Halfway point grade: A solid B....

[Cheesebeef]

in hindsight, F was a bit much. I'll give them a D+. They looked OK at the beginning of the year but have looked absymal for the last 3 games.

 

[az1965]

Caroline 4-4 - I would't call it atrocious. Its a decent team. Warner got hurt and we had to endure Rattay with 3 day practice. Granted they also had Testaverde with minimal practice but I believe Testaverde > Rattay and we had him also as #1 priority had he accepted to move to AZ.

Baltimore 4-4 - They have a good defense AND we played them on their field right to the wire AND probably could have stopped them if not for the bogus penalty on Wilson. Who knows we might have pulled it off.

Niners ARE atrocious, I give you that. We should have won that game. No question.

The Hawks are bad compared to how they have been but not in the class of Niners or Rams. They are still a decent team AND division is consistently theirs until someone rises up and takes it.

Red Skins 5-3. Bad? I don't think so.

Bucs are limping and I can't explain what happenned in that game but that WAS a BIG stinker by offense.

Except for 4-5 teams, every team is around mediocre.

 

[az1965]

in hindsight, F was a bit much. I'll give them a D+. They looked OK at the beginning of the year but have looked absymal for the last 3 games.

I agree. Last 3 games offense has not looked that good. Last 3 games were also after Leinart went down. Coincident? Probably not.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Caroline 4-4 - I would't call it atrocious. Its a decent team. Warner got hurt and we had to endure Rattay with 3 day practice. Granted they also had Testaverde with minimal practice but I believe Testaverde > Rattay and we had him also as #1 priority had he accepted to move to AZ.

do you know how many points Carolina's score since their QB went down, sans our game? 7, 16, 7, 7. THAT'S AN ATROCIOUS team. Give me a break on this one. That team is horrendous without their QB, which they didn't have when we played them and you know it. To argue otherwise is ridiculous. They're a .500 team only because they won games early when they had their QB who was playing and because they played us.

Baltimore 4-4 - They have a good defense AND we played them on their field right to the wire AND probably could have stopped them if not for the bogus penalty on Wilson. Who knows we might have pulled it off.

A good defense? What year are you living in? They're middle of the road and their offense is pathetic and we let them do whatever they wanted to us. It's a mediocre team at best, who if they didn't play us would be below .500.

Niners ARE atrocious, I give you that. We should have won that game. No question.

The Hawks are bad compared to how they have been but not in the class of Niners or Rams. They are still a decent team AND division is consistently theirs until someone rises up and takes it.

decent? I'd think a "decent" team means you'd at LEAST have to be above .500, no?

Red Skins 5-3. Bad? I don't think so.

Bucs are limping and I can't explain what happenned in that game but that WAS a BIG stinker by offense.

Except for 4-5 teams, every team is around mediocre.

so, except for half our schedule every team is around mediocre. That to you makes the schedule TOUGH?! Only in Cardinals land.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I agree. Last 3 games offense has not looked that good. Last 3 games were also after Leinart went down. Coincident? Probably not.

right, cause the O looked good when he was in there against the Niners and Ravens.

 

[Cheesebeef]

OL has been better, running game has been much better except for Tampa game.

I'm still scratching my head at this comment. Last year, we were ranked 3rd worst in the league with 83 yards/game. This year, we're ranked 8th worst with 93 yards per game. That's MUCH BETTER?

 

[82CardsGrad]

I'm still scratching my head at this comment. Last year, we were ranked 3rd worst in the league with 83 yards/game. This year, we're ranked 8th worst with 93 yards per game. That's MUCH BETTER?

Ya have to think in Cardinal terms... 10 yards per game more is a HUGE improvement!! I mean, when you have gone backwards in just about every other category, you have to celebrate even the most minor improvements... You know WHIZ & Grimm must be pasting this up all over the locker room!!!

 

[az1965]

I'm still scratching my head at this comment. Last year, we were ranked 3rd worst in the league with 83 yards/game. This year, we're ranked 8th worst with 93 yards per game. That's MUCH BETTER?

Well, don't scratch too hard ... If you want to use numbers then why look at just one? How about average yards? Last year 3.2 yards. This year 3.7 yards WITH TAMPA game.

3.7 avg >>> 3.2 avg. Yes, I would call it MUCH better.

