MIN 30 ARI 24 Thoughts

[Mitch]

Positives:

* David Johnson---stud performance.
* Run game in first half---best first half running in a while.
* Fitz's catches and all-out blocks.
* Palmer's TD drive after his boneheaded interception.
* Gresham's effort and TD on that drive.
* Brittan Golden's kickoff return.
* Justin Bethel's XPT block.
* John Brown's good punt return.
* Chandler Catanzaro's 3/3 XPT, 1/1 FG.
* Chandler Jones' strip sack.
* 4th quarter defense.
* Markus Golden blowing up plays.
* Frostee Rucker and Calais Campbell making stops.
* Deone Bucannon's Johnny on the spot plays.
* D.J. Swearinger's tackles, especially on the 3rd down stop late.
* Minter's near strip sack.

Negatives:

* Penalty on first play before the ball is even snapped..
* Butler's pitifully poor first punt.
* Palmer's poor throws on many 3rd downs---especially the 100 yard interception thrown into double coverage and Brown not open.
* Wetzel's pass pro on Everson Griffin aided and abetted by BA's refusal to offer chip, TE or RB help.
* Boggs and Watford getting blown up.
* Floyd quitting on his deep post and then getting benched.
* Catanzaro not rooting the ball out of the end zone to open 2nd half---all 11 men on that kickoff return, especially Patrick Peterson not making any effort whatsoever to shed his blocker and make a play---fault the coaches for putting the biggest chicken sheet tackler on the roster on a cover team.
* Peterson's holding penalty on the punt return. Sad that the most talented punt returner on the planet is on punt returns as a gunner blocker, unreal.
* Second half offense---brutal, uninspired, poorly organized.
* J.J. Nelson dropping yet another pass right in his hands.
* John Brown going up timidly on a 50/50 ball right in his hands.
* John Brown's total misplay and brain fart on the final punt.
* Mike Iuapti letting Griffin straight through his B gap for an unabated hit on Palmer.
* Tony Jefferson not looking for the ball on the flea flicker.
* Playing Boggs and deactivating Cole Toner.
* Going another week of keeping Nkemdiche on the inactive list.

BA's Presser:

* "We can beat anyone if we don't beat ourselves." Perhaps, but the coaching has not gotten significantly better, nor has coaching staff and player accountability.
* When asked about ST's coaching, BA insisted once again that the coaching is and has been excellent.

Bottom Line:

* Talent in all three phases of the game going to waste.
* Yet another game where the Cardinals come out of the tunnel at halftime and get was outreached and outplayed.

Questions:

* Is BA losing credibility with the players? The officials? The fans?
* Can an offense with minimum pass pro (by design and insistence from the HC regardless of personnel) and an immobile QB who makes 2-3 boneheaded throws a game be championship caliber in today's NFL?

 

[unseenaz]

i think amazon paid off the league last season so that we won games for their tv show all or nothing.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

Agree on almost everything - don't think you can hold Jefferson on the flea flicker - he got beat and was struggling to recover - even with a turned head, he likely would have made early contact.

Maybe you mentioned it elsewhere, but why stick with Ellington on offense in the red zone when DJ is the TEAM'S LEADING SCORER?

 

[Mitch]

Agree on almost everything - don't think you can hold Jefferson on the flea flicker - he got beat and was struggling to recover - even with a turned head, he likely would have made early contact.

Maybe you mentioned it elsewhere, but why stick with Ellington on offense in the red zone when DJ is the TEAM'S LEADING SCORER?

When they got into the red zone, I too was screaming to put a now fresh David Johnson into the game. That coaching gaffe sure looks costly now.

 

[slanidrac16]

* Can an offense with minimum pass pro (by design and insistence from the HC regardless of personnel) and an immobile QB who makes 2-3 boneheaded throws a game be championship caliber in today's NFL?[/QUOTE]

In a word, NO. Sad part is it's not just Palmer, or Arians or the o-line. It's a little bit of everyone. But who gets most blame when you ask an athlete to do something he is not capable of? You don't ask a home run hitter to bunt. We were missing 80% of our offensive line ...EIGHTY PERCENT! Yet we continue to go empty backfield nor do we even attempt a moving pocket more than once. Use to be I would slide to the edge of my seat when Palmer was going deep. Now I just say, "oh no" because I know there will be at least 2 defenders in coverage.

