Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
Last week's euphoria was sweet...but this home game dud, yet the third this year, is extremely disappointing. No question.
Kudos to the fans who sold this game out and brought the passion. Too bad many of the players and coaches did not.
I think this week I am just going to offer an overview of the offense, defense and special teams, because we are starting to see some patterns...
Offense: This year we have become a "dink and dunk" offense...that's what we are. We don't throw downfield anymore...why? For one, the coaches still think they can get by with Gandy and Brown blocking on islands versus the likes of Julius Peppers and Patrick Kerney, etc. Warner knows he must make quick reads and decisions, which has caused him to check down sooner than he would like. Secondly, the dinking and dunking is the Cardinals' way, in essence, of establishing a running game, because that's all it really is...it's just off of quick short passes and not handoffs or pitches. Thirdly, with Breaston hampered by a leg injury, the team lacks WR speed...and is basically a unit of possession WRs.
Now---don't get me wrong...the dink and dunk can and has been successful at times...it was against the Giants, and look at today's first TD drive on the first possession...80 yards, and not one pass was thrown to a WR.
For those of you who are wondering why LSH is getting some PT on offense...he brings what the Cardinals lack: speed.
Beanie Wells is making progress. That's good. He played well today.
Tim Hightower is the new Larry Centers (best receiving RB in quite a while)...that's good, too. Hightower played very well today.
Q is banged up and really looks soft out there, even for him. Fitz needs a WR on his case like Haley was, but isn't getting coached up this year...Breaston is a forgotten man...and even worse, he looks like he wants no part of punt returns. Urban gets thrown to so little that he's not in the flow. Doucet should have been active the last two weeks, but the coaches don't understand why, apparently.
The offensive line is playing well in the interior and barely managing on the perimeter...yet still, the tackles are given very little to no help.
Why were so many of Warner's passed deflected, intercepted or batted down today? The Panthers scoured the tapes of this year's team and saw that this has become a dink and dunk offense, which made them aware of the fact that the ball would be coming out quick at times, thus they thought it would be good to get their hands up as quickly and often as possible. That's why Julius Peppers reacted so quickly to Warner's swing pass that was way underthrown to Wells.
My biggest gripes on offense today: (1) Warner showing no interest in trying to convert third and longs, as he almost always immediately threw a dink pass underneath, that was usually batted down anyway; (2) on some key third down and shorts, Warner should have been in the shotgun, but took the direct snaps instead and rushed those passes (like the key third down miss to Urban on the slant that was batted down); (3) Warner's preposterous fumble just when we finally has an iota of hope; (4) the even more preposterous taking of timeouts in the red zone which has been a year long issue, not just today.
My biggest raves: (1) the flip pitch to Wells on 4th and 1; (2) the nice TD pass to LSH; (3) the 3rd and goal TD pass to TE Ben Patrick; (4) the way TH ran the football all day...he was a man out there, and ran super hard...so did Wells although he still is tripping himself up at times by rushing his feet, a la Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone in the Rock Mobile.
Defense: My biggest question is, the defense just played its best game in decades, with the most aggressive coaching, why then---did they back off in this game? All because of Steve Smith? Afraid to run press coverage on Steve Smith? Well, guess what, no matter what you do you HAVE to double team Steve Smith. Period. Press him at the l.o.s. and help on him deep...which is why I like what DRC did by jumping the hitch pass, but am totally mystified as to why DRC had no deep help versus a perennial Pro Bowler. Reminds me of asking Mike Gandy to block Julius Peppers one-on-one on 95% of the snaps.
The Cardinal LBers today---as good as they were last week---were just plain awful. Dansby and Hayes made a couple plays in the 4th quarter, but by then it was far too little too late. Chike Okeafor is a liability on the edge, and an easy mark. He had a nice shared sack, but gave up more than 100 yards rushing by losing contain...and the tackling behind him was poor...Bryant McFadden was a no show as a tackler today, so was Ralph Brown...that right side was pathetic. Clark Haggans seemed a step slow all day this week after three very good weeks.
My biggest gripes: (1) Calais Campbell jumping off-sides on 3rd and 7 on the first drive, then briefly quitting on the play, which caused him to miss a key tackle on the play; (2) on the 80 yard run, Hayes jumping the C gap and Wilson jumping the D gap, with no one in sight for the B gap, which allowed DeAngelo Williams a gift wrapped 80 yarder (have to give Antrel Rolle credit for running Williams down---that's the fastest I've ever seen him run---sore arch and all); (3) Okeafor allowing bounce out after bounce out to his side.
