Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
There were two major things that were alarming and disheartening about this loss: (1) The coaches, having been soundly out-foxed by Pete Carroll and his staff in Seattle had no answers or counter punches for what beat them a mere three weeks ago, NONE; (2) The players---depsite being exhorted vociferously as usual by a hungry crowd of fans---and underneath the timely, inspirational message "Play Like a Veteran" on the Arizona Cardinal banner---despite being given a plethora of fortuitous opportunities by the Seahawks to respond, as winners especially at home do---rolled over like a bunch of possums trapped in a coyote den.
In both of my posts last week I broke down all of the reasons why the coaches and players are failing...so there's really no reason to go to that length again...but about this game plan, or lack thereof...
The defensive keys going into the game HAD to be: (1) prevent WR Mike Williams from having the big day he did the first time; (2) limit the other receivers; (3) bottle up and corral RB Marshawn Lynch; (4) pressure QB Hasselbeck relentlessly as he was coming off a concussion...the left side was vulnerbale because LT Russell Okung is still injured...and storming the middle to get in Hasselbeck's face was paramount.
(1) There are two ways to defend Mike Williams...(A) the CB shades the slant, with the FS covering the deep third, which forces Williams to run outs, fades and go patterns (harder passes to complete, especially with a FS over the top). A physcial and athletic CB like Toler can do this---OR---(B) You sit one of the safeties in the slant area and you dare them to pass it anyway so you can punish him or pick the ball off. The CB plays off 5-6 yards and keeps a small cushion to then be able to react to the ball on the fade or deep pass.
The thing is...if it's one thing Williams does not worry you about it's his speed...which is why teams that take away his slant don't give up 100 games to him.
(2) Limiting the other WRs/TEs...didn't happen and it should have. DRC should have been able to run stride for stride with either Deon Bulter or Ben Obomanu...but he did not, especially when they ran routes across the field and away from him.
Note: Bill Davis did make one change this week...he took Adrian Wilson off of man TE coverage...but...instead he put Wilson at deep safety where he is an equal liablility, if not even moreso. Wilson has never been able to play that spot, and we saw why again yesterday. He has neither the instincts nor the range to react well to the deep to internediate passes.
With other, stronger options such as Rashad Johnson and Matt Ware, Adrian Wilson should have never been put in that position.
On passing downs...and I and others have been saying this for the whole two years Davis has been DC...there's one thing Wilson is very good at...it's rushing the passer...move him around to different gaps and edges to create havoc and let him loose.
But back to taking Wilson off of the TEs...one has to wonder and question the wisdom of switching that assigment to SILB Gerald Hayes...one could see Daryl Washington being an option because of his speed, but Hayes?
As bad as the matchups and personnel decisions have been the past two to three weeks, the worst decision of all is taking your most explosive player in Washington off the field in favor of a underachieving veteran...the last game Washington started he registered 10 tackles and 1 sack. Think a similar performance might have helped yesterday? Instead, Washington made the two best tackles of the day...and did so on STs.
(3) Bottle Up and Corral M. Lynch. The defense did do this and did so beautifully in goal-line stands (save the first TD)...but this achievement was rendered moot by the fact that Matt Hasselbeck could pass at will and did so to the tune of 322 yards in a little over 3 quarters.
(4) Pressuring Hasselbeck especially from the left edge. Did not happen. Joey Porter was owned by backup LT Tyler Polumbo (guess there was no crowd of reporters at your locker this week to get peed off about, Joey). Porter was awful in this game. Awful. And he's the one giving half-time speeches? The rest of the defensive line, save a couple of spirited efforts from Calais Campbell were completely owned by the Seahawks' o-line...even while being urged on by 61,000 screaming fans. The couple of times they stormed the middle were the only times Hasselbeck rushed his passes. But, too little too late.
The keys on offense must have been:
(1) Defend the edge where the Seahawks where they pounded the Cardinals the last time with safety blitzes and DE quickness; (2) run effectively between the tackles; (3) attack in the passing game down the field; (4) solve the Seahawks' 7 DB "light" defense which confused the Cardinals the first game.