 

[Mitch]

* Can an offense with minimum pass pro (by design and insistence from the HC regardless of personnel) and an immobile QB who makes 2-3 boneheaded throws a game be championship caliber in today's NFL?

In a word, NO. Sad part is it's not just Palmer, or Arians or the o-line. It's a little bit of everyone. But who gets most blame when you ask an athlete to do something he is not capable of? You don't ask a home run hitter to bunt. We were missing 80% of our offensive line ...EIGHTY PERCENT! Yet we continue to go empty backfield nor do we even attempt a moving pocket more than once. Use to be I would slide to the edge of my seat when Palmer was going deep. Now I just say, "oh no" because I know there will be at least 2 defenders in coverage.[/QUOTE]

Good points---but it also is very clear that other than Fitz this year, the WR unit is shaky---after 3 1,000 yard WRs last year in Fitz, Floyd and Smoke.

 

[slanidrac16]

Floyd is done here. Brown has lost a step. His "world class speed" was not enough to catch the defender on the interception. In fact he lost ground on the chase.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

Floyd is done here. Brown has lost a step. His "world class speed" was not enough to catch the defender on the interception. In fact he lost ground on the chase.

At least Brown has a reason due to his diagnosis, he has a chance at full recovery but he hasn't been able to be 100% in his conditioning yet.

 

[GoldGloveschmidt]

Toner looked to be the third best guard on the roster during Preseason. Still not playing even with all of the injuries.

I think BA has a serious problem with play in rookies. Just another area where his stubbornness is detrimental to the team.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

[* Playing Boggs and deactivating Cole Toner.]

Who the heck is Boggs and where did he come from? And how did he play instead of Toner?

 

[WildBB]

* Can an offense with minimum pass pro (by design and insistence from the HC regardless of personnel) and an immobile QB who makes 2-3 boneheaded throws a game be championship caliber in today's NFL?

[/QUOTE]

No. Everything is lacking right now. Coaching, smart steady football in all three phases. D keeps letting teams get early leads, then steps it up too late.

Teams start to get exposed more when the early schedule doesn't particularly go the way you needed it to. Then you start going in playoff contending cities with almost must win scenarios on both sides. Not good.

 

[WildBB]

BA's Presser:

* "We can beat anyone if we don't beat ourselves." Perhaps, but the coaching has not gotten significantly better, nor has coaching staff and player accountability.
* When asked about ST's coaching, BA insisted once again that the coaching is and has been excellent.

It may be that he is monitoring the ST's coaching particularly hard since the beginning of the season, but it's obviously NOT corresponding to the performance out on the field every week. He needs to acknowledge that.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

BA is treading dangerously close to "The System Works" territory.

 

[cardpa]

Positives:

* David Johnson---stud performance.
* Run game in first half---best first half running in a while.
* Fitz's catches and all-out blocks.
* Palmer's TD drive after his boneheaded interception.
* Gresham's effort and TD on that drive.
* Brittan Golden's kickoff return.
* Justin Bethel's XPT block.
* John Brown's good punt return.
* Chandler Catanzaro's 3/3 XPT, 1/1 FG.
* Chandler Jones' strip sack.
* 4th quarter defense.
* Markus Golden blowing up plays.
* Frostee Rucker and Calais Campbell making stops.
* Deone Bucannon's Johnny on the spot plays.
* D.J. Swearinger's tackles, especially on the 3rd down stop late.
* Minter's near strip sack.

Negatives:

* Penalty on first play before the ball is even snapped..
* Butler's pitifully poor first punt.
* Palmer's poor throws on many 3rd downs---especially the 100 yard interception thrown into double coverage and Brown not open.
* Wetzel's pass pro on Everson Griffin aided and abetted by BA's refusal to offer chip, TE or RB help.
* Boggs and Watford getting blown up.
* Floyd quitting on his deep post and then getting benched.
* Catanzaro not rooting the ball out of the end zone to open 2nd half---all 11 men on that kickoff return, especially Patrick Peterson not making any effort whatsoever to shed his blocker and make a play---fault the coaches for putting the biggest chicken sheet tackler on the roster on a cover team.
* Peterson's holding penalty on the punt return. Sad that the most talented punt returner on the planet is on punt returns as a gunner blocker, unreal.
* Second half offense---brutal, uninspired, poorly organized.
* J.J. Nelson dropping yet another pass right in his hands.
* John Brown going up timidly on a 50/50 ball right in his hands.
* John Brown's total misplay and brain fart on the final punt.
* Mike Iuapti letting Griffin straight through his B gap for an unabated hit on Palmer.
* Tony Jefferson not looking for the ball on the flea flicker.
* Playing Boggs and deactivating Cole Toner.
* Going another week of keeping Nkemdiche on the inactive list.

