kerouac9
Klowned by Keim
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A few weeks ago, I dismissed despair and draft-positioning among the fan base by saying that the 2017 Arizona Cardinals are a 7-9 team that will play some entertaining, high-variance games at home. Today, that’s exactly where we are. This does not take anything away from the 7-3 Jaguars, who are absolutely killing opponents. The Cards are 4-2 in games decided by 7 points or less. That’s bad.
What’s worse is I don’t trust the coaching staff and front office to take the right lessons from this season. In a year when we’re probably a bad team who lucked into a mediocre record (we’re outperforming our Estimated Wins* by 1.2 games), I think that BASK think that we’re a good team held back by key injuries.
It’s not even December yet! Too early to worry about it! Let’s enjoy the win.
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Phil Dawson - Clutch performance at home by the old man. Doesn’t really change anything in the long term, but give credit where it’s due
Jared Veldheer - People are going to give too much credit to Gabbert’s mobility. Veldheer has been his usual steady self on the left side — which is why people should be questioning the decision to move him in favor of unreliable D.J. Humphries.
Josh Bynes - Stepped in for Deone Bucannon and played well enough that I’m not wondering if we should move Hasson Reddick back to the middle.
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Karlos Dansby - It was painful watching T.J. Yeldon run away from Dansby. Hard to fault Bettcher for designing the defense to make the 2nd string RB beat you, but it wasn’t easy to watch.
Deone Bucannon - Played 5 snaps before being injured. Was not missed (see above).
Robert Nkemdiche - Failed to record a tackle in 16 snaps. For comparison’s sake, Darnell Dockett had 3.5 sacks his first season.
BONUS HOT TAKE: I'm a Gabbert Truther for the time being. Bring me your "Gabbert is the REAL DEAL" takes, and I will happily explain to you the melting point of steel. A good analysis of why it's not time to turn the key to the franchise over quite yet can be found here.
* Estimated Wins uses a statistic known as "Forest Index" that emphasizes consistency as well as DVOA in the most important specific situations: red zone defense, first quarter offense, and performance in the second half when the score is close. It then projects a number of wins adjusted to a league-average schedule and a league-average rate of recovering fumbles. Teams that have had their bye week are projected as if they had played one game per week.