My biggest raves: (1) Okeafor's and Campbell's sack; (2) Dockett's stuff of Williams in the backfield; (3) The hard near sack on Delhomme, which gave the Cardinals a golden opportunity to cash in on (seeing as it brought in the #2 QB who did not complete a pass), but, alas, Warner and the offense played with very little urgency or determination when it mattered most.
Special Teams: Much better this year thus far. Ben Graham has been outstanding. Rackers has been good, but his kickoffs have me scratching my head, how about yours? The squib earlier in the game...why?...the line drive when the score was cut to 31-21?
LSH had a great return to the 50...he played well today in all aspects of his role.
Breaston, as previously mentioned, looks like he wants no part of punt returning...and this has been the case for two years now. Running and dancing sideways is not going to get it done and that's all he does. Punt returning is like playing Pac Man, the only way to beat it is to dart into the middle and sift through the maze. This is what Rolle is so good at. Too bad he's not been game for it.
Coaching: Hard to imagine that after last week's stellar preparation this week's was so shabby. But, it really was. It was clear right from the start on defense that those players did not come to play, and quite clear that the same fun super aggressive scheme had been put on the shelf for this week. What's so disappointing about this is that I really thought the defense was finally having the kind of fun they would love to have every week. They weren't coached to have fun this week and they didn't prepare to have fun this week.
As for Whiz, his play calling on the first drive was brilliant...but, as I mentioned last week in my concern about the timing of the Rolle pass, Whiz gets too cute at times, especially when he and the team has momentum. Case in point, when the Cardinals had finally made it a game, and had a key possession which could get them within one score of the lead, Whiz calls a that fake reverse play where all Warner did was throw a 1 yard pass to Hightower. Again, the timing of this play was wrong. You don't need trickery when you have momentum...you need bread and butter.
And, until Whiz and Grimm get their act together in finally getting the blocking schemes figured out, they really don't deserve major kudos as offensive coordinators.
Kudos to the fans who sold this game out and brought the passion. Too bad many of the players and coaches did not.
I think this week I am just going to offer an overview of the offense, defense and special teams, because we are starting to see some patterns...
Offense: This year we have become a "dink and dunk" offense...that's what we are. We don't throw downfield anymore...why? For one, the coaches still think they can get by with Gandy and Brown blocking on islands versus the likes of Julius Peppers and Patrick Kerney, etc. Warner knows he must make quick reads and decisions, which has caused him to check down sooner than he would like. Secondly, the dinking and dunking is the Cardinals' way, in essence, of establishing a running game, because that's all it really is...it's just off of quick short passes and not handoffs or pitches. Thirdly, with Breaston hampered by a leg injury, the team lacks WR speed...and is basically a unit of possession WRs.
Now---don't get me wrong...the dink and dunk can and has been successful at times...it was against the Giants, and look at today's first TD drive on the first possession...80 yards, and not one pass was thrown to a WR.
For those of you who are wondering why LSH is getting some PT on offense...he brings what the Cardinals lack: speed.
Beanie Wells is making progress. That's good. He played well today.
Tim Hightower is the new Larry Centers (best receiving RB in quite a while)...that's good, too. Hightower played very well today.
Q is banged up and really looks soft out there, even for him. Fitz needs a WR on his case like Haley was, but isn't getting coached up this year...Breaston is a forgotten man...and even worse, he looks like he wants no part of punt returns. Urban gets thrown to so little that he's not in the flow. Doucet should have been active the last two weeks, but the coaches don't understand why, apparently.
The offensive line is playing well in the interior and barely managing on the perimeter...yet still, the tackles are given very little to no help.
Why were so many of Warner's passed deflected, intercepted or batted down today? The Panthers scoured the tapes of this year's team and saw that this has become a dink and dunk offense, which made them aware of the fact that the ball would be coming out quick at times, thus they thought it would be good to get their hands up as quickly and often as possible. That's why Julius Peppers reacted so quickly to Warner's swing pass that was way underthrown to Wells.
