Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
In my opinion the primary reason for what was being termed a "sloppy" first half was that both teams were diligently prepared for this game. The two plays that hurt the Cardinals the most in the first half were: (1) the early play where Trent Cole got a free straight-line backside shot on Carson Palmer; and (2) the play-action hitch pass where FS Rashad Johnson came flying up the alley on the run fake and then Patrick Peterson did not react quickly to the hitch pass thrown to Jeremy Maclin and then didn't make strong enough of an effort to shed his block in order to chase down Maclin as he basically ran in to the end zone with ease.
On the first one---we have seen this happen a couple times before where the Cardinals have an empty backfield and there is no TE or slot WR to Jared Veldheer's side and yet Veldheer blocks the DT and leave the DE free. This cannot be by design---no matter how quickly the coaches want Palmer to throw the ball, because under no circumstances can they risk a DE getting a straight shot at Palmer.
Palmer's footwork after that was spotty and it took him a while to settle back down. In addition, Palmer was taking deep shots on first down and missing (not by much), but it left the offense in a number of 2nd and 10 situations, which are tricky because if they run the ball on 2nd down for 3-4 yards it sets up a pressure 3rd down pass---which versus a good pressure defense is hard to convert on a consistent basis.
As for the hitch pass TD---it is just a perfect illustration of Chip Kelly's offensive philosophy of playing the numbers game---he will attack the weak side where a quick catch can lead to chunk yards, and he will bait the safeties into having to contend with Shady McCoy or with the tricky speed option QB keeper and even more difficult to defend, as we saw, the tricky TE slip pass off of the speed option, where the TE darts underneath the blockers to the other side of the field and therefore is virtually impossible to keep up with man to man, as the DB has to fight through heavy traffic to try to catch up with the TE on the other side. What DCs need to do is to stop that play is to instruct the DTs to put a licking on a TE crossing underneath...which is hard to do when the play looks like McCoy is going to run the ball between the tackles.
The two plays in the second half that helped the Cardinals the most were the home run passes, both of which were run to near perfection. Palmer's quick hot read to Fitzgerald on the Eagles' LB blitz came out in the flash of an eye, as Ted Ginn Jr. was in perfect position to block the one remaining inside defender---and Fitz was off to the races---thanks to the design of the play and the work Fitz and the team has been doing with speed coach Roger Kingdom. In essence---this play was BA's and the Cardinals' perfect playing of the numbers game. Touche!
The bomb to John Smokey Brown was a work of art---first, that it was even called in that critical third down situation and secondly, that Carson Palmer, who understandably was experiencing some footwork issues in the first half, worked his feet in a series of little crow hops just the way Peyton Manning does in order to step up into a throw that he can put some air and touch on. Credit QB guru Tom Moore and Palmer for maintaining a focus on the fundamentals in practice and then in the game. Plays like this don't happen by accident. Then, credit Brown for being confident about catching the biscuit in the basket---which, as we all know is a drill that Larry Fitzgerald works tirelessly on with WR Coach Daryl Drake and all the WRs...so as to instill muscle memory.
What was perhaps even more impressive than the catch was Brown's presence of mind to catch the ball in stride. Most Cardinals' WRs of the past would have left their feet to try to catch that ball or any ball that wasn't thrown to utmost perfection. This pass was a tad over Brown's left shoulder which is a more difficult in the air adjustment. Equally impressive too that he tucked the ball away, which TE John Carlson was unable to do earlier in the quarter on another Palmer dart thrown with perfect timing with Peyton Manning like footwork.
While Bill Davis and the quick charging Eagles' defense deserve a great deal of credit for crowding the box in order to contain Andre Ellington and get to Palmer as quickly as possible, ultimately it left their secondary vulnerable deep, which the Cardinals were able to exploit, and nearly did so on a number of other occasions to Michael Floyd, who had his hands on a TD pass and a deep jump ball that normally he pulls in...and then missing on an overthrown flea flicker.
When BA concedes that the other team's defense showed him stuff he wasn't prepared for, you know they have done a heckuva job. There isn't much BA hasn't seen over the years. It says a lot about our coach that he can be this frank with himself and his team. It also says a lot about the coach when he can recognize and give credit for the players taking control of the situation when the game was on the line. Ultimately this is what every coach wants and needs: players who understand the system and the coaching so well that they can surprise the coach every now and then with big plays that perhaps even the coach didn't entirely see coming.
As for the Cardinals' defense, even though they gave up 521 yards of total offense, they came up big when it mattered most---as in with Frostee Rucker's great come from behind strip of Huff's near TD catch---with Antonio Cromartie's two timely drive killing interceptions---with the excellent stuff of McCoy at the one yard line with 2:00 left, which caused Chip Kelly to go for the field goal---to the best and perfectly played pass breakups late in the game that perhaps we have seen in ages from a cadre of Cardinals' DBs (Mathieu, Jefferson, Bucannon, Johnson)---all with excellent positioning and discipline (no panicking---no penalties)---to the intrepid DC Todd Bowles who brought the house when few DCs ever would, which on the last play caused Foles to backpedal an extra ten yards and then throw off his back foot.
