If you are feeling down on the Cardinals

[Hollywood]

A reminder of just what the Cardinals have had to overcome to reach 9 wins so far this season.

7 players on IR, 6 of them are key players. HB might as well be on that list and Ellington has been playing on a bad foot all season.

If any of us had seen this before the season we would have thrown in the towel on the season.....Heck, looking at it NOW I don't know how we are 9-3.

Sure our chances for the rest of the season are slim....but that means there is still a chance right? [emoji6]

Keep Calm and Cardinal On!

 

[Buckybird]

Thx for reminding me

The Carson injury was the nail in the coffin

 

[cardpa]

That list really amazes you with what Bowles has done with the defense. Four defensive starters on IR and another suspended for the season. Add in our punter who was a defensive weapon and its even more amazing.

It also makes you wonder what has been wrong with the offense all season. Yes Palmer was out quite a bit and is now done however even when he was in there the offense was never what anyone could call a high powered offense.

 

[StreetTruckinTitan]

I like your attitude Hollywood but thats little comfort to most of these Cardinals "fans" whom have already given up before its even over. I dont get it. Maybe its just me, but I've had it engrained in me over the years never to give up, especially competitively.

 

[kerouac9]

1) A punter is never a key player.
2) Palmer didn't go on IR until we'd had the 9 wins.
3) Every team gets injuries. We benefited from a very healthy season last year, and no one took that into account (except for a select few).

 

[Iceman]

And we will find a way to win 2 or 3 more games!

HOPEFULLY!

 

[AzStevenCal]

I think you can be down on this team if you want to. I don't want to.

Steve

 

[82CardsGrad]

I predicted a 10 & 6 season from the start... Looks like we might get there or fall just short.
BUT, when you start a year at 9 & 1, and then finish that year with 9 or 10 wins, there is no other way to view the season other than a massive disappointment. One due solely to injuries... Mainly the injury to Palmer.

 

[CFLredzoned]

It also makes you wonder what has been wrong with the offense all season. Yes Palmer was out quite a bit and is now done however even when he was in there the offense was never what anyone could call a high powered offense.

I was thinking the same thing. Bowles seems to be the master at looking at what he has each weak, assess, reassess, and come up with the best game plan for those players. BA talks about that being the best way to coach. But to me, the uneducated consumer, it doesn't look like what he's doing on offense - especially after insisting that nothing changes with Stanton at QB. That could be smoke though. Maybe he does mold the offense to the players and I don't notice it. And maybe defense lends itself more to that strategy.

1) A punter is never a key player.

I think we're making the exception to the rule this year. Field position is huge, especially in the NFC West and the way the Cardinals have been playing. The field position advantages Zastudil would provide over Butler definitely qualify as key.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I predicted a 10 & 6 season from the start... Looks like we might get there or fall just short.
BUT, when you start a year at 9 & 1, and then finish that year with 9 or 10 wins, there is no other way to view the season other than a massive disappointment. One due solely to injuries... Mainly the injury to Palmer.

I'm going to be disappointed if we don't make the playoffs but I won't be disappointed in the team. Preseason, I picked us to go 12 - 4 and so far I have called every Cards game correctly but in no way has this season gone the way I expected. If I had known the injuries we were going to face, I wouldn't even have picked us to win half our games. But yeah, even though 9 - 7 will be overachieving AFAIC, it will still be a big disappointment.

Steve

 

[82CardsGrad]

I'm going to be disappointed if we don't make the playoffs but I won't be disappointed in the team. Preseason, I picked us to go 12 - 4 and so far I have called every Cards game correctly but in no way has this season gone the way I expected. If I had known the injuries we were going to face, I wouldn't even have picked us to win half our games. But yeah, even though 9 - 7 will be overachieving AFAIC, it will still be a big disappointment.

Steve

I agree for the most part. It's hard to be disappointed in the team itself, when they have overcome so much. That said, I am deeply disappointed in our putrid run game. And, I am fairly disappointed in both Mike Floyd and Patrick Peterson... I these those two have underperformed for the most part, particularly Floyd.

 

[BigRedRage]

Going from a great punter to a terrible punter is a big deal especially when your offense stalls for 3 straight games.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Going from a great punter to a terrible punter is a big deal especially when your offense stalls for 3 straight games.

Agreed. How many times have we all seen a team lose because of poor punting? A punter isn't a QB but the difference between a good one and a bad one can be huge.

Steve

 

[Iceman]

Agreed. How many times have we all seen a team lose because of poor punting? A punter isn't a QB but the difference between a good one and a bad one can be huge.

Steve

No question. Field position has been a factor without Zas.

 

[Tyler3450]

if i had to rank them on who we miss the most it would be

1. Carson Palmer
2. D wash
3. Zasty

 

[Hollywood]

1) A punter is never a key player.
2) Palmer didn't go on IR until we'd had the 9 wins.
3) Every team gets injuries. We benefited from a very healthy season last year, and no one took that into account (except for a select few).

Yes. A punter can be a key player and Palmer has only played in half the games this year.

Yes every team has injuries but we have still been winning despite our injuries. Not every team does that.

 

[NJCardFan]

1) A punter is never a key player.
2) Palmer didn't go on IR until we'd had the 9 wins.
3) Every team gets injuries. We benefited from a very healthy season last year, and no one took that into account (except for a select few).

A punter is never a key player? Wild Card game 2008, Chargers vs Colts. If it weren't for Scifres pinning the Colt offense inside their 10 all day lone, they would have rolled the Chargers. The Colts had 12 drives for the game, 8 of them started on or inside the 20 with 3 inside the 5. Manning couldn't get anything started all day.

 

[Seandonic]

Thx for reminding me

The Carson injury was the nail in the coffin

Yep.

 

[NJCardFan]

if i had to rank them on who we miss the most it would be

1. Carson Palmer
2. D wash
3. Zasty

Actually, as it turns out, Washington really hasn't been missed that much. To be truthful, one player not being brought up in any conversation which IMO has really been missed is Mendenhall.

 

[Cardiac]

Actually, as it turns out, Washington really hasn't been missed that much. To be truthful, one player not being brought up in any conversation which IMO has really been missed is Mendenhall.

Fully disagree on DWashout, just his blitzing skills and ability to spy Russell Wilson have been missed.

My list is:

Palmer
DWeed
Abraham
Dwyer
Zasty
DD (just because we have such excellent depth at the position)

I'll also add Juke to the list because he has played injured all year and it has negatively impacted how special he can be.

 

[PJ1]

Actually, as it turns out, Washington really hasn't been missed that much. To be truthful, one player not being brought up in any conversation which IMO has really been missed is Mendenhall.

Agreed. Mendenhall may not have been a world beater but we didn't replace him.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Agreed. Mendenhall may not have been a world beater but we didn't replace him.

We thought we did with Dwyer and perhaps the continued improvement of Stepfan.

Steve