My biggest gripes on offense today: (1) Warner showing no interest in trying to convert third and longs, as he almost always immediately threw a dink pass underneath, that was usually batted down anyway; (2) on some key third down and shorts, Warner should have been in the shotgun, but took the direct snaps instead and rushed those passes (like the key third down miss to Urban on the slant that was batted down); (3) Warner's preposterous fumble just when we finally has an iota of hope; (4) the even more preposterous taking of timeouts in the red zone which has been a year long issue, not just today.
My biggest raves: (1) the flip pitch to Wells on 4th and 1; (2) the nice TD pass to LSH; (3) the 3rd and goal TD pass to TE Ben Patrick; (4) the way TH ran the football all day...he was a man out there, and ran super hard...so did Wells although he still is tripping himself up at times by rushing his feet, a la Barney Rubble and Fred Flintstone in the Rock Mobile.
Defense: My biggest question is, the defense just played its best game in decades, with the most aggressive coaching, why then---did they back off in this game? All because of Steve Smith? Afraid to run press coverage on Steve Smith? Well, guess what, no matter what you do you HAVE to double team Steve Smith. Period. Press him at the l.o.s. and help on him deep...which is why I like what DRC did by jumping the hitch pass, but am totally mystified as to why DRC had no deep help versus a perennial Pro Bowler. Reminds me of asking Mike Gandy to block Julius Peppers one-on-one on 95% of the snaps.
The Cardinal LBers today---as good as they were last week---were just plain awful. Dansby and Hayes made a couple plays in the 4th quarter, but by then it was far too little too late. Chike Okeafor is a liability on the edge, and an easy mark. He had a nice shared sack, but gave up more than 100 yards rushing by losing contain...and the tackling behind him was poor...Bryant McFadden was a no show as a tackler today, so was Ralph Brown...that right side was pathetic. Clark Haggans seemed a step slow all day this week after three very good weeks.
My biggest gripes: (1) Calais Campbell jumping off-sides on 3rd and 7 on the first drive, then briefly quitting on the play, which caused him to miss a key tackle on the play; (2) on the 80 yard run, Hayes jumping the C gap and Wilson jumping the D gap, with no one in sight for the B gap, which allowed DeAngelo Williams a gift wrapped 80 yarder (have to give Antrel Rolle credit for running Williams down---that's the fastest I've ever seen him run---sore arch and all); (3) Okeafor allowing bounce out after bounce out to his side.
My biggest raves: (1) Okeafor's and Campbell's sack; (2) Dockett's stuff of Williams in the backfield; (3) The hard near sack on Delhomme, which gave the Cardinals a golden opportunity to cash in on (seeing as it brought in the #2 QB who did not complete a pass), but, alas, Warner and the offense played with very little urgency or determination when it mattered most.
Special Teams: Much better this year thus far. Ben Graham has been outstanding. Rackers has been good, but his kickoffs have me scratching my head, how about yours? The squib earlier in the game...why?...the line drive when the score was cut to 31-21?
LSH had a great return to the 50...he played well today in all aspects of his role.
Breaston, as previously mentioned, looks like he wants no part of punt returning...and this has been the case for two years now. Running and dancing sideways is not going to get it done and that's all he does. Punt returning is like playing Pac Man, the only way to beat it is to dart into the middle and sift through the maze. This is what Rolle is so good at. Too bad he's not been game for it.
Coaching: Hard to imagine that after last week's stellar preparation this week's was so shabby. But, it really was. It was clear right from the start on defense that those players did not come to play, and quite clear that the same fun super aggressive scheme had been put on the shelf for this week. What's so disappointing about this is that I really thought the defense was finally having the kind of fun they would love to have every week. They weren't coached to have fun this week and they didn't prepare to have fun this week.
As for Whiz, his play calling on the first drive was brilliant...but, as I mentioned last week in my concern about the timing of the Rolle pass, Whiz gets too cute at times, especially when he and the team has momentum. Case in point, when the Cardinals had finally made it a game, and had a key possession which could get them within one score of the lead, Whiz calls a that fake reverse play where all Warner did was throw a 1 yard pass to Hightower. Again, the timing of this play was wrong. You don't need trickery when you have momentum...you need bread and butter.
And, until Whiz and Grimm get their act together in finally getting the blocking schemes figured out, they really don't deserve major kudos as offensive coordinators.
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