How about rushing TD's? Last year 3 TD's thru 8 games. This year 6 rushing TD's thru 8 games. 6 >>> 3. That is MUCH better.

We had to abondon run game in some games because we got behind early due to turnovers, which has really hurt us. E.g. James had 57 yards on ONLY 10 carries in the Baltimore game. That is 5.7 yards average. But we had to give up on running due to getting behing by more than two scores.

 

[az1965]

right, cause the O looked good when he was in there against the Niners and Ravens.

C-, maybe D+. Certainly, not 'F'.

 

[az1965]

so, except for half our schedule every team is around mediocre. That to you makes the schedule TOUGH?! Only in Cardinals land.

Except for Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Dallas, and Packers, every team is mediocre or lousy. That is a fact. We are not the only ones playing all those teams. Every other team is playing these teams as well. So, most of these teams have similar schedules unless they play one or more of the above five teams.

I'm not sure what do you expect from this team that has sucked for decades. Become super bowl contenders in half the season and if not they get F? There are several issues that still need to be worked on but I really like, at least first six games (excluding Panthers and Bucs), how things have gone. Let's see how things go the second half of the season and if it looks more and more like last three games then I will jump on your ship.

 

[Gee!]

I blame Shane...

 

[Cheesebeef]

Well, don't scratch too hard ... If you want to use numbers then why look at just one? How about average yards? Last year 3.2 yards. This year 3.7 yards WITH TAMPA game.

3.7 avg >>> 3.2 avg. Yes, I would call it MUCH better.

3.7 is still below average. Yeah! We went from horrible to bad! MUCH better!

Only a Cardinals fan could see that as major improvement. You know what's major improvement? A team going from the number 16 rushing team in the league to 1ST. That's MUCH better. Going from 3rd worst to 8th worst? Not so much.

 

[az1965]

The running game compared to what? The end of last season? I don't think so, considering that in Edge's last 8 games, he had more yards than he has this year and the passing game has been downright pathetic.

No, not just end of last year. Why should we JUST consider end of last year. I'm looking at the entire season. Or, to compare oranges with oranges, we should look at the first 8 games of last season.

 

[az1965]

3.7 is still below average. Yeah! We went from horrible to bad! MUCH better!

Only a Cardinals fan could see that as major improvement. You know what's major improvement? A team going from the number 16 rushing team in the league to 1ST. That's MUCH better. Going from 3rd worst to 8th worst? Not so much.

Then I think we just differ in what we think is improvement. I think you have expectations too high if you expect this team suddenly to become number 1.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Except for Patriots, Colts, Steelers, Dallas, and Packers, every team is mediocre or lousy. That is a fact. We are not the only ones playing all those teams. Every other team is playing these teams as well. So, most of these teams have similar schedules unless they play one or more of the above five teams.

I'm not sure what do you expect from this team that has sucked for decades. Become super bowl contenders in half the season and if not they get F?

yeah, that's what I expect! A Super Bowl team! Give me a break. This team has had winnable games against INCREDIBLY beaten up teams and consistently come out flat. Going into the Carolina game, I'd have given us a B+ for the season, but losing by 15 to a WOEFUL Carolina team (and no matter what you try to point to, we all know that team as is and was is pathetic), then losing to a team without it's entire O-line, while the O turned the ball over hand over fist and then playing it's worst game of the year COMING OUT OF A BYE, the last three games were a freaking F-. You can like how the first six five games went, but that's not the trend we're seeing. We're seeing a team get worse and that shouldn't be happening as the season goes on.

There are several issues that still need to be worked on but I really like, at least first six games (excluding Panthers and Bucs), how things have gone. Let's see how things go the second half of the season and if it looks more and more like last three games then I will jump on your ship.

uh, I was doing what the thread asked... you want to talk about seeing how things go in tghe second half of the season, you might want to find a different thread than 1ST Half Grades. I'm not saying we're going to stay bad, but we are what we are right now. A bad team. I hope the ship turns around because I don't want to be on this one if it goes down again.

I personally think we'll win on Sunday, only to follow it up with an embarassing loss to the Bengals the next week.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Then I think we just differ in what we think is improvement. I think you have expectations too high if you expect this team suddenly to become number 1.

