Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Defense:
* What has become apparent is that James Bettcher has realized that he doesn't have to blitz as much as Todd Bowles did because he of the cover abilities of the secondary, which obviously were in lavish display in this game.
* It sure says something about the mindset of the secondary when newly inserted pass package CB Justin Bethel jumps the first pass for a pick six and does it to perfection. Good thing the coaches called timeout before the play when the substitutions got mixed up.
* The Honey Badger baits the QB as well as any Cardinals' DB since Aeneas Williams.
* Patrick Peterson threw a shutout on speed WR Torrey Smith. It looked as if the QB wasn't going to challenge Peterson.
* Jerraud Powers blows up the WR screen and plays sticky coverage all day.
* Kevin Minter runs down hill to the ball as well as ever and gets the safety as a reward. He needs to work on his side to side range, however, because the QB beat him wide a couple of times.
* Deone Bucannon is quick and fierce and moves like a dart through traffic and is very physical.
* Frostee Rucker, Calais Campbell and Rodney Gunter push and penetrate, so does Corey Redding for the first time. Not so much Ed Stinson who stops his feet and gets turned around too much.
* Alex Okafor stays aggressive, but abandons contain by crashing inside, even when he knows the QB is a bounce threat. Not sure why year after year the Cardinals' WOLB does this time and time again with no flip outside help from the ILB or SS to his side.
* LaMarr Woodley, however, plays contain in textbook fashion on the QB's bootleg and stops the play in its tracks.
* Markus Golden motors and battles to the whistle on every play.
* What was so great about this game is that the 49ers are no longer imposing their mental and physical will on the Cardinals. The Cardinals' defensive line won the battles up front---they got enough pressure on the QB to force him into mistakes, and past pests Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis are non-factors---especially Boldin who got lazy on the Mathieu pick. He knows that when a ball is thrown later than normal, as a WR you have to work your way back to the ball so as not to let any CB play the passing lane. Boldin's lackadaisical effort on that interception epitomized the change in attitude and sharpness the Cardinals now have going for themselves.
Offense:
* So many of the plays are run confidently and crisply. This is a well rehearsed team right now---and because of the new practice restrictions on NFL teams, the brand of football we have been seeing around the league the first three weeks has been remarkably sub-par. But, not with the Cardinals, thanks to the HC being in his third year and veteran continuity and leadership.
* BA rates the offense a 6.5/7.0 out of 10 right now---but his 6.5 sure the heck is beating other team's 4.5. It will be interesting see just when some of the other teams catch up.
* Carson Palmer is showing very similar hunger, toughness and sharpness as we saw from Kurt Warner. Palmer wants to dominate the scoreboard and the stats.
* Larry Fitzgerald is showing why it was brilliant to move him to the slot---because of the mismatches in coverage. It's hard to believe the 49ers came out in a zone versus Fitz. Fitz crushes zones. But, they didn't know who to put on him so they hoped to zone him and the other WRs and punish them on or after the catches. Problem was they couldn't react fast enough to the zone splitters Palmer, Fitz and Smoke were throwing at them.
* It's not that Michael Floyd isn't playing well---he seems to be just fine. The problem is when the underneath stuff to Fitz and the RBs are so quickly available, you take it and run with it. The team will need Floyd when defenses start to play sticky man coverage. Floyd has the excellent catch in the jump ball situation that was called back and then the catch inside the 5 yard line at the end of the first half that set up the FG. Palmer looked like he expected Floyd to run a post when misfiring on a deep pass.
* Bobby Massie deserved to get benched after the first series, when he got zero push two run blocks to his side and then got beat badly around the arc. However, to Massie's credit, he did not quit when he was out-quicked in pass protection---he kept running the arc and then steering his man outside the back end of the arc as Palmer was stepping into the pocket---but because Massie was getting beat so quickly off the ball, it sure put a giddy-up into Palmer, who mostly handled it with poise.
* Jared Veldheer settled down after three penalties---which was uncharacteristic. He is looking more rugged and more persistent in his run blocking.
* The inside player who is really playing well is Ted Larsen. He is playing with a chip on his shoulder and he is getting the job done. There is no question that he is one of the best 5 offensive linemen on the team right now. It does give the Cardinals the luxury of being patient with Mike Iupati, if the want to continue to be.
* Jonathan Cooper is making good strides and is not on the ground as much as before. But he also has been playing a little too high at times, maybe to compensate and that has allowed him to lose some leverage at times.
* Jermaine Gresham is starting to look good at TE. Really got after his blocks---one time blocking him man all the way out of bounds. And he had a couple of nice catches. Darren Fells had a nice catch and near second one which went off his fingertips. Troy Niklas is out there, but limping around.
* BA is getting good effort from situational FB A.Q. Shipley and short yardage RB Stepfan Taylor.
* Chris Johnson is the surprise of this game---man, he runs hard and he has started to slow his mind down to let his body catch up. This is very encouraging because if he runs like this, the Cardinals' offense will be so difficult to defend for even the stronger defenses.
Special Teams:
* Chandler Catanzaro----now kicking extra points from the right hash mark---is very good.
* Drew Butler kicks the poor punt that led to the 49ers' TD and then pins the 49ers deep which led to the safety.
* Brittan Golden looks a little skittish on returns---and a little anxious on the kickoff---but he sis make a nice tackle on one of the kickoffs.
* Kenny Demens has the STs "hear it in the stands" hit of the day on one of the kickoffs.
Moreover, don't you just love the Cortez guy in Cardinals' uniform #69 and his name taped to his helmet (a la training camp) cheering and sitting on the edge of his seat next to his son in the stands? This Cortez is ready for action!
So happy to see the Cardinals dominate a team that has dominated them for years now---and to do it on 24orever Day!