BA's Presser:

* "We can beat anyone if we don't beat ourselves." Perhaps, but the coaching has not gotten significantly better, nor has coaching staff and player accountability.
* When asked about ST's coaching, BA insisted once again that the coaching is and has been excellent.

Bottom Line:

* Talent in all three phases of the game going to waste.
* Yet another game where the Cardinals come out of the tunnel at halftime and get was outreached and outplayed.

Questions:

* Is BA losing credibility with the players? The officials? The fans?
* Can an offense with minimum pass pro (by design and insistence from the HC regardless of personnel) and an immobile QB who makes 2-3 boneheaded throws a game be championship caliber in today's NFL?

I couldn't watch the game but based on the highlights and the posts here I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. How do you get 3 roughing penalties in 5 plays? Peterson on the kickoff return for the TD was one of the most uninspiring efforts I have ever seen. What the hell was Brown trying to do on the INT TD return other than running into the defender, did he think it was a run play because it looked like he was trying to block instead of running a pattern. Why are the TEs not the intended receivers in the red zone? Instead BA keeps insisting on throwing to the smallest receivers who can never win the ball in tight quarters. On the INT TD return some one on the Cardinals (couldn't tell who) had a one on one and had inside position yet Palmer never even looked that way. It would have been an easy TD. Way too many individual mistakes and coaching errors and lack of effort and then to listen to BA's presser it made you want to slap him in his face to shut him up. The same lip service that if we just did this or that, if only we executed this play better or not have made this mistake we could have won the game. The problem is it's the same poo happening since week one and none of it has been addressed. Just stop with the BS Arians.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

You can't give too much blame to BA, the play calling is pretty good for the most part, Palmer makes poor decisions near the red zone or when playing from behind, and they seem to be magnified this year.

 

[Mitch]

You can't give too much blame to BA, the play calling is pretty good for the most part, Palmer makes poor decisions near the red zone or when playing from behind, and they seem to be magnified this year.

There's a chain effect here...when BA refuses to give Palmer added protection...he is more prone to making mistakes. Palmer's red zone performance this year has been one of the major reasons why the team has lost 5 games. Cardpa makes a great point about BA and Palmer forcing red zone passes in to John Brown. It's been ill-advised and yet they keep doing it.

 

[Russ Smith]

Floyd is done here. Brown has lost a step. His "world class speed" was not enough to catch the defender on the interception. In fact he lost ground on the chase.

Of course he couldn't catch him Rhoades had a running start to get the INT and Brown was going the other direction. He had to stop turn around and pursue. I also think it's obvious he's not as fast with his health situation nor does he have the stamina.

I still don't get how anybody can say that was a boneheaded decision by Palmer? it's a timing pattern when he releases the ball he has no idea that Brown is going to be held so he put it right where he was supposed to, away from the inside guy, and in front of the outside guy where Brown is supposed to be. Brown couldn't get there because he was held. Great play by the Vikings because it's a TD if they don't hold Brown so they do and get away with it and score a TD themselves. In our offense Palmer has to make throws all game where the ball is in the air before the WR makes his break, when the WR isn't where he is supposed to be you get INT's.

 

[Paso Fino]

If the Cardinals did not have Fitz, they would be a total disaster.

 

[Mitch]

Of course he couldn't catch him Rhoades had a running start to get the INT and Brown was going the other direction. He had to stop turn around and pursue. I also think it's obvious he's not as fast with his health situation nor does he have the stamina.

I still don't get how anybody can say that was a boneheaded decision by Palmer? it's a timing pattern when he releases the ball he has no idea that Brown is going to be held so he put it right where he was supposed to, away from the inside guy, and in front of the outside guy where Brown is supposed to be. Brown couldn't get there because he was held. Great play by the Vikings because it's a TD if they don't hold Brown so they do and get away with it and score a TD themselves. In our offense Palmer has to make throws all game where the ball is in the air before the WR makes his break, when the WR isn't where he is supposed to be you get INT's.

A timing pattern like that one with two DBs in close proximity of the ball is a stupid risk, especially in light of the length of that pass. If that's the best you can do---then you don't deserve to win.

