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Yeah, what a moment that was. I remember Del Greco's fake being much further away from the endzone.
Game 13 Impressions: Cardinals 43 Broncos 13
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Yeah, what a moment that was. I remember Del Greco's fake being much further away from the endzone.
crisper57
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I agree with everything but have to put in this caveat.
When Skelton lowered his shoulder, I held my breath. I had just watched Aaron Rodgers do the same thing, get a concussion as a result, and probably cost his team the game. It's great when no one gets hurt on that play, but I'd still prefer our QB's to slide every time.
That being said, his block in the reverse was a thing of beauty. That was the play where he won me over.
When Skelton lowered his shoulder, I held my breath. I had just watched Aaron Rodgers do the same thing, get a concussion as a result, and probably cost his team the game. It's great when no one gets hurt on that play, but I'd still prefer our QB's to slide every time.
That being said, his block in the reverse was a thing of beauty. That was the play where he won me over.
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Much better was his block on the reverse. The entire sideline got psyched on that one.
dylanbw
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Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/01/14/cardinals/#ixzz180cS5XgL
"But the beautiful thing about the Cardinals, the magical thing, is the way they lost. The magic began with the Cardinals' first home game in Arizona -- that was Sept. 12, 1988, a Monday night game against the Dallas Cowboys. They were the Phoenix Cardinals then*, and they had just left St. Louis in sort of a mutual agreement -- the city of St. Louis didn't want to lose football, of course, but was more than willing to lose owner Bill Bidwill. For most St. Louis people, it seemed a fair trade.
*The Phoenix Cardinals became the Arizona Cardinals in 1994, when owner Bill Bidwill decided that the team needed a more inclusive name. I've always wondered what people in Flagstaff, Tucson and Peoria thought about suddenly becoming known accomplices to the Arizona Cardinals. Isn't that a bit like changing the name of the Boston Strangler to the New England Strangler?
Anyway, late in the first half of that Monday Night game, the Cardinals were set up for a field goal to tie the game. And it was at this point that Cardinals coach Gene Stallings called for a fake field goal that, theoretically, would have asked kicker Al Del Greco to take the ball and run 42 yards for a touchdown."
...Al Del Greco never ran 42 yards on a football field in his entire life......helluva golfer though....
nashman
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Have we ever beaten anyone this badly under CKW? Curious I don't recall one even with the SB team blowing anyone out this badly. Please for the love of god could we quit running TH right into the line its easy to see much of his success is on the outside runs! Great game for the Cards but feel like I did after the Saints game did they just show up for the rookie or have we gotten tired of being embarrassed and decided to finish this season out playing more the way we are capable of? God how much better this team looks with someone at QB not turning the ball over left and right and actually hitting recievers... what could have been if CKW didn't keep trying to polish the turd DA! Knowing Whiz if DA is cleared he will start next week and I will be ready for CKW to be gone, please don't be a moron Whiz just play Skelton the rest of the year and let him learn!
Catfish
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Mitch-----what a wonderful change to see our younger players put onto the field, AND to see them being used to play to their strengths instead of their weaknesses. Amazing to see a run-first O-line, actually be allowed to run the ball. What a joy to see a QB manage the game instead of trying to force it. How nice to see a nose tackle actually commanding a double team so that the ends could be allowed to engage. Amazing how a spirited ILB can have such an effect on a game when simply 'allowed to play his heart out'. Great to see A-Dub creating havoc up near the LOS instead of giving points away in deep coverage. I wonder how soon the coaching staff will go about 'fixing' everything that our players accomplished today?
CardsFan88
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ROFL I was thinking the same thing, but wasn't sure. Looks like Manning's release, yep.
This is what most impressed me about Skelton. He looked comfortable and poised the entire game. When Denver applied pressure he stepped up or sideways, and continued the play, instead of showing panic.
No sacks, No int's, No fumbles. Game management! On top of that there are Skelton's size, arm, quick release, smarts... what's not to like!
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More than the apparent miss-evaluations of DA and Hall, it's the evaluation of Skelton that he was so far behind those two. He might not be polished, but his awareness is lightyears ahead of those two.
It's at best puzzling, and at worst damning (and I'm not one that's been ready to throw Whiz under the bus this season). But how can he have been so wrong about so many QBs in such a short span of time?
Question's for which we have no answers...
I'll give Whiz a little leeway on Skelton, as he is still raw; and I can understand that they didn't want to put him under the gun too soon. However, I can't understand many of the personnel decisions this year:
Anderson over Leinart - I will always believe this decision was about factors other than football.
Hall over Skelton - even in pre-season action I could see that Skelton was the more prototypical NFL QB.
Bryant Robinson starting and Watson inactive?
Faneca starting and Wells traded - might have made more sense if the Cardinals weren't continuing to pass 65% of the time.
Jorrick Calvin - released prematurely
And others...
