Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
If you are an Arizona Cardinals' fan named Sara...and you watched the Cardinals' 20-10 pre-season win over the Redskins last night it surely made "Sara Smile!"
The major reason perhaps was the play of two dynamic young rookies: QB Max Hall and LB Daryl Washington.
Both players have had magnificent training camps for the Cardinals...the timing of which could not be more auspicious or fortuitous in terms of the future...you see...in case you hadn't heard...there were these two guys named Kurt Warner and Karlos Dansby...they were the offensive and defensive leaders who directed the Cardinals to their first ever Super Bowl.
As Hall & Oates lamented "She's Gone"...well the Cardinals were lamenting this off-season that both Warner and Dansby are gone...which caused many Cardinal fans, all Saras included, to frown and insist "I Can't Go For That."
"No Can Do?"
This sudden rookie explosion is amounting to, well, not so much a "Las Vegas Turnaround"...but let's stay in the same state of Utah...for something to the tune of a Provo Turnaround.
When Max Hall entered the 3-3 snoozer last night...one thing was readily apparent from the get-go. The tempo and speed of the game was suddenly kicked up like a pack of kangaroos running over hot coals. The Cardinals needed an offensive catalyst and Hall was primed and ready to provide one.
The most impressive aspect of his game last night other than the array of on-the-money passes he continuously impressed Cardinal fans with, was his uncanny ability to think on his feet in the face of pressure and turn what looked to be broken and busted plays into chain-moving gains.
Hall had previously displayed his nifty feet and improvisational abilities this pre-season...but what he did with these abilities on this night was nothing short of spectacular.
Hall turned a 3-3 game into a 20-3 runaway win all in the matter of a flash.
The four most memorable plays were:
(1) Third and long deep in Cardinal territory on the first series, Hall senses the pressure closing in on him and adeptly flushes out of the pocket to his right. It appears he is going to try to run for the first down, but at the last second he flips a perfect throwback strike to TE Stephen Spach that results in a first down...which eventually leads to an Alfonso Smith TD to make it 10-3 Cardinals.
(2) On the next series, Hall is badgered again, only this time he escapes the pressure to his left and streaks down the field for a first down---and get this---lowers his shoulder into the defender and pops forward another yard or two. Wow. This sutained the FG drive to make it 13-3 Cardinals.
(3) On his third series...talk about a player being able to think on his feet...the Cardinals needed a play to sustain the drive and had called a little slip screen to Alfonso Smith, only, Smith misses the call and instead of slipping underneath for the screen, he slips through the middle and races up the seam. Hall, clearly surprised not to see Smith where he was supposed to be, could have simply tried to ditch the ball in the vacinity as Kurt Warner was apt to do in such occasions...except...no...Hall adjusts to the play, squares his feet and flips a perfect over the shoulder strike to Smith which Smith takes to the Redskins' 10 yard line. Hall beams over to Whiz with a shrug and starts laughing.
(4) Seconds later on a third a goal from the five, Hall cannot find an open receiver in the end zone and does what his instincts tell him to do...run for it! Not only did Hall make a beeline for the pylon he takes a page out of Larry Fitgerald's book and switches the ball to his left hand and combs it right inside the pylon for the TD!...to make it 20-3 Cardinals.
Max to Max
Max Hall isn't the only Max making a name for himself in Camp Cardinal...no sir. Max Hall and his WR counterpart Max Komar have become the Max Factors of the Cardinals' second team offense.
Let's put it in these relative terms:
Maxwell Smarts:
These guys don't play like rookies...they play with a swagger and a savviness that veterans display.
Maximum Security:
These guys don't turn the ball over. Max Komar, to go back to Hall & Oates for another second, thrives in "One on One" matchups...or should I say "max-ups." He has the ability to freeze his defender for the split second that enables his to gain quick and immediate separation...short, intermediate and long (as we saw on the 34 yard post pass last night). And here's where Maximum Security comes in. Not only does Komar have velcro type hands, upon the catch he tucks the ball away like an old pro. Komar has taken his shots...and like his fellow rookie phenom Stephen Williams, he knows how to protect his inside, absorb the hit and secure the ball.
Maximum Value:
Put it this way...if the coaches had put number 12 on his back with the name Roberts...and no one knew the difference...after the 4 performances Komar has put in this pre-season---which started in the first game where at full speed he planed out for a deep catch up the right sideline that was absolutely spectacular...Cardinal fans would be raving about what a great steal the Cardinals made in the third round.
