
If you want to put on rose-colored glasses, the changes on the offensive line appeared to help. Oliver Ross returned from a broken right hand to start at right tackle, and he's an upgrade over Fred Wakefield.
Alex Stepanovich moved from center to right guard, replacing rookie Elton Brown, who is out several weeks with a knee injury. Nick Leckey replaced Stepanovich. The two of them seemed to hold up well, and there were fewer breakdowns and tackles in the backfield.
Quarterback Kurt Warner was sacked four times, but on at least two of those occasions he had plenty of time to throw but had no open receivers.
Defense
There weren't as many missed tackles in this game as there were in Dallas, but it was still too many.
Seattle's Shaun Alexander isn't the fastest running back in the league, but he has great vision and is excellent at cutting back. The Cardinals entered the game knowing they couldn't over-pursue, yet that's what they did on Alexander's two touchdowns runs.
On the first one, an 88-yarder to start the second half, strong safety Adrian Wilson was in the hole but overpursued by a little. He wasn't the only one. It was telling that no one on the Cardinals defense had the speed to catch Alexander before he scored.
Defensive end Bertrand Berry has a strained pectoral muscle, and the Cardinals are in trouble if he has to miss any time. Backup defensive end Calvin Pace is out for the season, and that would leave either Antonio Smith or Antonio Cochran as the starter.
Special teams
Snap. Hold. Kick. That's the three best things the Cardinals have going for them these days. Kicker Neil Rackers has made 26 straight, and don't underestimate the reliability of snapper Nathan Hodel and holder Scott Player.
Otherwise, the special teams did nothing to help.
The kickoff return coverage was weak. It allowed a 53-yard return by Josh Scobey. New punt and kick returner J.J. Moses showed a lot of nifty moves, but he didn't get much room to run.
- Kent Somers
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/1107cards1107.html
Kent Somers
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 7, 2005 12:00 AM
The Cardinals proved again Sunday that consistency is not always a virtue. They made their familiar mistakes, displayed their same old weaknesses and delivered their usual result, losing to Seattle 33-19 at Sun Devil Stadium.
Oh, some of the faces were different, the furniture rearranged. Kurt Warner started at quarterback instead of Josh McCown, and the starting offensive line was shuffled.
The changes didn't help much. The Cardinals (2-6) made too many mistakes and failed too often in critical situations to beat a team as good as the Seahawks (6-2).
There were four turnovers, including three interceptions on Warner passes. Twice inside the Seahawks' 10-yard line, the Cardinals settled for field goals. The defense gave up 208 yards rushing, and three of the team's nine penalties contributed heavily to Seattle scores.
"We gave the game away on a lot of mistakes," defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. "Every mistake we made, they took advantage of it."
The most obvious mistake Sunday was the one the Cardinals made five years ago when they passed over running back Shaun Alexander in the draft to take Thomas Jones.
Alexander gained 173 yards on 23 carries, including an 88-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second half. It was the longest run ever against the Cardinals, and it tied Alexander's Seahawks record, which he set in 2001 vs. Oakland.
Alexander took a handoff off to the right side, cut back to the left against the over-pursuing Cardinals and then outran safeties Adrian Wilson and Robert Griffith to give Seattle 24-6 lead.
Alexander accomplished all that despite playing with an upset stomach.
"It was just a little tummy ache," Alexander said. "The first half was rough. I felt like I was going to throw up or go the other way."
The Cardinals know the feeling.
"If you are going to beat a good team, you have to play good football," Cardinals coach Dennis Green said. "You have to do good things at the right time. We did a lot of things that . . . it just wasn't very good."
When asked if Warner would remain the starter, Green left the possibility of a change on the table. But, then, he left everything on the table. "I think when you're in a 2-6 year, you're in territory you're not accustomed to, nor do you like being. There's no telling what you do."
There's only so much Green can do, however. He's changed quarterbacks and running backs and now the offensive line. Sunday, center Alex Stepanovich moved to guard and Nick Leckey started at center.
There was some improvement, but not enough.
