Good points, Harry.
What concerns me is the PASSIVE approach everyone involved in this current administration is taking. Mac has a golden tongue and he seems sincere, but his game strategies are far too passive for my liking...and that goes for all aspects of the team.
The offense has been tediously predictable and never seems to go into a game with a clear-cut plan as to how to keep the defense off-balance and , better yet, how to attack the defense's weaknesses. Case in point: The 49ers are weak in the middle and quick on the perimeter, yet the Cardinals ran more toss sweeps in the first half than power isolations through the A and B gaps. Jerry Sullivan will turn the page on this trend, thank goodness. He will prepare.
The defense is about as passive as any NFL defense I have watched in the last decade. The read and react philosophy has the players playing on their heels, to the point where the DTs resort to running backside pursuit angles five to seven yards on their side of the l.o.s. play after play. There's no concerted effort to achieve any line penetration...and simple concepts such as contain are often-times either ignored or abandoned.
The special teams...well, when was the last time the Cardinals blocked a punt or a kick? 'Nuff said.
This off-season reflects similar passivity and lack of preparation. The front office should have had a concerted, clear-cut plan right from the get-go. Targeted free agents should have been wooed by the organization's most persuasive and charismatic salesman, Dave McGinnis. Contracts should have been waiting on the table...and every effort should have been made to make sure the free agents the team wants don't leave town without the team's best effort to sign them...right on the spot. Every good car salesman knows, you don't let the prospective customer leave without getting the deal done. How many times have you heard from a car salesman that if you walk out of the dealership today without buying the car, you won't get the same "great" offer tomorrow. The same should apply to free agents...wow them with a great offer and tell them that if they don't accept it today, it will be offered to another player. Case in point: Dexter Jackson. Is Jackson a better safety than Kwamie Lassiter? IMO, there's no comparision due to Jackson's superior range as a centerfielder, in addition to his playmaking instincts. Yet, the team offers Jackson a contract (48 hours after he leaves Arizona, no less) for LESS ($2.4M/year) than what it paid Kwamie ($3M+) last year. The team should have said to Jackson, "We paid one of our safeties franchise money last year and we are prepared to give that to you or another safety we have our eyes on. The first safety to accept our offer, gets the $3M." IMO, Jackson would have signed such a contract the first Saturday in free agency. Instead the Cardinals dilly daddle, take several days to get him to come for an interview and then offer him $2.4M (two days later), to try to save 600K. The $2.4M keeps other teams like the Steelers still in the ballgame. The $3M would have blown them out of the picture. Jackson's not stupid. He knows the Cardinals paid Lassiter $3M, which is why he is in Arizona in the first place...when Arizona offers him $2.4, it means to him that they are trying to get him cheap...which playoff contenders like the Steelers might be able to get away with, but not the Cardinals...not at this point.
And now Jeff Blake...comes in and says he's up for the challenge...that his focus will be on ensuring that the Cardinals' offense will become one of the top five offenses in the NFL...that it's all about team and commitment...and he, of course, has to leave town without a contract offer because RG says he has to consult the coaching staff to see how Blake fits in...RIDICULOUS. Sorry to say, but the preparation HAS to be done before you bring a player in, not after. The team either wants him or not....BEFORE he comes to interview. That's preparation...and that's being aggressive. This passive, ultra-conservative approach to free agency is getting the Cardinals exactly what they deserve...egg in the face.
