Heroes and Goats: ARI@PHI

[NJCardFan]

Your goat section was too small. It was more like a herd!

Would be like my Good, Bad, & Ugly. Under Ugly I would just put a video of the game.

 

[cardpa]

How come SK signed him to a record breaking contract (with lots of guaranteed money) without seeing him play a snap in regular season after an injury that usually ends up ending a career early or resulting in a significant decrease in performance? No other GM would have done that deal. Is SK that bad of a GM or did BA tell him to throw him a bone. Either it means our GM is incompetent or that BA is the also the GM and he is just another assistant now. Neither bodes well for us but I doubt SK would have paid HB that much, kept Stanton around as the highest paid backup and held on to other dead weight for so long if it wasn't at BA's requirement.

BA is determined to do it his way whether it is good for the franchise or not. Instead of getting a wake up call last year he would rather destroy the franchise than make changes and evolve. Think about the Amos situation... BA is so loyal to guy whose unit is consistently deficient year after year, hurting our team, hurting BAs rep and generally bringing him tons of heat. But Amos is such a disloyal friend that even after riding the gravy train for years now he won't resign for the sake of his friend.

I think why we had some players move on we would have liked to keep is because of the politics on the team. When players don't think things are fair and equitable they aren't going to battle for you.

The big question is luster of BA has wearing off in the locker room also? The team almost looks like it is going through the motions and doesn't have a lot confidence on the field.

There may be some truth to this up to a lot of truth to this. I had campaigned against signing TM to any contract prior to seeing if he could make it back from not one but two ACL injuries. The odds were certainly against him. Sometimes it seems like SK is BA's lap dog. One has to remember both Arians and Keim are from the same hometown of York Pa. Having lived in that area for a number of years you certainly have a we protect our own mentality which is probably playing a role in this mess. The reality is they are too close for their own good. One of them has to go and it should be Arians. Keim may still turn out to be a decent GM but as long as Arians is around he will never reach that potential.

 

[Chopper0080]

+1.

I am as upset about the situation as the next, but reality is Mathieu is not fast enough for the NFL anymore. He is just an undersized depth guy at this point.

Mathieu is a nickel CB at this point in his career. If this team is to move forward, he needs to either take a pay cut or be cut. You can't spend 10 mil per year for what he is bringing to the table. But, I am not confident enough in this franchise right now to make that call.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

For a second there I thought you were talking to me. (my name is Steve) I was thinking don't shoot the messenger.

Haha. No. You wouldn't try to sell me that crap.

 

[Chopper0080]

It would make more sense to cut Brandon Williams, who gave up outside contain on that big punt return, than fire Amos Jones. I get that, ultimately, the coach is responsible for the design of the special teams, but let's be real: the talent on this roster is bad.

Maybe you bring in some help for Jones next year, but what's really going to make the difference? Would firing Jones make you feel better if the special teams doesn't improve anyway?

The unit has been bad since Amos took over. I agree that the personnel is not great, but sometimes you have to make a statement that is more than "the players need to play better".

 

[Chopper0080]

I'm fine with it. They have paid a lot of money to Patrick Peterson, Tyrann Mathieu, Justin Bethel, and Tyvon Branch to cover someone. But that blitz has to get home. It's a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. I want these guys to be aggressive, and don't mind going down fighting.



I dunno. I don't think you micromanage Patrick Peterson's technique; Bettcher should have bigger fish to fry. It's easy to say that didn't work, but it's the first quarter, score 0-0, and 3rd and 11. Peterson's trying to set a tone there, and just missed on his jam.

My issue is and has been, why aren't these blitzes getting home when they used to get home. IMO, it is a coaching issue. No one is emphasizing creating angles to be able to slip around the blockers or working on the timing of the blitzes that I can see.

 

[Chopper0080]

Keim on Famous Amos.

— Keim was asked about special teams coach Amos Jones, and what goes on behind the scenes that make the Cardinals know Jones is the right coach.

“I think there are always things that people don’t see,” Keim said. “… More than anything, me or coach (Bruce Arians) or Michael (Bidwill) knowing that, the type of things that need to be taught are being taught. It’s whether the players are correcting those issues or not. We tried to really improve football I.Q. with our players, because that’s one of the issues we’ve had in the past. Once I think we get some of that stuff cleaned up and guys can play a little bit smarter, I think you’ll start to see some improvement.

