I've only made a few posts here, but regular lurker of this forum... as big of a fan of the Cards as anyone! I enjoy my beverages, but was stone cold sober last night watching the game - yet woke up feeling like I had reversed course to college and pounded a 5th of jager chased by some classy Skoal Vodka! My therapy this morning is the keyboarding out some thoughts about our team...
1 - Knew this game would be a head scratcher. You don't lose your best players on both side of the trenches and not feel the effect...cap it off by having you lose your back-up center, left me googling before the game Sean Harlow's background. Felt like googling a medical symptom where the top results were terminal!
2 - Slow starts, game planning and play calling. I am not a fan of KK, period. There is no after game hindsight about this game planning. The educated fan knew these facts;
- Defense; Cardinals are not good vs the run. Green Bay's top 3 options at WR out. JJ Watt is out. GB has 2 hard nosed running RBs. What was going to be GB's strategy? Run the ball and short passes..drain the clock all game. If one were so obtuse not to recognize this before the game, maybe one would understand this during the first quarter as nearly the entire play clock was utilized from the get-go.
Okay..maybe the defense simply can't stop the run. Which again, the COACH should plan for this... or at least ADJUST to this.
- Offense; We have gotten off to several slow starts this season. You are at home, on primetime for the first time this season. You just lost your best D-lineman, so you'd thing you'd know the above strategy by GB. Your interior line is complete S&%@, with your 3rd string Center, a terrible make shift guard in JJ. As much as you want to establish the run, the inside run game is NOT going to flourish with Harlow and JJ in the starting lineup together. You also SHOULD know the only way you are going to combat the GB's strategy is by putting big points to make them chase our points thus force them out of the run. We are NOT a physical ground and pound slow tempo team. Simply are not even close to that type of team and will never be with this O-line. Why do we keep coming out flat and in slow tempo? We show time and time again in the second half that we thrive on tempo. It does NOT mean abandon the run. You can run the ball in tempo...even up the middle as the defense is on their heals. KK - Why do you continue to try to change this team's identity to adapt to your competition?!?!? Great teams make the competition adapt to their identity!
3 - Kyler - He had some overthrown balls in the first half, but impossible to get rhythm with 6 attempts in the first half...being under pressure and with play-calling that put the team in bad position. Terrible INT early in the second half.. but the transition to up-tempo showed me something; the less you let KK try to be cute and pretend to strategize the offense, the better. Up tempo, let's Kyler control more of the decision process of the play calling. Hate to say this, but without KK in the Cleveland the offense looked electric for it's entirety. KK sneaks into the Texans game, starts off slow. KK holds this offense back completely, thus holds Kyler back.
4 - Trade Deadline Looming - I know we should have Hudson back next week, but we need a guard and an interior lineman. I think we all agree Kiem is all-in, but I am not sure if we can make even a depth move let alone a splash move.. but it is needed or we won't advance in the playoffs.
Above all - we will 100% be a 1st round exit if Kliff does NOT let this team play to it's identity.. simply not good enough at the other factors of the game to play a different style of ball game.
1 - Knew this game would be a head scratcher. You don't lose your best players on both side of the trenches and not feel the effect...cap it off by having you lose your back-up center, left me googling before the game Sean Harlow's background. Felt like googling a medical symptom where the top results were terminal!
2 - Slow starts, game planning and play calling. I am not a fan of KK, period. There is no after game hindsight about this game planning. The educated fan knew these facts;
- Defense; Cardinals are not good vs the run. Green Bay's top 3 options at WR out. JJ Watt is out. GB has 2 hard nosed running RBs. What was going to be GB's strategy? Run the ball and short passes..drain the clock all game. If one were so obtuse not to recognize this before the game, maybe one would understand this during the first quarter as nearly the entire play clock was utilized from the get-go.
Okay..maybe the defense simply can't stop the run. Which again, the COACH should plan for this... or at least ADJUST to this.
- Offense; We have gotten off to several slow starts this season. You are at home, on primetime for the first time this season. You just lost your best D-lineman, so you'd thing you'd know the above strategy by GB. Your interior line is complete S&%@, with your 3rd string Center, a terrible make shift guard in JJ. As much as you want to establish the run, the inside run game is NOT going to flourish with Harlow and JJ in the starting lineup together. You also SHOULD know the only way you are going to combat the GB's strategy is by putting big points to make them chase our points thus force them out of the run. We are NOT a physical ground and pound slow tempo team. Simply are not even close to that type of team and will never be with this O-line. Why do we keep coming out flat and in slow tempo? We show time and time again in the second half that we thrive on tempo. It does NOT mean abandon the run. You can run the ball in tempo...even up the middle as the defense is on their heals. KK - Why do you continue to try to change this team's identity to adapt to your competition?!?!? Great teams make the competition adapt to their identity!
3 - Kyler - He had some overthrown balls in the first half, but impossible to get rhythm with 6 attempts in the first half...being under pressure and with play-calling that put the team in bad position. Terrible INT early in the second half.. but the transition to up-tempo showed me something; the less you let KK try to be cute and pretend to strategize the offense, the better. Up tempo, let's Kyler control more of the decision process of the play calling. Hate to say this, but without KK in the Cleveland the offense looked electric for it's entirety. KK sneaks into the Texans game, starts off slow. KK holds this offense back completely, thus holds Kyler back.
4 - Trade Deadline Looming - I know we should have Hudson back next week, but we need a guard and an interior lineman. I think we all agree Kiem is all-in, but I am not sure if we can make even a depth move let alone a splash move.. but it is needed or we won't advance in the playoffs.
Above all - we will 100% be a 1st round exit if Kliff does NOT let this team play to it's identity.. simply not good enough at the other factors of the game to play a different style of ball game.