OMG - are you serious? I'm gonna be very careful here not to insult you because the fact that you took what I said about going from 16 to 1 is MUCH better to be that I think THE CARDINALS should be number one is beyond my comprehension, so I'll make perfectly clear what I thought was perfectly clear above. Making a 16 team leap from 16 to 1 is MUCH better (thus, the Vikings running game got MUCH better this year), as opposed to us, making a 5 team leap from 3rd to 8th isn't considering we're still in the bottom 75% of the league. Come on man. That really isn't too hard to figure out.

 

[Cheesebeef]

No, not just end of last year. Why should we JUST consider end of last year. I'm looking at the entire season. Or, to compare oranges with oranges, we should look at the first 8 games of last season.

because in the last eight games we made considerable progress, progress which apparently has been undone so far this season as we're not running the ball nearly as well as we did our last eight games when we got it figured out. That's why it's relevant. The scary part is we're trending BACK to last seasons first eight games.

 

[az1965]

yeah, that's what I expect! A Super Bowl team! Give me a break. This team has had winnable games against INCREDIBLY beaten up teams and consistently come out flat. Going into the Carolina game, I'd have given us a B+ for the season, but losing by 15 to a WOEFUL Carolina team (and no matter what you try to point to, we all know that team as is and was is pathetic), then losing to a team without it's entire O-line, while the O turned the ball over hand over fist and then playing it's worst game of the year COMING OUT OF A BYE, the last three games were a freaking F-. You can like how the first six five games went, but that's not the trend we're seeing. We're seeing a team get worse and that shouldn't be happening as the season goes on.

And we haven't had injuries? We lost our starting QB and have a one armed 2nd string QB leading us, for crying out loud. We missed Boldin for 3 games and that is 50% of our passing attack. Yes, because after Fitz and Boldin we don't have a legit receiver. BJ sucks. And it does not matter if our OL is banged up and we are constantly shuffling people around. Nope, it matters for other teams but we should be reaching the stars.

 

[az1965]

because in the last eight games we made considerable progress, progress which apparently has been undone so far this season as we're not running the ball nearly as well as we did our last eight games when we got it figured out. That's why it's relevant. The scary part is we're trending BACK to last seasons first eight games.

I don't think that is undone. It is not relevant since our OL has been redone. And this OL was doing better when season started but lost some consistency due to injuries. Let the OL play together few games to decide.

 

[Cheesebeef]

And we haven't had injuries? We lost our starting QB and have a one armed 2nd string QB leading us, for crying out loud. We missed Boldin for 3 games and that is 50% of our passing attack. Yes, because after Fitz and Boldin we don't have a legit receiver. BJ sucks. And it does not matter if our OL is banged up and we are constantly shuffling people around. Nope, it matters for other teams but we should be reaching the stars.

every team has injuries. Good ones have depth to deal with it.

 

[az1965]

every team has injuries. Good ones have depth to deal with it.

Ah, but that is a totally separate topic. This is where the good old GM issue comes in... and I'm 100% with you on that one.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I don't think that is undone. It is not relevant since our OL has been redone. And this OL was doing better when season started but lost some consistency due to injuries. Let the OL play together few games to decide.

again, the thread is about GRADES FOR THE FIRST HALF. We are grading what we've seen TILL THIS POINT. When we get to the second half, we'll probably have grades for the season. I don't understand why you keep saying wait and see what happens in a thread about where we are RIGHT NOW.

Can they improve? I sure as hell hope so. Will they? Don't know and it's not what the thread asked.

 

[az1965]

again, the thread is about GRADES FOR THE FIRST HALF. We are grading what we've seen TILL THIS POINT. When we get to the second half, we'll probably have grades for the season. I don't understand why you keep saying wait and see what happens in a thread about where we are RIGHT NOW.

Can they improve? I sure as hell hope so. Will they? Don't know and it's not what the thread asked.

Because you keep bringing up last year's final games...

 

[Cheesebeef]

Ah, but that is a totally separate topic. This is where the good old GM issue comes in... and I'm 100% with you on that one.

I don't see it as a separate topic. Everything is inclusive. Injuries are just an excuse.

 

[az1965]

I don't see it as a separate topic. Everything is inclusive. Injuries are just an excuse.

While this team lacks depth due to poor cap management and incompetent GM, there is an injury threshold which no team can keep up no matter how deep. So, at certain point injury needs to be considered as an excuse. How many teams can survive with a 3rd string QB???