“Again, week after week, the same mistakes keep happening. Quite frankly, if anything, we need to continue to rotate players in and out of here and find players who can help us. If a guy continually makes the same mistakes and isn’t going to fix it, we’ll go ahead and make a decision and look at ready list and bring in some guys and make some changes.”

http://blog.azcardinals.com/2017/10/09/keim-cardinals-need-chip-back-on-shoulder/

What makes this worse is that I don't believe Keim understands that these statements shift the blame from the coaches to himself. You know, THE PERSON WHO BROUGHT IN THE PLAYERS. I don't know if he is trying to be the team players here. I don't know if he is trying to avoid adding organizational drama to an already awful season. But, he is quickly eroding the equity that he has built. Mike B is a smart guy, and I am curious when he will see the holes in the narrative that Keim and Arians are spitting out.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

My issue is and has been, why aren't these blitzes getting home when they used to get home. IMO, it is a coaching issue. No one is emphasizing creating angles to be able to slip around the blockers or working on the timing of the blitzes that I can see.

Yes agreed. Not only aren't they getting home, but they're not even creating pressure. We used to have guys coming free in the A gaps. It's been a couple years since we saw that.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

What makes this worse is that I don't believe Keim understands that these statements shift the blame from the coaches to himself. You know, THE PERSON WHO BROUGHT IN THE PLAYERS. I don't know if he is trying to be the team players here. I don't know if he is trying to avoid adding organizational drama to an already awful season. But, he is quickly eroding the equity that he has built. Mike B is a smart guy, and I am curious when he will see the holes in the narrative that Keim and Arians are spitting out.

Right? Yes, there are injuries, but this has to kind in one of two places:

1. Coaching

2. Players (aka Keim's evaluation, selection, and judgment)

Both can't come out of this mess unscathed. Blame and accountability has to lie at someone's feet.

 

[kerouac9]

My issue is and has been, why aren't these blitzes getting home when they used to get home. IMO, it is a coaching issue. No one is emphasizing creating angles to be able to slip around the blockers or working on the timing of the blitzes that I can see.

Michael Lombardi, with whom I don't usually agree, was saying Sunday night that the Seahawks believe that in the fourth quarter the defense will win the game for them. The Cards don't believe that — Arians doesn't trust the defense to come through and Bettcher can't put the defense in a position to succeed.

There's no reason to believe that the Cards' defense isn't at least as talented as the Seahawks'. If anything, they have more talent. But something's holding them back, and I think it's a combination of how the talent is allocated and coaching.

 

[Cheesebeef]

My issue is and has been, why aren't these blitzes getting home when they used to get home. IMO, it is a coaching issue. No one is emphasizing creating angles to be able to slip around the blockers or working on the timing of the blitzes that I can see.

Our blitzers literally look like they're actively trying to find blockers to hit. It's mind boggling.

 

[DVontel]

Michael Lombardi, with whom I don't usually agree, was saying Sunday night that the Seahawks believe that in the fourth quarter the defense will win the game for them. The Cards don't believe that — Arians doesn't trust the defense to come through and Bettcher can't put the defense in a position to succeed.

There's no reason to believe that the Cards' defense isn't at least as talented as the Seahawks'. If anything, they have more talent. But something's holding them back, and I think it's a combination of how the talent is allocated and coaching.

I don’t know about that at all.

Earl Thomas
Richard Sherman
Kam Chancellor
Sheldon Richardson
Bobby Wagner

Then you have a riser in Frank Clark.

Are way more talented than any of our current defensive players sans Patrick Peterson & Chandler Jones.

 

[kerouac9]

I don’t know about that at all.

Earl Thomas
Richard Sherman
Kam Chancellor
Sheldon Richardson
Bobby Wagner

Then you have a riser in Frank Clark.

Are way more talented than any of our current defensive players sans Patrick Peterson & Chandler Jones.

Yeah, maybe, but I think that 11 guys play on a defense, not 5. I think that the balance of our defense is more talented than the balance of theirs.

 

[DVontel]

Yeah, maybe, but I think that 11 guys play on a defense, not 5. I think that the balance of our defense is more talented than the balance of theirs.

It’s not unless you’re delusional as hell. Maybe if we had our 2013 defense compared to their current one then sure.

 

[kerouac9]

It’s not unless you’re delusional as hell. Maybe if we had our 2013 defense compared to their current one then sure.

Cripes.