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kerouac9
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To Whis's credit, the Skelton you're seeing now (hopefully) isn't the Skelton that was in camp to begin the year. The Skelton you're seeing now has been in NFL meeting rooms and working with coaches for three months, as well as running the scout team, where he arguably had more reps than he ever would have had as a #2.
Let's not pretend that Skelton was good yesterday. There's a lot of praise because he wasn't awful. But he was playing an AWFUL Denver team, and he was playing them at home.
I like his physical abilities, but it's easy to be "fearless" when everything is going right. Let's see one of those dropped balls fall into a defender's hands, or see him go against a legitimate pass rush, and find out how fearless he is. I'll be much more convinced then.
Mitch: Excelent post as usual. I agree with most everything you posted but--
1. Let us not annoint Skelton just yet. Remember we all went sort of over the board on Hall in his first appearance and you know what happened. Skelton in this one game did show more promise than anyone we have had at QB yet. With Hall I could see fear in his eyes from the get-go. DA will take a beating and keep on ticking but he just lacks what ever it takes to be an NFL starting QB. If Skelton improves week to week then we might consider not drafting a QB but at this point I still have QB as my #1 pick. That could change if Skelton is what we want him to be in the remaining games. One game does not make a QBOTF.
2. Clearly the best defensive effort of the year. Was the Broncos that bad or were we that good? That defensive effort was beyond anything I ever expected and against a good running attack. Orton looked like Derrick Anderson yesterday. WTH happened to him. Our Ol seemed to give our rookie good time and the scheme Whiz setup for him was very good. Sure glad to see Fitz a big part of the offense as I think he was getting frustrated. I also was very impressed when Skelton chose to lower his shoulder and run into the defense rather than run out of bounds. That sent a message to the team. He cannot do that to often and he has now sent the message.
3. Our kicker Feeley had perhaps the greatest day of his life and maybe the best I have ever seen. He was really pumped. Seens I also saw him make a big tackle. He could have kicked a 60 yd FG yesterday he was so pumped. He gets the game ball. Imagine making our first 22 points. Is that some sort of record.
4. I wanted to lose as I had no idea Skelton would even remotely show some promise and I wanted a top pick. Well winning always feels a hell of a lot better than losing and I think the defense and everyone else feels a lot better about themselves. Oh yes, Fitz broke Boldins record and the ball went into the treasure box. If we can draft one of the top three QB's I still go for one. If none are there then go for what ever the teams thinks is the best choice. I think our DC should still be replaced and I still think we need an OC.
5. Just some added info from Arkansas. Bobby Petrino our Arkansas head coach was given a 7 year extension at a salary of 3.7 million a year. There is a provision that if he leaves he cannot go to any team in the SEC. He has a 10 million dollar buyout. There had been rumors that he was on Floridas radar as head coach which is one of the best head coaches job in the nation. Last week I had suggested Gus Malzon, the OC for Auburn, as a possible OC for the Cards. This guy is truly an innovative if not a genius at offense. Only 7 years or so ago he was a legendary high school coach in Arkansas. He was picked up by Arkansas as the OC and brought with him some plays we have never seen. Next to Tulsa then to Auburn and now he has been offered the head coaching job at Vanderbilt. He has not said yes yet. Someday this guy will likely end up in the NFL. He is still young.
With all the bad rap Petrino was getting when we signed him after quiting at Atlanta he has turned out to be one of the best offensive coaches in the nation. He is an Arkansas hero and is a lot of fun to listen to on his TV show and interviews. A smart guy with a good QB ready to replace Ryan Mallet. We also have a couple of receivers that are NFL ready who helped Ryan Mallet become what he has become. One in particular D.J. Williams who has been winning a lot of awards since the season ended. He is around 6'4" and 245 who can make all the catches and then some. Also look for a fast Joe Adams who can return and go over the middle into traffic and make the catches. He also can be used at RB. Not a big guy but an elusive one who also made Ryan Mallet look good. When you evaluate QB's you also have to look at what kind of receivers they had. Mallet had the best in the SEC other than all world Green of Georgia who we beat.
Catfish
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(Quote K-9): I like his physical abilities, but it's easy to be "fearless" when everything is going right. Let's see one of those dropped balls fall into a defender's hands, or see him go against a legitimate pass rush, and find out how fearless he is. I'll be much more convinced then.[/quote]
The fact that we forced the run some today is evidence that a pass rush can be somewhat controlled. That took a lot of pressure off both the QB and the O-line. We would do well to take heed of that, and continue to call upon it in the future. It also did some really neat things, like forcing the defense to respect the run when it came to using play action.
The fact that we forced the run some today is evidence that a pass rush can be somewhat controlled. That took a lot of pressure off both the QB and the O-line. We would do well to take heed of that, and continue to call upon it in the future. It also did some really neat things, like forcing the defense to respect the run when it came to using play action.
kerouac9
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Another quick observation: Don't run the WR screen pass anymore. Boldin could physical past the first guy and set up blockers in front of him, but neither Fitz nor Breaston have the ability to do that.
