Keeping Perspective

[RON_IN_OC]

Both the Niners and Rams looked impressive in week #1, only to get throttled in week #2...No game should ever be a trap game...always be prepared!

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

It's parity

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[Joe Mama]

I'm loving this team and enjoying this season and the promise. Even though I'm extremely positive about this team it is with fair amount of caution. I'm not sure how anybody who watched all of the first two games could feel really confident about the next stretch. It's not that I don't appreciate how good this team is, especially compared to how things have gone in the past. I just don't have any more confidence that they will go 3-1 rather than 0-4.

I have zero sympathy for a team that is totally ineffective with their backup quarterback. Part of that is the injury misfortune we've had at quarterback recently, mostly because it's just part of the game. Every team knows they better have a decent backup quarterback or at least one who can do something. After Cutler went out, the Chicago offense was as bad as I can remember ever seeing, and I'm including hours after Stanton's injury last season. I don't even want to think about how dumb it was having Palmer in the game all the way to the end.

I still can't believe Sean Payton punted on 4th and 6 last week,and the play right before that was an easy first down that just was lucky for us. Still, I felt a lot better about that victory than today's..

Can't wait to watch next week's game. I just wish I could get myself to skip the surefire massacre of the Sun Devils next week the day before. I do love this team. Even though I question the wisdom of playing him so late in a blowout, it was great to see Fitzgerald have such a big day.

Have a great night everybody,
Joe

 

[Jake6233]

I'm loving this team and enjoying this season and the promise. Even though I'm extremely positive about this team it is with fair amount of caution. I'm not sure how anybody who watched all of the first two games could feel really confident about the next stretch. It's not that I don't appreciate how good this team is, especially compared to how things have gone in the past. I just don't have any more confidence that they will go 3-1 rather than 0-4.

I have zero sympathy for a team that is totally ineffective with their backup quarterback. Part of that is the injury misfortune we've had at quarterback recently, mostly because it's just part of the game. Every team knows they better have a decent backup quarterback or at least one who can do something. After Cutler went out, the Chicago offense was as bad as I can remember ever seeing, and I'm including hours after Stanton's injury last season. I don't even want to think about how dumb it was having Palmer in the game all the way to the end.

I still can't believe Sean Payton punted on 4th and 6 last week,and the play right before that was an easy first down that just was lucky for us. Still, I felt a lot better about that victory than today's..

Can't wait to watch next week's game. I just wish I could get myself to skip the surefire massacre of the Sun Devils next week the day before. I do love this team. Even though I question the wisdom of playing him so late in a blowout, it was great to see Fitzgerald have such a big day.

Have a great night everybody,
Joe

Yeah because I was so impressed with USC yesterday.

 

[8ndkorner]

It's parity

Yeah, I caught that too. AND, as long as they're winning it's not a parody either....

 

[CardLogic]

48-23; and it wasn't really that close.

Most points ever scored against Chicago Bears at home - EVER!

 

[Goldfield]

I'll believe it when I see this team be able to generate any kind of pass rush. The D (as odd as that sounds after having a good to great one the last three years) is pretty suspect right now.

This sofar is the worst our D has looking in a long time. I'm concerned.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

48-23; and it wasn't really that close.

Most points ever scored against Chicago Bears at home - EVER!

Yes. We were there and it was not very close. Take away a few sloppy plays, which every team has, and the Cards win that game 59-14.

 

[Garthshort]

Harry, like you I thought that Arizona would win their first two games handily, but the betting public didn't agree. Both games, according to the info in the NY papers, opened at Arizona -3, and both were bet down to Arizona -2.5 and -1.5, respectively. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals get more respect from Las Vegas in Week three.

 

[GuernseyCard]

Our remaining opponents for the next 14 games are 11-17 over their first two.

 

[JCSunsfan]

This sofar is the worst our D has looking in a long time. I'm concerned.

In front of every silver lining is a huge black cloud.

Good grief. Enjoy a victory.