LDE: Michael Bennett (SEA), Chandler Jones (ARI)
LDT: Jerran Reed (SEA), Corey Peters (ARI)
RDT: Sheldon Richardson (SEA), Frostee Rucker (ARI)
RDE: Frank Clark (SEA), Josh Mauro (ARI)
LOLB: Terence Garvin (SEA), Deone Bucannon (ARI)
MLB: Bobby Wagner (SEA), Karlos Dansby (ARI)
ROLB: KJ Wright (SEA), Hasson Reddick (ARI)
LCB: Richard Sherman (SEA), Patrick Peterson (ARI)
SS: Cam Chancellor (SEA), Antoine Bethea (ARI)
FS: Earl Thomas (SEA), Tyvon Branch (ARI)
RCB: Jeremy Lane (SEA), Justin Bethel (ARI)
NCB: Shaquill Griffin (SEA), Tyrann Mathieu (ARI)

It's close, but I count about 6-6 ours versus theirs, position by position.

 

[DVontel]

Cripes.

LDE: Michael Bennett (SEA), Chandler Jones (ARI)
Agreed.
LDT: Jerran Reed (SEA), Corey Peters (ARI)
Agreed.
RDT: Sheldon Richardson (SEA), Frostee Rucker (ARI)
Agreed, not to mention, Sheldon is also much better than Rucker at this stage.
RDE: Frank Clark (SEA), Josh Mauro (ARI)
Lmao at this. Clark currently has 15.5 sacks, 47 total tackles, & a forced fumble to boot in his career. Compare that to Mauro’s current stats. Mauro shouldn’t even be starting. This take is a bad take.
LOLB: Terence Garvin (SEA), Deone Bucannon (ARI)
Both underwhelming, but I guess.
MLB: Bobby Wagner (SEA), Karlos Dansby (ARI)
Another “Lmao” mention. Bobby Wagner is a perennial All-Pro who’s in the prime in his career, the 2nd best ILB in the game after Keuchly, while Dansby is washed up & doesn’t provide much if at all. This is also another bad take.
ROLB: KJ Wright (SEA), Hasson Reddick (ARI)
Agreed.
LCB: Richard Sherman (SEA), Patrick Peterson (ARI)
Agreed.
SS: Cam Chancellor (SEA), Antoine Bethea (ARI)
Agreed. Kam is also a lot better when comparing the two currently.
FS: Earl Thomas (SEA), Tyvon Branch (ARI)
Agreed. ET3 is a lot better than comparing the two currently. Branch has had a good season to start, however.
RCB: Jeremy Lane (SEA), Justin Bethel (ARI)
I guess. Both are underwhelming, however.
NCB: Shaquill Griffin (SEA), Tyrann Mathieu (ARI)
I guess. I love Tyrann, but he’s a shell of his former self.

It's close, but I count about 6-6 ours versus theirs, position by position.

Response in bold red.

 

[kerouac9]

Response in bold red.

I just forgot to bold Wagner and Clark. I agree they're better than our guys.

My argument isn't that our defense is better than Seattle's—it's that we're similarly talented and should be able to carry the same responsibility for wins. I think that Bettcher is holding a defense back from making plays that could win games.

 

[Chopper0080]

Cripes.

LDE: Michael Bennett (SEA), Chandler Jones (ARI)
LDT: Jerran Reed (SEA), Corey Peters (ARI)
RDT: Sheldon Richardson (SEA), Frostee Rucker (ARI)
RDE: Frank Clark (SEA), Josh Mauro (ARI)
LOLB: Terence Garvin (SEA), Deone Bucannon (ARI)
MLB: Bobby Wagner (SEA), Karlos Dansby (ARI)
ROLB: KJ Wright (SEA), Hasson Reddick (ARI)
LCB: Richard Sherman (SEA), Patrick Peterson (ARI)
SS: Cam Chancellor (SEA), Antoine Bethea (ARI)
FS: Earl Thomas (SEA), Tyvon Branch (ARI)
RCB: Jeremy Lane (SEA), Justin Bethel (ARI)
NCB: Shaquill Griffin (SEA), Tyrann Mathieu (ARI)

It's close, but I count about 6-6 ours versus theirs, position by position.

I think Bobby Wagner is better than Kalros Dansby at this point in time, but it is closer than most would think.

 

[Chopper0080]

Just saw the followup K9...

 

[Chopper0080]

I just forgot to bold Wagner and Clark. I agree they're better than our guys.

My argument isn't that our defense is better than Seattle's—it's that we're similarly talented and should be able to carry the same responsibility for wins. I think that Bettcher is holding a defense back from making plays that could win games.

100% Our defense does not play with the mentality or tenacity of the Seahawks, and that is coaching IMO.

 

[WisconsinCard]

My issue is and has been, why aren't these blitzes getting home when they used to get home. IMO, it is a coaching issue. No one is emphasizing creating angles to be able to slip around the blockers or working on the timing of the blitzes that I can see.

Because they are so obvious. My son and I sat in the stands and continually called the blitz, who was coming and from where.