Twice in the first half, they were inside the Seahawks' 10, yet settled for field goals by Neil Rackers. He made four of them, giving him 26 straight this season.
Rackers proved, again, to be the team's MVP. But while the Cardinals scored field goals in the first half, Seattle scored touchdowns and led 17-6 at intermission.
On the year, the Cardinals have scored just three touchdowns in 21 trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
"That changes the game a lot when you drive 80 yards and you come out with three points," Warner said. "That is a big victory for the defense."
The Cardinals could have stayed in the game, however, without three critical penalties. Near the end of the first half, the Cardinals punted and had Seattle pinned at its 11. But Cardinals cornerback Lamont Reid, who was covering the punt, was penalized for not returning immediately to the field of play after being shoved out of bounds.
The Seahawks gained 29 yards on the exchange, and scored in four plays.
In the fourth quarter, Warner found tight end Eric Edwards on a 79-yard touchdown pass. But it was nullified by a block in the back call on receiver Bryant Johnson.
That put the Cardinals at the Seattle 26, where they failed to gain a yard and settled for another field goal. That brought them to within 27-19 with 12:09 left. Seattle started its next possession at the 7. Aided by a questionable pass-interference call on Wilson, the Seahawks drove 93 yards for the touchdown.
"We just didn't play very well defensively today," said Green, who noted that Seattle is No. 1 in the NFL in offense. "We had a few third-down plays that we should have done a little bit better on. That's down to crunch time, and they were very good at it and we were very poor at it."
View from the Press Box
The most startling thing about this season is the team's lack of improvement. The running game isn't any better. The quarterback position isn't settled and the defense still has trouble stopping the run. That, not the 2-6 record, should be the most troubling thing to management.
- Kent Somers
What we learned
Offense
The lack of a running game hinders the Cardinals greatly in the red zone. They entered Sunday's game ranked last in the NFL in red-zone offense, scoring two touchdowns on 18 possessions. They were 1 of 3 there Sunday.
The Cardinals don't have a rushing touchdown this season, and teams don't respect the run even when the Cardinals are threatening to score. If the Cardinals could run the ball in that area opponents might be forced to play man coverage on the receivers, and Larry Fitzgerald could win many of those battles.
Instead, said coach Dennis Green, opponents can drop seven defenders into a zone, and that leaves few open spaces in such a confined area.
If you want to put on rose-colored glasses, the changes on the offensive line appeared to help. Oliver Ross returned from a broken right hand to start at right tackle, and he's an upgrade over Fred Wakefield.
Alex Stepanovich moved from center to right guard, replacing rookie Elton Brown, who is out several weeks with a knee injury. Nick Leckey replaced Stepanovich. The two of them seemed to hold up well, and there were fewer breakdowns and tackles in the backfield.
Quarterback Kurt Warner was sacked four times, but on at least two of those occasions he had plenty of time to throw but had no open receivers.
Defense
There weren't as many missed tackles in this game as there were in Dallas, but it was still too many.
Seattle's Shaun Alexander isn't the fastest running back in the league, but he has great vision and is excellent at cutting back. The Cardinals entered the game knowing they couldn't over-pursue, yet that's what they did on Alexander's two touchdowns runs.
On the first one, an 88-yarder to start the second half, strong safety Adrian Wilson was in the hole but overpursued by a little. He wasn't the only one. It was telling that no one on the Cardinals defense had the speed to catch Alexander before he scored.
Defensive end Bertrand Berry has a strained pectoral muscle, and the Cardinals are in trouble if he has to miss any time. Backup defensive end Calvin Pace is out for the season, and that would leave either Antonio Smith or Antonio Cochran as the starter.
Special teams
Snap. Hold. Kick. That's the three best things the Cardinals have going for them these days. Kicker Neil Rackers has made 26 straight, and don't underestimate the reliability of snapper Nathan Hodel and holder Scott Player.
Otherwise, the special teams did nothing to help.
The kickoff return coverage was weak. It allowed a 53-yard return by Josh Scobey. New punt and kick returner J.J. Moses showed a lot of nifty moves, but he didn't get much room to run.
- Kent Somers
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/1107cards1107.html