 

[conraddobler]

The benchmark I use after two weeks of looking at this is the Packers.

If we are legit they are our only competition for the NFC crown now if we aren't legit well then it's all moot anyhow.


Could we go into their house and make a game of it?

This is crucial for going anywhere this year. We would have almost no chance of going to an NFC title game in Lambeau field.

So we have to get home field advantage I think to have any real shot at this.

I see us legitimately being anywhere from 14-2 to 12-4 if we stay healthy in key spots.

I only see 3 losses at most for the Packers if they stay healthy so we have no real choice but to go 14-2 and that includes beating the Packers in our house December 27th if we really want a shot at winning a Super Bowl.

Welcome to relevancy in the NFL it's just another much higher rung on the ladder still all an uphill climb.

No rest for the weary but that's the task ahead and then if we do all that right it's highly likely we get to face an all world TE in the Super Bowl something we struggle with a lot.

It never gets easier.

Our last trip to the Super Bowl was a full on fluke in that we came out of nowhere, all the stars aligned, no one had time to put us on their radar to develop a stop for what we were doing and we never had to play outdoors and screw it all up.

That was a fluke of EPIC proportions. Not that we weren't good we I believe they were it's just that not everything always lines up like that.

Most times you have to bulldoze through adversity and that team that year had a magical run. Most years you have to fight like mad to scratch through.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

The main thing that has me worried is, after these next 2 home games, the Cards are on the road for 6 of the next 8. That's a crazy schedule. I don't think I've ever heard of a team being on the road for 6 of 8 games. At least there is a bye week in there and a game against Cleveland. If they can go 3-3 or 4-2, then we're talking. They finish with 3 of 4 at home.

That's a very strange schedule by starting and ending with 3 of 4 at home but then basically on the road the entire middle of the season.

 

[frankeegee1]

Ok, conrad, I will take this kind of diversity, as long as we are good enough to be in the running

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[conraddobler]

The main thing that has me worried is, after these next 2 home games, the Cards are on the road for 6 of the next 8. That's a crazy schedule. I don't think I've ever heard of a team being on the road for 6 of 8 games. At least there is a bye week in there and a game against Cleveland. If they can go 3-3 or 4-2, then we're talking. They finish with 3 of 4 at home.

That's a very strange schedule by starting and ending with 3 of 4 at home but then basically on the road the entire middle of the season.

I think it all works out basically.

An elite team will have no problem with it. Only two away games scare me if we are an elite team and basically healthy.

Seattle and Pittsburg.

Those are most likely losses. The rest again if we are an elite team are likely wins.

We could flip it around a bit and win one of those two games and then lay an egg in a game we should win but on balance it should work out that way.

Again if we aren't really and elite team then what you are talking about will just expose us.

Nothing is ever easy in the NFL especially at a high level.

When you are an elite team you would expect something like 8-0 at home and 4-4 on the road for a total of 12-4.

That's just basic.

It could flip a bit and if you get lucky it could be 8-0 and 6-2 or something. I think we could do 14-2 but it's not really likely.

However if we don't then we're in trouble like I said because the Packers will probably be at least 13-3 barring injury which means even if one of those losses is to us and we're 12-4 then we get the privileged of playing in the frozen tundra for a shot at the SB at best.

It often comes down to things like this and the team needs to take it one game at a time. As a fan we get to think about this stuff and coaches should too actually.

 

[clif]

This sofar is the worst our D has looking in a long time. I'm concerned.

I agree with you and all those who are saying they are concerned about the defense and in particular the lack of a pass rush.

I think we can all agree it is much better to talk about these sort of things after a win, but I think it is definitely something we have to figure out. We have no real threat to rush the QB which is magnified when we blitz and still don't get there. I say this with thoughts of trying to win in the playoffs, not just get there.

 

[kerouac9]

Here's the deal: No one should've expected the defense to be as good as its been the last two years while the offense takes a step forward. That wasn't reasonable.

What many predicted was that the offense was going to take a step forward and the defense would take a step or two back. That's exactly what happened. The defense needs to take at least one step forward to beat functional offenses, I think.