In recent weeks, I have seen the ends of two college football games where in the exact same situation the DC called for 3 man rushes and both got burned in the back corner of the end zone by QBs who had plenty of time and WRs who were able to get wide open versus DBs getting caught in no man's land near the goalline---on the last desperate play of the game---the first was Colorado St. over BC and the second was Notre Dame over Stanford.
What I wish to continue to laud the Cardinals' defense for was their discipline under pressure. One really cannot fault Jerraud Powers for the TD bomb to Maclin. Powers played Maclin to near perfection on that play, which took an absolutely perfect pass and catch to score on. Powers has emerged this season as an all-out baller in coverage. In fact, the defense seemed to become more focused and disciplined in coverage when he was switched over to Maclin. Next to Powers, the safety quartet of Jefferson, Johnson, Mathieu and Bucannon were busting up runs and passes with aggression and superb technique. Even Ronde Barber, who is bot quick to praise DBs, was singing their praises, and rightfully so. Tackling Shady McCoy is a major challenge for any defender and to wind up wrapping him up around the ankles as many times as those safeties did was a tribute to their preparation and precision.
Plus---look at how Bowles managed to confuse the Philly offense with the various looks he gave them---on the fly, no less---because of the Eagles' supremely up-tempo hurry-up. The confusion sure slowed the tempo down didn't it? And that in itself is an accomplishment in its own right.
On special teams---Jefferson and Lorenzo Alexander have been beasts. Johnson too. These boys are laying the wood and sending playing flying through gatorade cups and coming up dripping wet on the other side.
The only question I have is why BA elected to punt on the first possession in lieu of taking a 53 yard FG attempt by Chandler Catanzaro. Maybe BA has answered this by now---but he no longer has Dave Zastudil and Zasty's uncanny ability to down the ball inside the five yard line, and Catanzaro, as we have seen, has plenty of leg indoors from 53 yards. Was BA thinking about giving Catanzaro a better chance of making the sole rookie record of 16 FGs in a row? It was a curious call---not normally a call one would see from the ever-aggressive BA. One might imagine that when BA saw the Eagles' rookie split the uprights half way up the goalposts from 54 yards that BA was questioning his previous decision.
Fitting that this game was played right smack dab in the middle of the World Series because in Arizona we have a Birdgang of Cardinals' coaches and players who are swinging for the fences right down to the very last pitch. Last evening, it felt like the football Cardinals hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to regain the lead and managed to get out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth on a deep fly ball caught inches outside the left field foul pole. Wow. What a game! What a win!
On the first one---we have seen this happen a couple times before where the Cardinals have an empty backfield and there is no TE or slot WR to Jared Veldheer's side and yet Veldheer blocks the DT and leave the DE free. This cannot be by design---no matter how quickly the coaches want Palmer to throw the ball, because under no circumstances can they risk a DE getting a straight shot at Palmer.
Palmer's footwork after that was spotty and it took him a while to settle back down. In addition, Palmer was taking deep shots on first down and missing (not by much), but it left the offense in a number of 2nd and 10 situations, which are tricky because if they run the ball on 2nd down for 3-4 yards it sets up a pressure 3rd down pass---which versus a good pressure defense is hard to convert on a consistent basis.
As for the hitch pass TD---it is just a perfect illustration of Chip Kelly's offensive philosophy of playing the numbers game---he will attack the weak side where a quick catch can lead to chunk yards, and he will bait the safeties into having to contend with Shady McCoy or with the tricky speed option QB keeper and even more difficult to defend, as we saw, the tricky TE slip pass off of the speed option, where the TE darts underneath the blockers to the other side of the field and therefore is virtually impossible to keep up with man to man, as the DB has to fight through heavy traffic to try to catch up with the TE on the other side. What DCs need to do is to stop that play is to instruct the DTs to put a licking on a TE crossing underneath...which is hard to do when the play looks like McCoy is going to run the ball between the tackles.
The two plays in the second half that helped the Cardinals the most were the home run passes, both of which were run to near perfection. Palmer's quick hot read to Fitzgerald on the Eagles' LB blitz came out in the flash of an eye, as Ted Ginn Jr. was in perfect position to block the one remaining inside defender---and Fitz was off to the races---thanks to the design of the play and the work Fitz and the team has been doing with speed coach Roger Kingdom. In essence---this play was BA's and the Cardinals' perfect playing of the numbers game. Touche!
The bomb to John Smokey Brown was a work of art---first, that it was even called in that critical third down situation and secondly, that Carson Palmer, who understandably was experiencing some footwork issues in the first half, worked his feet in a series of little crow hops just the way Peyton Manning does in order to step up into a throw that he can put some air and touch on. Credit QB guru Tom Moore and Palmer for maintaining a focus on the fundamentals in practice and then in the game. Plays like this don't happen by accident. Then, credit Brown for being confident about catching the biscuit in the basket---which, as we all know is a drill that Larry Fitzgerald works tirelessly on with WR Coach Daryl Drake and all the WRs...so as to instill muscle memory.