I assume that it's something that Skelton was comfortable with since it's such a staple in college today, and there are some teams/WRs who CAN run it. It just doesn't work with this group. Maybe with LSH flexed out it might work a little better. I get why we run it--teams are run blitzing and that's a quick way to beat that blitz, but if you can't execute it, it doesn't matter.
I assume that it's something that Skelton was comfortable with since it's such a staple in college today, and there are some teams/WRs who CAN run it. It just doesn't work with this group. Maybe with LSH flexed out it might work a little better. I get why we run it--teams are run blitzing and that's a quick way to beat that blitz, but if you can't execute it, it doesn't matter.
kerouac9
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Denver is dead last in the NFL in sacks. They have a PATHETIC 18 sacks through 13 games. That's why there wasn't a pass rush, not because our offensive line suddenly became great pass protectors.
Early
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This is what most impressed me about Skelton. He looked comfortable and poised the entire game. When Denver applied pressure he stepped up or sideways, and continued the play, instead of showing panic.
No sacks, No int's, No fumbles. Game management! On top of that there are Skelton's size, arm, quick release, smarts... what's not to like!
I definitely agree there, he was very impressive standing in the pocket, without any fear. Good post.
I think there is a thing not to like, and that is the accuracy. He was not consistent on his touch, which points to accuracy issues. One pass is perfect, the next is with horrible accuracy, many of them were easy passes in fact, but he threw it behind in three instances.
That inconsistency is also what we have seen from Anderson. He does throw some perfect passes sometimes, but can't keep that up at all.
Skelton had all the time in the world to pass yesterday. Broncos D-Line was terrible and the whole team was collapsing with no leadership.
I think we have to find out how he handles things when there is pressure and when he is behind. It's the first game of the year perhaps where the defense and special teams and run game managed to keep us in front. Tjis time we were in front and Broncos expected us to run which gave him alot of time in the pocket.
Usually, it's the other way around and will probably be in the coming games. Let's see how he does when he has to carry the team and is forced to move the chains.
I liked alot what i saw and he has plenty of potential. I had him on the list of QB's before the draft that i wanted us to draft, and he has certainly done well so far. But this kid is not ready yet at all, and he needs to get much more accurate and practice much more with 1st team.
What i liked the best is that he was good in identifying the single coverage. He didn't throw the ball in double many times and even if it required a deep pass, he seemed to isolate where the single coverage came and even when it came from Champ , he went on that side.
I think that both Hall and Skelton are very promising QB's for the future and they both need much more time for evaluation and progress. None of the two are ready right now. And they are very different.
Hall needs time to learn how to deal with the more physical aspects of the game at next level and he will learn it with time. That ball has to come out faster, he can't get hit all the time. He needs to learn where to go with the football under pressure, he has been completely lost finding hot reads, and that is hard. If he learns that, he can be very good.
Skelton on other hand has to learn to be much more accurate passer, otherwise he has no chance to be a great QB, he will be just another Derek Anderson, some success without anything amazing due to inaccuracy mostly.
I agree with this 100%. It was a staple for Q and we ran it with great success. But with Fitz and Breaston the play absolutely sucks.
If they're looking for ways to get LSH more involved in the offense, they should line him up in the backfield on passing downs and then split him out wide and use him as an underneath receiver. I'll bet he could make a guy or two miss on the WR screen.
conraddobler
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+2
We seem to have a rather big collection of stuff that dosen't work that we still do.
I would hope if we get a new OC they'll be quicker to round file stuff that dosen't work out of the playbook instead of treating us to repeated failures of it.
conraddobler
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He's IMO underutilized, the hyphen is powerful, needs to have several more plays a game designed for him, in open space he's lethal, get him the ball in open space.
You couldn't ask for a better scenario to break in a rookie QB at home vs Denver and then for his first road game get Carolina.
Again thanks to Kyle Orton for a great DeWreck Anderson imitation yesterday.
football karma
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another reason why it doesnt work: when you have a passing game that hasn't hit a big play for a TD all season long -- you tend to get a lot of press coverages.
Teams know that the Cards passing game MO (be it DA, Hall or Skelton) is an emphasis on the 4-9 yard pass.
Defending the Cardinals is pretty basic right now: focus on the first 8 yards past the line of scrimmage-- either for the run or the short pass. Anything longer than that -- you are relying on your pass rush or simply for the Cardinals Qb to miss any open receiver down the field.
Reggie Bush style plays would work great with ---.
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JS did OK vs Denver and will probably do OK with Carolina. What I'm waiting for is Dallas. By tyen he'll have two games under his belt and this will be a "real" test. I can't wait and really hope he is successful.
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