(1) Defend the edge? Chris Clemons and Aaron Curry had 4 sacks combined...easy sacks at that. Even the one time Whiz finally kept a TE and the RB in to block Clemons, Ben Patrick's effort was so lame (even worse than his own and Stephen Spach's efforts two weeks ago---not even remotely competitive)---and then Hightower doesn't pick Clemons up either.
As we have seen repeatedly Levi Brown is way overmatched at LT. And with the likes of Okung, Staley and Saffold in the division, even though Brown was a top five pick, he's already the worst LT in the NFC West.
Even on the Wildcat play, the coaches did not account for the DE who busted the timing of the play up on the edge.
I don't think I have ever seen a coaching staff disregard blocking on the edge more than Whiz and his staff. Have you?
(2) Run effectively inside the tackles. THT is not the same runner and the line is not well motivated...the result was hesitant runs for 3 yards a pop at best.
Most troubling was to hear that THT told the FOX crew he had started to wonder if he was washed up after losing his starting job...washed up? In his 3rd year? Who is coaching this guy?
Apparently, the man who talked him out of thinking so was Beanie Wells. Good stuff from a teammate...but it makes you wonder where the coaches are in building back up their players. Not much of that going on here. Not much at all. Look at Derek Anderson. He's playing with very little confidence...there's no swagger to his game. A porous o-line can contribute to that, but...man...as will his own boneheaded decisions like throwing a five yard bullet to a covered man on 3rd and 10, or even worse not throwing the ball away outside the tackle box with the team in FG range. Maybe no coach could give DA confidence...but if the coaches are starting him and sticking with him when he couldn't convert a third down all afternoon until the 4th quarter when the game was essentially out of reach, after he had given the ball right back to the Seahawks on the first two possesions of the second half, down 7 and then down 10.
The problem is...and this is the corner Whiz had painted himself and the team into...there is no other option now. Max Hall is no longer in the pciture. Whiz has said that John Skelton is not ready...
So the team is really going to stick with a QB who won't be playing for the team next year, because there are no other options?
All of this makes the QB decisions and debacle in Arizona all the more disturbing...it was one thing to cut Leinart, the only experienced QB in the system, but as I and others were clamoring for a 4th QB, a veteran, to join the mix, just in case DA stuggled or got hurt, which we sensed with good reason that he would...
As I said last week, the 49ers didn't even cut Alex Smith and they had already signed a veteran in David Carr...but what did they do? They went and made a small end of TC trade for Troy Smith, who now looks like he possibly could be their QBOF---going 2-0 in his first two starts and having big passing numbers in the second halfs of both games. That one "small move" may win them the NFC West.
Obviously the 49ers value the QB position more...hey they were the ones who tried to wrest Warner away...and now it seems clear that every team in the NFC West values the QB postion (and with that---values winning---more that the Cardinals).
(3) Anderson did attack the Seahawks down the field and did it with success, starting with the deep fade to Fitz on the first drive. But, when it required shorter, quicker passes to convert first downs, Anderson was far too tight and jittery. Not his game. He's a deep passer and that's about it. But...you have to have time to throw deep, which he's not getting much of.
(4) Whiz had the right idea about running the draw versus the 49ers "light" 7 DB...but he picked the wrong time and it didn't help that either DA or THT messed up the handoff. When teams go light...you pound them and you isolate the RB in coverage as well as they did with LSH before he was injured.
On that first and goal at the 5, the Cardinals did not pass once into the end zone after getting stuffed on the first play. Why?
Also, what Warner would have done versus 7 DBs is take the best one-on-one matchup and exploit it...Warner did that at times with the likes of Jerheme Urban...because not only was Warner prepared for it, he had Urban and all his WRs prepared for it.
As for the players quitting in this game...we've seen what they can do when they are motivated. The Saints' offense is five time harder to defend than the Seahawks...but the bottom line is the players need a week's off motivation to play hard for 60 minutes...but apparently not for a chance at a tie for first place in the NFC West over a division rival...a chance at payback to boot...and not for the 61,00 fans screaming for it...and that's the current state of the Arizona Cardinals.
