Game 5 Impressions: Cardinals 30 Saints 20

[40yearfan]

You've gotta love the guy who makes the Arizona Cardinals banner for each home game. You've got the Arizona rising sun in the background and the brilliant red Cardinal in the middle...and below all that color is this week's mantra...which...read: MAX EFFORT.




(I will post this and return on this thread to add my thoughts about the rest of the personnel---more MAX EFFORT to come).

Mitch, you are without a doubt the most colorful writer on this board. I really enjoy your posts.

A certain someone who works for the Republic should talk to the sports department about getting some of Mitch's articles in the paper.

 

[Mitch]

As always, nice job Mitch!!

I have to say it, though. I totally disagree with you on Whiz. He's laconic outside. But inside his mind is clicking and his gut is churning. Whiz will never be the guy jumping up and down and throwing his headset every game. He's Ashley Wilkes.

Actually, Dems, we agree about Whiz. Whiz needs to be Whiz.

What I meant to say is that both Whiz and Davis can't be statue-esque...someone has to generate some emotion on the sideline.

This is what we miss about Todd Haley. Haley took no b.s. from anyone. And, I will say this...I think that the day the Cardinals turned the corner and became legitimate Super Bowl contenders was the game where Haley got in Kurt Warner's grill for commiting a senseless turnover. Warner was irate, but that was a good thing.

Points were made on both sides and the energy that ensued afterword was extremely productive.

 

[Mitch]

Mitch-----that was a great pair of write-ups. You have once again captured the very essence of a game, and reading your post is like rewatching the game itself.

You posed a very astute question with-----which effort will we get next game, MAX EFFORT, or I'm saving myself for some other time. My guess is that if Hall remains the QB, then we get max effort. That kid won the loyalty and the respect of the players yesterday with his own Max effort and especially with his COMMAND PRESENCE. He has that in spades, and inspired these guys to overcome each of our own miscues, and even to respond to the opponents good plays with more of our own. I believe that these players would follow this kid into the very breech of hell if he led them there. They are definitely buying what he is selling.

As for Whiz's sideline demeanor------don't forget that he is an engineer. He is not a person who has a feeling for things-----with him it is strictly putting the round pegs into round holes and trying to hammer the square ones into round ones. He works with measureables, not intangibles. He does not get very high or very low with what is happening, because he is caught up in maneuvering his chess pieces into the right place to make the next play happen.

Remember, one of the reasons that Whiz benched DA was that he believed that bringing DA into a game cold would take the pressure off him. Whiz still believes that DA IS his QB, and he proved it by bringing him in just before the half when Max got the wind knocked out of him. The timing was perfect for DA to succeed in Whiz's mind, but the result was again a dismal failure. Unlike Max, DA simply cannot learn from his own mistakes, and unlike Max, DA will NEVER DEVELOP A COMMAND PRESENCE. He will never inspire his players to follow him, because he goes no where.

Meanwhile Whiz, ever the engineer, plods on, still believing that DA is his answer at QB, and that Bryan Robinson is the logical call for a Nose Tackle. Both have the measurables, right height, right weight, good past experience and knowlege of the game and their positions.

DA will never LEAD this team because he can't. Robinson would have been better off left retired. Max is our obvious leader on the field------until the next time he gets hurt, or Whiz wants to call a play where he lacks confidence in Max's measurables, and again brings DA off the bench to win the day.

Catfish...I love your passion and I consider you one of my all-time favorite posters...to me you ARE the Catfish Hunter of posters...and i consider you a valued friend.

Where I disagree with you on this one is that DA is still Whiz's QB. He's not. I believe that if Whiz had had the chance to play Max Hall with the 1st team offense this pre-season, Hall would have started.

I think that if Whiz could rewind the days, he would have dealt with the Leinart situation sooner, so that he could have started Max Hall in the last pre-season game versus the Redskins.

By hanging onto Leinart so long...it gave far less reps for Hall with the big boys. And with Whiz, you have to get reps with the big boys for you to start getting PT. This make sense.

If Whiz had cut Leinart and promoted Halll to starter at the same time, the scrutiny would have been enormous.

Thus, Whiz bided his time and made the move in a very calculated fashion.

When reporters asked him in previous games whether he ever considered going to Hall when DA was struggling, Whiz white lied.

You and I both know he did.

It's because of Hall that Leinart is no longer with the team and DA is no longer the starter.

And think of this, Catfish, and all my Cardinal friends...Max Hall goes from a nobody UCFA to beating out a Heisman Trophy NCAA Champion QB #10 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft and a one-time Pro Bowl QB (anomaly or not) in what...all of three months?

Hall didn't do this by default. He saw his opportunity and grabbed the reins with all his might, and as we saw Sunday, savage hits and leg injuries could not deter him. He passed for 9/11 in the second half and led the Cardinals fearlessly...when most QBs who took the pounding he did would have been happy to watch the rest of the game from the water cooler.

 

[DemsMyBoys]

This is what we miss about Todd Haley. Haley took no b.s. from anyone. And, I will say this...I think that the day the Cardinals turned the corner and became legitimate Super Bowl contenders was the game where Haley got in Kurt Warner's grill for commiting a senseless turnover. Warner was irate, but that was a good thing.

I miss Haley. A lot.

There's an NFL Films clip that's about Fitz and his family. It shows Larry getting that last touchdown in the Superbowl. Shot of Larry on the bench with his head bowed and his hands clasped. Whiz is going over to talk with Larry and Todd grabs him. "Leave him alone. He's talking to his mom."

Haley understood his players and their motivations. He "got" them.

 

[Mitch]

I miss Haley. A lot.

There's an NFL Films clip that's about Fitz and his family. It shows Larry getting that last touchdown in the Superbowl. Shot of Larry on the bench with his head bowed and his hands clasped. Whiz is going over to talk with Larry and Todd grabs him. "Leave him alone. He's talking to his mom."

Haley understood his players and their motivations. He "got" them.

GREAT POST, DEMS!

 

[chickenhead]

He surely wanted to let his team know that he came to play and would take his licks like anyone else. He gained a lot of respect from his team mates but it is now time for Max to protect his body.

+100

He has proven that he is willing to take a hit. If he keeps doing it he will only prove that he can't think it through. I loved seeing it and I hope it's the only time I do. Especially since without Levi's recovery we would all remember the play very differently.

 

[WildBB]

Let me tell you Mitch, I was at the game. It was pretty ruckus. There were plenty of Saints fans, young and old around. And they were looking around, like stunned. We were making so much noise and when our D was out there it was totally wild.

Even right after halftime, when we came out on D and sent them back 3 and out, the crowd was very loud. I was thinking then, "we ain't gonna let these guys have any easy breaks today", we're after they're ass. (Players and crowd).

Even in the post game, I'm not sure who the commentator was, but he commented on the crowd there, and that it was totally a factor in the outcome.

We rule = Together!

Talking about signs, there was one in the stands and he made the big Jumbo Tron in the 4th Quarter. It said CARDS MOJO - Lets Hear It! And We Did!