Green Sucks!!

[Diamondback Jay]

I am as pissed as the next guy, but there is no way to point all blame at Denny. Special teams sucked (over pursuit), O-Line sucked (injuries and just plain worthlessness), Defense sucked (Clancy's history precedes him now), Offensive playcalling sucked (never established the run and WTF was that reverse?) but above it all it is the first game of the season and both of our main competitors (St Louis and Seattle) lost (assuming St. Louis doesn't come back from the deficit they had when this was written.)

Fortunately, as discouraging as this game was on many counts, there's 15 more to be played, and here's to Arizona building off this.

Anyhow, I'm gonna do this weekly, call it a weekly feature, but here's Snake's Game Balls and Pit Falls for Week One.

Game Balls

-- Larry Fitzgerald looked like an All Pro Caliber WR, as was to be expected. 13 receptions, 155 yards and one trip to the Coast, and a seemingly good repore with Kurt Warner left cause for optimism that he's prone for a monster year.

-- Warner seemed to be comfortable in the pocket, except for when he had half of New York's defense up his ass, which was sadly a regular occurance this game.

-- I seen some glimpses of greatness from Antrell Rolle, and Karlos Dansby looks every game to be one of the great steals of last year's draft

Pitfalls

-- The Offensive Line, one by one, needs pulled in to a video room and kicked square in the ass. That was horrid. I don't care if you have Barry Sanders and Dan Marino each in their primes at HB/QB, if the line doesn't block for ****, the results are going to show.

-- JJ Arrington. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. It was his first NFL game (that matters anyhow), so perhaps we can chalk his performance up to jitters, or chalk it up to the nerves kicking his ass. Granted, Carnell Williams, also in his first game, went for a buck forty eight, but I'm feeling a bit generous towards the kid..

Regardless, this excuse will be valid for this week, and this week only. Sooner or later, production HAS to come from the HB position, whether it be Arrington or Marcell Shipp. Something needs to click here and soon. Today's performance from both halfbacks was piss poor.

-- Special Teams.. Anyone care to tell these guys that the season's started? Anyone care to tell them that the limited contact drills ended about a month ago (or better)?

This deserves no further explanation, you all saw for yourselves how poopy the ST was, and that first and foremost needs rectified, and in a hurry.

 

[john h]

We played a terrible second half.

I don't think a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns is Denny's fault.

I don't think getting all your centers injured in preseason is Denny's fault.

I don't think the new Thunder and Lightning running all over us is Denny's fault.

I happen to think he's ultimately responsible for all this, and other mistakes (like blowing timeouts for poor communication).

If you think starting Shipp would have fixed all this, you are kidding yourself.

It's great that you're disappointed, but don't tell someone else to leave the board because they disagree with your irrational comments.

From all the post I have read this past six month it has been said that Denny picks our players, our coaches and it is DG's system. If you do not buy into DG's system you are fired. Denny certainly does share some fault for what we see on the field. This is just the first game but it sure is a sorry start. I was thinking we would win 5-6 games. That is still my forecast unless we start getting some lucky bounces or our OL wakes up and our runners start running. Who is our Special Teams Coach? What is his background? Hope he is not one of these guys who has never coached that position.

 

[Russ Smith]

I disagree. Failures on special teams are every bit the fault of the coaching staff. You just don't see problems on special teams on most of the top coaches teams throughout history.

It is especially perplexing considering the amount of time DG has spent on getting guys in who are supposed to be good special teams players.

Ditto we are literally carrying players on the team to do almost nothing but play special teams, so we better get some special teams improvement quickly.

 

[Russ Smith]

-- JJ Arrington. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here. It was his first NFL game (that matters anyhow), so perhaps we can chalk his performance up to jitters, or chalk it up to the nerves kicking his ass. Granted, Carnell Williams, also in his first game, went for a buck forty eight, but I'm feeling a bit generous towards the kid..

.

And Ronnie Brown had 22 carries for 57 yards, nearly got his QB killed twice in the short time I was watching (left a guy open to double block someone else).

Cadillac was the best RB in this draft, I've said that all along, that long run at the end was a huge hole where he broke an ankle tackle, kept his balance and then outran a bunch of people. Star in the making I was sure hoping he slipped to us.

I'm convinced that when the dust settles Miami and Chicago are going to regret passing on Cadillac and we're going to be quite happy we got JJ in the 2nd round. People expecting him to get 150 yards with this OL are in for a huge disappointing season.

Hopefully the OL grows up quickly

 

[BigDavis75]

And Ronnie Brown had 22 carries for 57 yards, nearly got his QB killed twice in the short time I was watching (left a guy open to double block someone else).

Cadillac was the best RB in this draft, I've said that all along, that long run at the end was a huge hole where he broke an ankle tackle, kept his balance and then outran a bunch of people. Star in the making I was sure hoping he slipped to us.

I'm convinced that when the dust settles Miami and Chicago are going to regret passing on Cadillac and we're going to be quite happy we got JJ in the 2nd round. People expecting him to get 150 yards with this OL are in for a huge disappointing season.

Hopefully the OL grows up quickly

I was saying that too; I wanted him at 8 and Marlin Jackson at 44. Again Dockett looked awful, does anyone honestly think he's a good player?