Looks like they are keeping their eyes fixed squarely on the next bye week...Week 18.
These have become the Bye Bye Birdies...
In both of my posts last week I broke down all of the reasons why the coaches and players are failing...so there's really no reason to go to that length again...but about this game plan, or lack thereof...
The defensive keys going into the game HAD to be: (1) prevent WR Mike Williams from having the big day he did the first time; (2) limit the other receivers; (3) bottle up and corral RB Marshawn Lynch; (4) pressure QB Hasselbeck relentlessly as he was coming off a concussion...the left side was vulnerbale because LT Russell Okung is still injured...and storming the middle to get in Hasselbeck's face was paramount.
(1) There are two ways to defend Mike Williams...(A) the CB shades the slant, with the FS covering the deep third, which forces Williams to run outs, fades and go patterns (harder passes to complete, especially with a FS over the top). A physcial and athletic CB like Toler can do this---OR---(B) You sit one of the safeties in the slant area and you dare them to pass it anyway so you can punish him or pick the ball off. The CB plays off 5-6 yards and keeps a small cushion to then be able to react to the ball on the fade or deep pass.
The thing is...if it's one thing Williams does not worry you about it's his speed...which is why teams that take away his slant don't give up 100 games to him.
(2) Limiting the other WRs/TEs...didn't happen and it should have. DRC should have been able to run stride for stride with either Deon Bulter or Ben Obomanu...but he did not, especially when they ran routes across the field and away from him.
Note: Bill Davis did make one change this week...he took Adrian Wilson off of man TE coverage...but...instead he put Wilson at deep safety where he is an equal liablility, if not even moreso. Wilson has never been able to play that spot, and we saw why again yesterday. He has neither the instincts nor the range to react well to the deep to internediate passes.
With other, stronger options such as Rashad Johnson and Matt Ware, Adrian Wilson should have never been put in that position.
On passing downs...and I and others have been saying this for the whole two years Davis has been DC...there's one thing Wilson is very good at...it's rushing the passer...move him around to different gaps and edges to create havoc and let him loose.
But back to taking Wilson off of the TEs...one has to wonder and question the wisdom of switching that assigment to SILB Gerald Hayes...one could see Daryl Washington being an option because of his speed, but Hayes?
As bad as the matchups and personnel decisions have been the past two to three weeks, the worst decision of all is taking your most explosive player in Washington off the field in favor of a underachieving veteran...the last game Washington started he registered 10 tackles and 1 sack. Think a similar performance might have helped yesterday? Instead, Washington made the two best tackles of the day...and did so on STs.
(3) Bottle Up and Corral M. Lynch. The defense did do this and did so beautifully in goal-line stands (save the first TD)...but this achievement was rendered moot by the fact that Matt Hasselbeck could pass at will and did so to the tune of 322 yards in a little over 3 quarters.
(4) Pressuring Hasselbeck especially from the left edge. Did not happen. Joey Porter was owned by backup LT Tyler Polumbo (guess there was no crowd of reporters at your locker this week to get peed off about, Joey). Porter was awful in this game. Awful. And he's the one giving half-time speeches? The rest of the defensive line, save a couple of spirited efforts from Calais Campbell were completely owned by the Seahawks' o-line...even while being urged on by 61,000 screaming fans. The couple of times they stormed the middle were the only times Hasselbeck rushed his passes. But, too little too late.
The keys on offense must have been:
(1) Defend the edge where the Seahawks where they pounded the Cardinals the last time with safety blitzes and DE quickness; (2) run effectively between the tackles; (3) attack in the passing game down the field; (4) solve the Seahawks' 7 DB "light" defense which confused the Cardinals the first game.
(1) Defend the edge? Chris Clemons and Aaron Curry had 4 sacks combined...easy sacks at that. Even the one time Whiz finally kept a TE and the RB in to block Clemons, Ben Patrick's effort was so lame (even worse than his own and Stephen Spach's efforts two weeks ago---not even remotely competitive)---and then Hightower doesn't pick Clemons up either.