Palmer was hit too often this week.

 

[clif]

Here's the deal: No one should've expected the defense to be as good as its been the last two years while the offense takes a step forward. That wasn't reasonable.

What many predicted was that the offense was going to take a step forward and the defense would take a step or two back. That's exactly what happened. The defense needs to take at least one step forward to beat functional offenses, I think.

Palmer was hit too often this week.

Yeah I didn't like how many times defenders took shots at Carson. It seems to be the game plan against us. Just beat up Carson no matter what.

 

[ajcardfan]

The way I look at our schedule is that if we are as good as the Cardinals, and their fans, hope to be we can handle that schedule.

If we can't handle the schedule, then we had too high of expectations. Or, we get a lot of injuries like we did last season.

 

[conraddobler]

I don't think we're elite yet because our defense has holes and our offensive line is so new it's letting Palmer get hit too much.

On the flip side I see this team as having the most potential in the NFL.

Once the D coordinator gets his sea legs under him, and once our O line has time to gel we have a good shot at being the most talented team in the NFL.

I truly believe that.

We are well coached as well.

The defense is just adjusting to a new D coordinator and needs more time to develop some. I hope it will and think it will but if not then we are screwed.

If the o line doesn't gel we are screwed.

If Palmer goes down we are screwed.

If everything goes according to plan we can and very likely should have a great shot at the SB.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Yeah I didn't like how many times defenders took shots at Carson. It seems to be the game plan against us. Just beat up Carson no matter what.

Palmer was hit too often this week.

I guess it a matter of perspective. The Chicago papers are chastising the Bears for a lack of pass rush on Palmer and, other than McPhee getting close to him, which CP sidestepped and completed the pass to John Brown, they're whining that there was little to no pressure from the Bears.

The Bears were credited with 6 hits on Palmer, fwiw.

 

[conraddobler]

I guess it a matter of perspective. The Chicago papers are chastising the Bears for a lack of pass rush on Palmer and, other than McPhee getting close to him, which CP sidestepped and completed the pass to John Brown, they're whining that there was little to no pressure from the Bears.

The Bears were credited with 6 hits on Palmer, fwiw.

I would mention that we're doing this with a nearly completely revamped line. I had expected much more challenges to come from this and the flip side is if they are this adequate now how good will they eventually be?

 

[kerouac9]

I guess it a matter of perspective. The Chicago papers are chastising the Bears for a lack of pass rush on Palmer and, other than McPhee getting close to him, which CP sidestepped and completed the pass to John Brown, they're whining that there was little to no pressure from the Bears.

The Bears were credited with 6 hits on Palmer, fwiw.

Palmer only attempted 24 passes. If your QB is getting hit on 25% of his attempts, that's not great.

Just to put that in perspective, Andrew Luck attempted 616 passes last year and was hit 91 times (most in football). That's 15% of his dropbacks. Luck tends to hold the ball, though.

Top Brady dropped back 582 times last year and was hit 61 times (11%).

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I would mention that we're doing this with a nearly completely revamped line. I had expected much more challenges to come from this and the flip side is if they are this adequate now how good will they eventually be?

Yes, I hope Iupati gets back in there. Larsen, who McPhee blew right by, is just not all that good.

 

[conraddobler]

Palmer only attempted 24 passes. If your QB is getting hit on 25% of his attempts, that's not great.

Just to put that in perspective, Andrew Luck attempted 616 passes last year and was hit 91 times (most in football). That's 15% of his dropbacks. Luck tends to hold the ball, though.

Top Brady dropped back 582 times last year and was hit 61 times (11%).

That's a good point.

It seemed to me that he got hit too much and it seems to bear that out. We can't expect him to take that much abuse all season and have it work out for us that has to be cleaned up some at least.

I think that might be where our new o-line is expressing it's newness at and if it is that's relatively a good thing instead of blow through sacks they are letting the pressure in a little later than that which is good but still not good enough.