 

[Russ Smith]

I was saying that too; I wanted him at 8 and Marlin Jackson at 44. Again Dockett looked awful, does anyone honestly think he's a good player?

OK but we did NOT pass on Cadillac, that was my point in that reply, it's not like we passed on the guy to take Arrington he was off the board and we took rolle. by most accounts Cadillac was the guy we wanted.

now that changed and we went with plan b, Rolle, and Arrington.

Dockett does some things well, rush the passer, penetrate, but it sounds like he's still making the same mistake of overpursuit and running past plays. THat's teh downside to the under defense.

 

[Chainthroer]

Green is a bull head who thinks he knows it all. He made two big mistakes on the O-Line: cutting Kendall and Shelton.
Today was a nightmare!

 

[AZCB34]

FWIW in the first quarter, when the Cards actually tried to run a few times, there wer some holes open...For all the speed that Arrington is supposed to have it is baffeling how he is caught from behind by A d-lineman or doesnt burst through the hole.

I have stayed out of this whole Shipp v Arrington debate, but something is seriosuly wrong with JJ. He is so unsure and I just dont see the speed he is supposed to have...Where is it.

Warner throws him a quick shovel pass over the middle and by the time he turns around and begins to accelerate Clancy is all over him from behind.

Shipp is no better. Honestly we dont have a legitimate starter on this team, but what is scary to me is that I have yet to see any of this supposed speed Arrington has. He can learn to run with a little more decisiveness, but if this is top speed for him, he wont last long in the NFL.

Interesting take. I was watching the game and kept thinking...jeez Arrington looks so damn slow out there...I mean he didn't even look like he was trying (I know he was). I couldn't figure out if it was the OL just playing so horribly he could never get going and that is part of it but I am still waiting for the speed everyone here professes he has too.

 

[WisconsinCard]

Welcome to your 3 day ban.

We have our first of the year...ok who's next????

 

[Shane]

FWIW in the first quarter, when the Cards actually tried to run a few times, there wer some holes open...For all the speed that Arrington is supposed to have it is baffeling how he is caught from behind by A d-lineman or doesnt burst through the hole.

I have stayed out of this whole Shipp v Arrington debate, but something is seriosuly wrong with JJ. He is so unsure and I just dont see the speed he is supposed to have...Where is it.

Warner throws him a quick shovel pass over the middle and by the time he turns around and begins to accelerate Clancy is all over him from behind.

Shipp is no better. Honestly we dont have a legitimate starter on this team, but what is scary to me is that I have yet to see any of this supposed speed Arrington has. He can learn to run with a little more decisiveness, but if this is top speed for him, he wont last long in the NFL.

Great post John. I just disagree that SHipp isnt any better! After that your dead on!

 

[CronosCard]

"..And in this corner.."

As earlier stated, I think DG gave up on the run too fast, and in that limited world, Shipp was more impressive than Arrington for sure.. At #75 I wanted the Cards to take Brandon Jacobs N Illinois RB, but EGreen will kick *ss for us also.
I totally disagree[respectfully of course] with those of you who do not place ALL or nearly all of the blame for the Cards meltdown today squarely at DG's feet!! Who is ultimately responsible for the performance of the Offense, including OLine, rushing, passing, blocking, and time management? Who is ultimately responsible for Special teams performance? Who is ultimately responsible for the effectiveness of our defense in each and every phase? And finally, who's job is it to have his coaches and players prepared? The correct answer to all questions is Dennis Green. I'm not here to crucify, but it IS the Head Coach's responsibility to have his team ready to play, and the Cards just got an old-fashion whipping physically and coaching-wise today!! There is no other way to state it!!

 

[john h]

C'mon guys keep it civil it's a football game we all hate to see the Cards lose no sense going overboard.

Right you are Russ. It is not like it is a big surprise we lost. It is a surprise we lost the way we did. We still have a lot of games to go and who knows? In the meantime I am switching to my other losing team the Cubs. We took 3 out of 4 from the Giants, 2 out of 3 from the Cards and swept a 3 game series. Hopefully today we will finally be back to .500. I get p------- when we play this bad and wonder why we year after year field a team that can barely play .500? It is a long term problem not just bad luck.

 

[duckfallas]

Game Balls

-- Larry Fitzgerald looked like an All Pro Caliber WR, as was to be expected. 13 receptions, 155 yards and one trip to the Coast, and a seemingly good repore with Kurt Warner left cause for optimism that he's prone for a monster year.

-- Warner seemed to be comfortable in the pocket, except for when he had half of New York's defense up his ass, which was sadly a regular occurance this game.

-- I seen some glimpses of greatness from Antrell Rolle, and Karlos Dansby looks every game to be one of the great steals of last year's draft

Can you hand out game balls after a 42-19 beating?

 

[Denny Green Fan]

Alway has. He is a fantastic talent evauator. For coaches too. And that fact has disguised his ineptness for playcalling and game management.

Just as an example:

How the hell do you start JJ over Shipp unless you want to strke your ego (in other words, my second round pick is starting).

He sucks.

What other options does Green have?