As we have seen repeatedly Levi Brown is way overmatched at LT. And with the likes of Okung, Staley and Saffold in the division, even though Brown was a top five pick, he's already the worst LT in the NFC West.
Even on the Wildcat play, the coaches did not account for the DE who busted the timing of the play up on the edge.
I don't think I have ever seen a coaching staff disregard blocking on the edge more than Whiz and his staff. Have you?
(2) Run effectively inside the tackles. THT is not the same runner and the line is not well motivated...the result was hesitant runs for 3 yards a pop at best.
Most troubling was to hear that THT told the FOX crew he had started to wonder if he was washed up after losing his starting job...washed up? In his 3rd year? Who is coaching this guy?
Apparently, the man who talked him out of thinking so was Beanie Wells. Good stuff from a teammate...but it makes you wonder where the coaches are in building back up their players. Not much of that going on here. Not much at all. Look at Derek Anderson. He's playing with very little confidence...there's no swagger to his game. A porous o-line can contribute to that, but...man...as will his own boneheaded decisions like throwing a five yard bullet to a covered man on 3rd and 10, or even worse not throwing the ball away outside the tackle box with the team in FG range. Maybe no coach could give DA confidence...but if the coaches are starting him and sticking with him when he couldn't convert a third down all afternoon until the 4th quarter when the game was essentially out of reach, after he had given the ball right back to the Seahawks on the first two possesions of the second half, down 7 and then down 10.
The problem is...and this is the corner Whiz had painted himself and the team into...there is no other option now. Max Hall is no longer in the pciture. Whiz has said that John Skelton is not ready...
So the team is really going to stick with a QB who won't be playing for the team next year, because there are no other options?
All of this makes the QB decisions and debacle in Arizona all the more disturbing...it was one thing to cut Leinart, the only experienced QB in the system, but as I and others were clamoring for a 4th QB, a veteran, to join the mix, just in case DA stuggled or got hurt, which we sensed with good reason that he would...
As I said last week, the 49ers didn't even cut Alex Smith and they had already signed a veteran in David Carr...but what did they do? They went and made a small end of TC trade for Troy Smith, who now looks like he possibly could be their QBOF---going 2-0 in his first two starts and having big passing numbers in the second halfs of both games. That one "small move" may win them the NFC West.
Obviously the 49ers value the QB position more...hey they were the ones who tried to wrest Warner away...and now it seems clear that every team in the NFC West values the QB postion (and with that---values winning---more that the Cardinals).
(3) Anderson did attack the Seahawks down the field and did it with success, starting with the deep fade to Fitz on the first drive. But, when it required shorter, quicker passes to convert first downs, Anderson was far too tight and jittery. Not his game. He's a deep passer and that's about it. But...you have to have time to throw deep, which he's not getting much of.
(4) Whiz had the right idea about running the draw versus the 49ers "light" 7 DB...but he picked the wrong time and it didn't help that either DA or THT messed up the handoff. When teams go light...you pound them and you isolate the RB in coverage as well as they did with LSH before he was injured.
On that first and goal at the 5, the Cardinals did not pass once into the end zone after getting stuffed on the first play. Why?
Also, what Warner would have done versus 7 DBs is take the best one-on-one matchup and exploit it...Warner did that at times with the likes of Jerheme Urban...because not only was Warner prepared for it, he had Urban and all his WRs prepared for it.
As for the players quitting in this game...we've seen what they can do when they are motivated. The Saints' offense is five time harder to defend than the Seahawks...but the bottom line is the players need a week's off motivation to play hard for 60 minutes...but apparently not for a chance at a tie for first place in the NFC West over a division rival...a chance at payback to boot...and not for the 61,00 fans screaming for it...and that's the current state of the Arizona Cardinals.
Looks like they are keeping their eyes fixed squarely on the next bye week...Week 18.
These have become the Bye Bye Birdies...
Great post!
