Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Man---I love the ASFN board on days after games---you guys and gals have every angle covered---and coming off of 3 hours of sleep and a full day's work, it's great to come home and see everyone making great point about the game. I will just hope to add my own two cents:
1. This was the best game I have ever seen Carson Palmer play. I just love his effort, toughness and determination in this game. And I was so impressed with SD's secondary and how they get after the QB---nothing was easy. But, I think it is fitting that it was Kurt Warner night at the U of P, because Carson Palmer took a page out of Warner's book and tried to exploit the best matchups he had on the field...which in this game meant keying on Michael Floyd, who was spectacular...and John Brown who was there at key times. Palmer improvised as well as I have ever seen him---he ran the ball, which was quite a surprise to SD.
2. As impressed as I am with Palmer, I am equally impressed with Todd Bowles' gutsy play calling---I don't think I have ever seen a Cardinals' defense go full house blitz late in a game three times and more in a row. I find it totally amazing that with all the blitzing the Cardinals did and with how hard they got after Philip Rivers that they never got a sack. But, they boxed Rivers in and made it very difficult for him to step into his throws---and I must say at times it didn't matter because Rivers has such an uncanny and unorthodox release---
3. Larry Foote---what a game. Talk about running downhill to the ball. He was a man out there---and it was very fitting that he finally was the one who got his hands up to deflect another sidearm flick from Rivers under duress to end the game.
4. Loved BA's use of the entire offensive roster---it's like a coach's dream come true when everyone plays and has earned a piece of the team's success---which is why I really have no interest in discussing Larry Fitzgerald, who I think is happy the team won. His body language never suggested otherwise last night---and like a true pro, he played hard right to the end. That fade pass to him was a work of art.
There were the negatives for sure---which everyone has pointed out---like trying to block the DEs with TEs who really can't handle good DEs.
I may be in the minority here but I thought the offensive line played a great game---they were much more physical than I thought they would be at this point in the season. They had better chemistry. Sure, Massie whiffed on a couple and even Veldheer had trouble with Dwight Freeney's outstanding spin move. But, hey, the battled their butts off, and earned this victory---how about their blocks on the John Brown TD? How about the job Ted Larsen did on Corey Liuget? How about how solid and physical Sendlein and Fanaika were?
I bet many of you worried about a punt block---Butler has a very good leg but he's a little too deliberate and long in his his stride---I think many of us saw that punt block before it happened.
Most of all---how about our own secondary---who dogged those SD WRs and TEs in Zero man coverage under the new no contact rules no less (we shouldn't under-estimate how much more pressure that puts on the DBs in shadow coverage)! I am so proud of those guys---they got after it big-time. I was hoping Bowles had a better matchup for Gates than Jefferson---but Jefferson played so hard I felt his contact flag which nullified his interception wasn't warranted---the contact was minimal and incidental---it surely wasn't a hold. But---these are the new rules we are dealing with, which makes their play down the stretch all the more inspiring.
The call of the night that irked me the most was the 3rd down conversion play where Ellington fought like a madman for that extra yard and a half and MADE IT to the chains at the 40 yard line, only the ref standing right beside the play kept marking the ball two yards behind the play when the whistle hadn't even blown yet. I mean what was that ref seeing and doing? Then he was the one to spot the ball.
For a game one---I thought BA and the coaches had the players very well prepared. Interesting that BA proclaimed the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half as the most critical and the defense did the unusual coming out of the tunnel and gave up a long TD drive on SD's first possession. But--when it mattered most the offense and the defense took charge and even finished the game off with Dwyer killing the clock (how many times have we seen a Cardinals' team do that in the 4th quarter?).
I don't know about you----but my adrenaline is still flowing. This game was so exciting and it defied the Cardinals' dubious MNF history. On a full moon where we hailed a recent star and welcomed in a brand new season with a stunning nightcap!
P.S. Love this kid Catanzaro---that's another thing---no mind-boggling gaffes on the kickoffs to ruin momentum!
1. This was the best game I have ever seen Carson Palmer play. I just love his effort, toughness and determination in this game. And I was so impressed with SD's secondary and how they get after the QB---nothing was easy. But, I think it is fitting that it was Kurt Warner night at the U of P, because Carson Palmer took a page out of Warner's book and tried to exploit the best matchups he had on the field...which in this game meant keying on Michael Floyd, who was spectacular...and John Brown who was there at key times. Palmer improvised as well as I have ever seen him---he ran the ball, which was quite a surprise to SD.
2. As impressed as I am with Palmer, I am equally impressed with Todd Bowles' gutsy play calling---I don't think I have ever seen a Cardinals' defense go full house blitz late in a game three times and more in a row. I find it totally amazing that with all the blitzing the Cardinals did and with how hard they got after Philip Rivers that they never got a sack. But, they boxed Rivers in and made it very difficult for him to step into his throws---and I must say at times it didn't matter because Rivers has such an uncanny and unorthodox release---
3. Larry Foote---what a game. Talk about running downhill to the ball. He was a man out there---and it was very fitting that he finally was the one who got his hands up to deflect another sidearm flick from Rivers under duress to end the game.
4. Loved BA's use of the entire offensive roster---it's like a coach's dream come true when everyone plays and has earned a piece of the team's success---which is why I really have no interest in discussing Larry Fitzgerald, who I think is happy the team won. His body language never suggested otherwise last night---and like a true pro, he played hard right to the end. That fade pass to him was a work of art.
There were the negatives for sure---which everyone has pointed out---like trying to block the DEs with TEs who really can't handle good DEs.
I may be in the minority here but I thought the offensive line played a great game---they were much more physical than I thought they would be at this point in the season. They had better chemistry. Sure, Massie whiffed on a couple and even Veldheer had trouble with Dwight Freeney's outstanding spin move. But, hey, the battled their butts off, and earned this victory---how about their blocks on the John Brown TD? How about the job Ted Larsen did on Corey Liuget? How about how solid and physical Sendlein and Fanaika were?
I bet many of you worried about a punt block---Butler has a very good leg but he's a little too deliberate and long in his his stride---I think many of us saw that punt block before it happened.
Most of all---how about our own secondary---who dogged those SD WRs and TEs in Zero man coverage under the new no contact rules no less (we shouldn't under-estimate how much more pressure that puts on the DBs in shadow coverage)! I am so proud of those guys---they got after it big-time. I was hoping Bowles had a better matchup for Gates than Jefferson---but Jefferson played so hard I felt his contact flag which nullified his interception wasn't warranted---the contact was minimal and incidental---it surely wasn't a hold. But---these are the new rules we are dealing with, which makes their play down the stretch all the more inspiring.
The call of the night that irked me the most was the 3rd down conversion play where Ellington fought like a madman for that extra yard and a half and MADE IT to the chains at the 40 yard line, only the ref standing right beside the play kept marking the ball two yards behind the play when the whistle hadn't even blown yet. I mean what was that ref seeing and doing? Then he was the one to spot the ball.
For a game one---I thought BA and the coaches had the players very well prepared. Interesting that BA proclaimed the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half as the most critical and the defense did the unusual coming out of the tunnel and gave up a long TD drive on SD's first possession. But--when it mattered most the offense and the defense took charge and even finished the game off with Dwyer killing the clock (how many times have we seen a Cardinals' team do that in the 4th quarter?).
I don't know about you----but my adrenaline is still flowing. This game was so exciting and it defied the Cardinals' dubious MNF history. On a full moon where we hailed a recent star and welcomed in a brand new season with a stunning nightcap!
P.S. Love this kid Catanzaro---that's another thing---no mind-boggling gaffes on the kickoffs to ruin momentum!
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