* What has become apparent is that James Bettcher has realized that he doesn't have to blitz as much as Todd Bowles did because he of the cover abilities of the secondary, which obviously were in lavish display in this game.
* It sure says something about the mindset of the secondary when newly inserted pass package CB Justin Bethel jumps the first pass for a pick six and does it to perfection. Good thing the coaches called timeout before the play when the substitutions got mixed up.
* The Honey Badger baits the QB as well as any Cardinals' DB since Aeneas Williams.
* Patrick Peterson threw a shutout on speed WR Torrey Smith. It looked as if the QB wasn't going to challenge Peterson.
* Jerraud Powers blows up the WR screen and plays sticky coverage all day.
* Kevin Minter runs down hill to the ball as well as ever and gets the safety as a reward. He needs to work on his side to side range, however, because the QB beat him wide a couple of times.
* Deone Bucannon is quick and fierce and moves like a dart through traffic and is very physical.
* Frostee Rucker, Calais Campbell and Rodney Gunter push and penetrate, so does Corey Redding for the first time. Not so much Ed Stinson who stops his feet and gets turned around too much.
* Alex Okafor stays aggressive, but abandons contain by crashing inside, even when he knows the QB is a bounce threat. Not sure why year after year the Cardinals' WOLB does this time and time again with no flip outside help from the ILB or SS to his side.
* LaMarr Woodley, however, plays contain in textbook fashion on the QB's bootleg and stops the play in its tracks.
* Markus Golden motors and battles to the whistle on every play.
* What was so great about this game is that the 49ers are no longer imposing their mental and physical will on the Cardinals. The Cardinals' defensive line won the battles up front---they got enough pressure on the QB to force him into mistakes, and past pests Anquan Boldin and Vernon Davis are non-factors---especially Boldin who got lazy on the Mathieu pick. He knows that when a ball is thrown later than normal, as a WR you have to work your way back to the ball so as not to let any CB play the passing lane. Boldin's lackadaisical effort on that interception epitomized the change in attitude and sharpness the Cardinals now have going for themselves.
Offense:
* So many of the plays are run confidently and crisply. This is a well rehearsed team right now---and because of the new practice restrictions on NFL teams, the brand of football we have been seeing around the league the first three weeks has been remarkably sub-par. But, not with the Cardinals, thanks to the HC being in his third year and veteran continuity and leadership.
* BA rates the offense a 6.5/7.0 out of 10 right now---but his 6.5 sure the heck is beating other team's 4.5. It will be interesting see just when some of the other teams catch up.
* Carson Palmer is showing very similar hunger, toughness and sharpness as we saw from Kurt Warner. Palmer wants to dominate the scoreboard and the stats.
* Larry Fitzgerald is showing why it was brilliant to move him to the slot---because of the mismatches in coverage. It's hard to believe the 49ers came out in a zone versus Fitz. Fitz crushes zones. But, they didn't know who to put on him so they hoped to zone him and the other WRs and punish them on or after the catches. Problem was they couldn't react fast enough to the zone splitters Palmer, Fitz and Smoke were throwing at them.
* It's not that Michael Floyd isn't playing well---he seems to be just fine. The problem is when the underneath stuff to Fitz and the RBs are so quickly available, you take it and run with it. The team will need Floyd when defenses start to play sticky man coverage. Floyd has the excellent catch in the jump ball situation that was called back and then the catch inside the 5 yard line at the end of the first half that set up the FG. Palmer looked like he expected Floyd to run a post when misfiring on a deep pass.
* Bobby Massie deserved to get benched after the first series, when he got zero push two run blocks to his side and then got beat badly around the arc. However, to Massie's credit, he did not quit when he was out-quicked in pass protection---he kept running the arc and then steering his man outside the back end of the arc as Palmer was stepping into the pocket---but because Massie was getting beat so quickly off the ball, it sure put a giddy-up into Palmer, who mostly handled it with poise.
* Jared Veldheer settled down after three penalties---which was uncharacteristic. He is looking more rugged and more persistent in his run blocking.
* The inside player who is really playing well is Ted Larsen. He is playing with a chip on his shoulder and he is getting the job done. There is no question that he is one of the best 5 offensive linemen on the team right now. It does give the Cardinals the luxury of being patient with Mike Iupati, if the want to continue to be.
* Jonathan Cooper is making good strides and is not on the ground as much as before. But he also has been playing a little too high at times, maybe to compensate and that has allowed him to lose some leverage at times.
* Jermaine Gresham is starting to look good at TE. Really got after his blocks---one time blocking him man all the way out of bounds. And he had a couple of nice catches. Darren Fells had a nice catch and near second one which went off his fingertips. Troy Niklas is out there, but limping around.
* BA is getting good effort from situational FB A.Q. Shipley and short yardage RB Stepfan Taylor.
* Chris Johnson is the surprise of this game---man, he runs hard and he has started to slow his mind down to let his body catch up. This is very encouraging because if he runs like this, the Cardinals' offense will be so difficult to defend for even the stronger defenses.
Special Teams:
* Chandler Catanzaro----now kicking extra points from the right hash mark---is very good.
* Drew Butler kicks the poor punt that led to the 49ers' TD and then pins the 49ers deep which led to the safety.
* Brittan Golden looks a little skittish on returns---and a little anxious on the kickoff---but he sis make a nice tackle on one of the kickoffs.
* Kenny Demens has the STs "hear it in the stands" hit of the day on one of the kickoffs.
Moreover, don't you just love the Cortez guy in Cardinals' uniform #69 and his name taped to his helmet (a la training camp) cheering and sitting on the edge of his seat next to his son in the stands? This Cortez is ready for action!
So happy to see the Cardinals dominate a team that has dominated them for years now---and to do it on 24orever Day!
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