Let me ask you this: from a consistency and production standpoint, did either Early Doucet or Andre Roberts, both 3rd round picks, burst onto the scene as rookies and played with the combination of skill and ball command the way Komar has?
This is the thing too about Stephen Williams and Max Komar...they command the ball and they demand the ball. The good ones do that. There are plenty of super talented athletes playing WR in the NFL, but not too many of them command the ball. In other words, QBs tend to look for WRs they trust will be open and will make the right play on the ball. Those are the ones they turn to more than a handful of times a game...and the ones they turn to in clutch situations. Williams and Komar have already earned that trust. Amazing.
"Maneater":
Daryl Washington is not only the fastest linebacker the Cardinals have ever had...when he arrives at the ball he is just this: a "Maneater." Witness the play he made on that little flat pass last night...no sooer had the ball arrive in the RBs hands, D-Wash was wringing him out to dry.
Witness the play where he sifted through traffic like a a bat out of hell taxi driver at rush hour and wham, took the RB down with a flourish. This is the swiftest, out-of-nowhere tackle we've seen on TV since Terry Tate "Office Linebacker!"
Witness the way D-Wash rushes the QB from the WILB position. He leaves a blurry trail of color on the screen, doesn't he? To the point where you say, "Whoa, what was THAT?!!!" A red-tailed comet?
Put it this way...if you had a choice right now to have Daryl Washington or Karlos Dansby be your WILB for the next four years, who would you pick?
Did you even have to think about it?
Sure, D-Wash is a rookie and he's going to over-pursue at times and make mistakes...but, man, what an element he brings to this defense in the way of sheer speed, suddeness and explosion. The thing is---this kid isn't all athlete out there...he's got very good instincts, which is why he has a chance to be a special and unique player in this league.
D-Will and D-Wash
What a recruiting coup for the Cardinals. Dan Williams is a brute force with uncommon quickess---who will command and occupy the middle while Daryl Washington will clean up the trash like a Swiffer Jet.
As the Cardinals look back on this draft and on this batch of UCFA signees...the Cardinals will have every reason to turn to Hall & Oates again to revel in the song "Kiss On My List"...for the players on this list look like top ten hits from top to bottom.
The major reason perhaps was the play of two dynamic young rookies: QB Max Hall and LB Daryl Washington.
Both players have had magnificent training camps for the Cardinals...the timing of which could not be more auspicious or fortuitous in terms of the future...you see...in case you hadn't heard...there were these two guys named Kurt Warner and Karlos Dansby...they were the offensive and defensive leaders who directed the Cardinals to their first ever Super Bowl.
As Hall & Oates lamented "She's Gone"...well the Cardinals were lamenting this off-season that both Warner and Dansby are gone...which caused many Cardinal fans, all Saras included, to frown and insist "I Can't Go For That."
"No Can Do?"
This sudden rookie explosion is amounting to, well, not so much a "Las Vegas Turnaround"...but let's stay in the same state of Utah...for something to the tune of a Provo Turnaround.
When Max Hall entered the 3-3 snoozer last night...one thing was readily apparent from the get-go. The tempo and speed of the game was suddenly kicked up like a pack of kangaroos running over hot coals. The Cardinals needed an offensive catalyst and Hall was primed and ready to provide one.
The most impressive aspect of his game last night other than the array of on-the-money passes he continuously impressed Cardinal fans with, was his uncanny ability to think on his feet in the face of pressure and turn what looked to be broken and busted plays into chain-moving gains.
Hall had previously displayed his nifty feet and improvisational abilities this pre-season...but what he did with these abilities on this night was nothing short of spectacular.
Hall turned a 3-3 game into a 20-3 runaway win all in the matter of a flash.
The four most memorable plays were:
(1) Third and long deep in Cardinal territory on the first series, Hall senses the pressure closing in on him and adeptly flushes out of the pocket to his right. It appears he is going to try to run for the first down, but at the last second he flips a perfect throwback strike to TE Stephen Spach that results in a first down...which eventually leads to an Alfonso Smith TD to make it 10-3 Cardinals.
(2) On the next series, Hall is badgered again, only this time he escapes the pressure to his left and streaks down the field for a first down---and get this---lowers his shoulder into the defender and pops forward another yard or two. Wow. This sutained the FG drive to make it 13-3 Cardinals.