 

[Russ Smith]

A timing pattern like that one with two DBs in close proximity of the ball is a stupid risk, especially in light of the length of that pass. If that's the best you can do---then you don't deserve to win.

We scored on a similar play to DJ later in the game a timing pattern ball on a rope and DJ cut in front of the defender and caught it.

The difference on the play is that Brown is held, if he's not held he's right where that ball is and Rhoades has to come through him to get the pass breakup.

I'd have to look closer but I'm guessing when the ball was released Palmer didn't even know if the inside guy was going with Brown or going wtih Fitz, they had 3 guys on 2 there so if he goes left, as the play is clearly designed to go, one of them is going to have 2 guys.

Palmer had no time to throw all game, I'm not at all surprised at that point in the game Arians called a timing pass so the ball would get out quickly, the vikings just made a great play and the ref missed a penalty.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

There's a chain effect here...when BA refuses to give Palmer added protection...he is more prone to making mistakes. Palmer's red zone performance this year has been one of the major reasons why the team has lost 5 games. Cardpa makes a great point about BA and Palmer forcing red zone passes in to John Brown. It's been ill-advised and yet they keep doing it.

I'm agreeing and disagreeing with you - John Brown has a route to run regardless, Palmer makes the decision to throw to him, not BA. A lot of these red zone gaffes this year have been on Palmer, including the John Brown obsession. I do agree that some of the routes they assign to Brown do not play to his strengths...but I really do not know enough about the play design to say that, it could be the design is fine and that Palmer shouldn't throw it to a small receiver who has drawn double coverage in the end zone.

And the protections vary, sometimes they give assist, others not - the first half, we were doing well and then it started to fall apart - but it REALLY fell apart as the game went on. And, I hate to say this about Watford, but he seems the biggest liability - once the defense finds out whatever it is he sucks at, they are exploiting him in the second half. Two games straight he has been bull rushed into Palmer and several times he fails to adjust to a stunt and Humphries can't pick up the other defender since Watford isn't passing them off. We already have to chip on Wetzel's side occasionally, then to have to provide help on the right interior as well is a big problem. I could also add how bad our TE's are at blocking - Gresham is terrible, Fells has gotten worse, probably due to the weight loss.

 

[Mitch]

We scored on a similar play to DJ later in the game a timing pattern ball on a rope and DJ cut in front of the defender and caught it.

The difference on the play is that Brown is held, if he's not held he's right where that ball is and Rhoades has to come through him to get the pass breakup.

I'd have to look closer but I'm guessing when the ball was released Palmer didn't even know if the inside guy was going with Brown or going wtih Fitz, they had 3 guys on 2 there so if he goes left, as the play is clearly designed to go, one of them is going to have 2 guys.

Palmer had no time to throw all game, I'm not at all surprised at that point in the game Arians called a timing pass so the ball would get out quickly, the vikings just made a great play and the ref missed a penalty.

Russ, the pass to David Johnson was a short, crisp slant...1/3 of the distance of the out pass thrown in the direction of John Brown.

 

[Cards_Campos]

Arians presser is exactly why he will be gone after next year. He is Whisenhunt 2.0. He had the audacity with a straight face...the coaching has been excellent!?!?!? He is delusional ! It's obvious he will never fire the ST coach.

 

[nashman]

You can't give too much blame to BA, the play calling is pretty good for the most part, Palmer makes poor decisions near the red zone or when playing from behind, and they seem to be magnified this year.

Total BS! You can't blame BA but you can blame Palmer lol that's hilarious! His play calling has been down right awful and predictable all season, as soon as they line up you know if it's a running play or not. You can't blame Palmer for awful play calling, terrible protection, receivers who either run wrong routes, stop running, not catch balls that hit them in the hands... the list goes on! STs and Oline and questionable play calling are the 3 main factors in this team being a total disappointment. Palmer being a scapegoat for all the horseshit is ridiculous! Do you guys not freaking remember the cluster f&$@s between Warner and Palmer? Wake up he is not the reason this team is losing geeeesh!

 

[nashman]

Red zone playcalling you could really hammer BA on! We got a great young RB but we get in the red zone and BA starts calling high risk pass plays in tight qtrs it's ridiculous. DJ will get us all the way down there then BA doesn't reward him instead try's to start throwing in the toughest part of the field. Like I said playcalling has been terrible all year!