What was perhaps even more impressive than the catch was Brown's presence of mind to catch the ball in stride. Most Cardinals' WRs of the past would have left their feet to try to catch that ball or any ball that wasn't thrown to utmost perfection. This pass was a tad over Brown's left shoulder which is a more difficult in the air adjustment. Equally impressive too that he tucked the ball away, which TE John Carlson was unable to do earlier in the quarter on another Palmer dart thrown with perfect timing with Peyton Manning like footwork.
While Bill Davis and the quick charging Eagles' defense deserve a great deal of credit for crowding the box in order to contain Andre Ellington and get to Palmer as quickly as possible, ultimately it left their secondary vulnerable deep, which the Cardinals were able to exploit, and nearly did so on a number of other occasions to Michael Floyd, who had his hands on a TD pass and a deep jump ball that normally he pulls in...and then missing on an overthrown flea flicker.
When BA concedes that the other team's defense showed him stuff he wasn't prepared for, you know they have done a heckuva job. There isn't much BA hasn't seen over the years. It says a lot about our coach that he can be this frank with himself and his team. It also says a lot about the coach when he can recognize and give credit for the players taking control of the situation when the game was on the line. Ultimately this is what every coach wants and needs: players who understand the system and the coaching so well that they can surprise the coach every now and then with big plays that perhaps even the coach didn't entirely see coming.
As for the Cardinals' defense, even though they gave up 521 yards of total offense, they came up big when it mattered most---as in with Frostee Rucker's great come from behind strip of Huff's near TD catch---with Antonio Cromartie's two timely drive killing interceptions---with the excellent stuff of McCoy at the one yard line with 2:00 left, which caused Chip Kelly to go for the field goal---to the best and perfectly played pass breakups late in the game that perhaps we have seen in ages from a cadre of Cardinals' DBs (Mathieu, Jefferson, Bucannon, Johnson)---all with excellent positioning and discipline (no panicking---no penalties)---to the intrepid DC Todd Bowles who brought the house when few DCs ever would, which on the last play caused Foles to backpedal an extra ten yards and then throw off his back foot.
In recent weeks, I have seen the ends of two college football games where in the exact same situation the DC called for 3 man rushes and both got burned in the back corner of the end zone by QBs who had plenty of time and WRs who were able to get wide open versus DBs getting caught in no man's land near the goalline---on the last desperate play of the game---the first was Colorado St. over BC and the second was Notre Dame over Stanford.
What I wish to continue to laud the Cardinals' defense for was their discipline under pressure. One really cannot fault Jerraud Powers for the TD bomb to Maclin. Powers played Maclin to near perfection on that play, which took an absolutely perfect pass and catch to score on. Powers has emerged this season as an all-out baller in coverage. In fact, the defense seemed to become more focused and disciplined in coverage when he was switched over to Maclin. Next to Powers, the safety quartet of Jefferson, Johnson, Mathieu and Bucannon were busting up runs and passes with aggression and superb technique. Even Ronde Barber, who is bot quick to praise DBs, was singing their praises, and rightfully so. Tackling Shady McCoy is a major challenge for any defender and to wind up wrapping him up around the ankles as many times as those safeties did was a tribute to their preparation and precision.
Plus---look at how Bowles managed to confuse the Philly offense with the various looks he gave them---on the fly, no less---because of the Eagles' supremely up-tempo hurry-up. The confusion sure slowed the tempo down didn't it? And that in itself is an accomplishment in its own right.
On special teams---Jefferson and Lorenzo Alexander have been beasts. Johnson too. These boys are laying the wood and sending playing flying through gatorade cups and coming up dripping wet on the other side.
The only question I have is why BA elected to punt on the first possession in lieu of taking a 53 yard FG attempt by Chandler Catanzaro. Maybe BA has answered this by now---but he no longer has Dave Zastudil and Zasty's uncanny ability to down the ball inside the five yard line, and Catanzaro, as we have seen, has plenty of leg indoors from 53 yards. Was BA thinking about giving Catanzaro a better chance of making the sole rookie record of 16 FGs in a row? It was a curious call---not normally a call one would see from the ever-aggressive BA. One might imagine that when BA saw the Eagles' rookie split the uprights half way up the goalposts from 54 yards that BA was questioning his previous decision.
Fitting that this game was played right smack dab in the middle of the World Series because in Arizona we have a Birdgang of Cardinals' coaches and players who are swinging for the fences right down to the very last pitch. Last evening, it felt like the football Cardinals hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth to regain the lead and managed to get out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth on a deep fly ball caught inches outside the left field foul pole. Wow. What a game! What a win!
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