(3) On his third series...talk about a player being able to think on his feet...the Cardinals needed a play to sustain the drive and had called a little slip screen to Alfonso Smith, only, Smith misses the call and instead of slipping underneath for the screen, he slips through the middle and races up the seam. Hall, clearly surprised not to see Smith where he was supposed to be, could have simply tried to ditch the ball in the vacinity as Kurt Warner was apt to do in such occasions...except...no...Hall adjusts to the play, squares his feet and flips a perfect over the shoulder strike to Smith which Smith takes to the Redskins' 10 yard line. Hall beams over to Whiz with a shrug and starts laughing.
(4) Seconds later on a third a goal from the five, Hall cannot find an open receiver in the end zone and does what his instincts tell him to do...run for it! Not only did Hall make a beeline for the pylon he takes a page out of Larry Fitgerald's book and switches the ball to his left hand and combs it right inside the pylon for the TD!...to make it 20-3 Cardinals.
Max to Max
Max Hall isn't the only Max making a name for himself in Camp Cardinal...no sir. Max Hall and his WR counterpart Max Komar have become the Max Factors of the Cardinals' second team offense.
Let's put it in these relative terms:
Maxwell Smarts:
These guys don't play like rookies...they play with a swagger and a savviness that veterans display.
Maximum Security:
These guys don't turn the ball over. Max Komar, to go back to Hall & Oates for another second, thrives in "One on One" matchups...or should I say "max-ups." He has the ability to freeze his defender for the split second that enables his to gain quick and immediate separation...short, intermediate and long (as we saw on the 34 yard post pass last night). And here's where Maximum Security comes in. Not only does Komar have velcro type hands, upon the catch he tucks the ball away like an old pro. Komar has taken his shots...and like his fellow rookie phenom Stephen Williams, he knows how to protect his inside, absorb the hit and secure the ball.
Maximum Value:
Put it this way...if the coaches had put number 12 on his back with the name Roberts...and no one knew the difference...after the 4 performances Komar has put in this pre-season---which started in the first game where at full speed he planed out for a deep catch up the right sideline that was absolutely spectacular...Cardinal fans would be raving about what a great steal the Cardinals made in the third round.
Let me ask you this: from a consistency and production standpoint, did either Early Doucet or Andre Roberts, both 3rd round picks, burst onto the scene as rookies and played with the combination of skill and ball command the way Komar has?
This is the thing too about Stephen Williams and Max Komar...they command the ball and they demand the ball. The good ones do that. There are plenty of super talented athletes playing WR in the NFL, but not too many of them command the ball. In other words, QBs tend to look for WRs they trust will be open and will make the right play on the ball. Those are the ones they turn to more than a handful of times a game...and the ones they turn to in clutch situations. Williams and Komar have already earned that trust. Amazing.
"Maneater":
Daryl Washington is not only the fastest linebacker the Cardinals have ever had...when he arrives at the ball he is just this: a "Maneater." Witness the play he made on that little flat pass last night...no sooer had the ball arrive in the RBs hands, D-Wash was wringing him out to dry.
Witness the play where he sifted through traffic like a a bat out of hell taxi driver at rush hour and wham, took the RB down with a flourish. This is the swiftest, out-of-nowhere tackle we've seen on TV since Terry Tate "Office Linebacker!"
Witness the way D-Wash rushes the QB from the WILB position. He leaves a blurry trail of color on the screen, doesn't he? To the point where you say, "Whoa, what was THAT?!!!" A red-tailed comet?
Put it this way...if you had a choice right now to have Daryl Washington or Karlos Dansby be your WILB for the next four years, who would you pick?
Did you even have to think about it?
Sure, D-Wash is a rookie and he's going to over-pursue at times and make mistakes...but, man, what an element he brings to this defense in the way of sheer speed, suddeness and explosion. The thing is---this kid isn't all athlete out there...he's got very good instincts, which is why he has a chance to be a special and unique player in this league.
D-Will and D-Wash
What a recruiting coup for the Cardinals. Dan Williams is a brute force with uncommon quickess---who will command and occupy the middle while Daryl Washington will clean up the trash like a Swiffer Jet.
As the Cardinals look back on this draft and on this batch of UCFA signees...the Cardinals will have every reason to turn to Hall & Oates again to revel in the song "Kiss On My List"...for the players on this list look like top ten hits from top to bottom.
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The thing is I LUV' my Cardinal football! Does it have its' moments where I don't want to pull out the lil' hair I have left at the ripe ol' age of 53?? Absolutely! BUT, the way I see it if you can't enjoy something...The good, the bad. and the in-between, then...Why do it?? See the good! See the fun! If you don't or can't....LOOK HARDER! Life is always about perspective. ...And life is very short. 
