Monday Morning Thoughts: Game 9

[RugbyMuffin]

To put it in context, we gave up 58 sacks last year, which was dead last. This year, we have given up 24 in 9 games for a pace of 42. That ties us for 16th most or least, how ever you want to look at it. That is a sack less a game over last year.

Both tackles changed.

Paul Fanaika is solid, but how much better he actually is than Adam Snyder is not really by that much. Fanaika is better so improvement is improvement.

The reason I say that is because our interior line is currently as close to status quo over the last 3 years as it can be.

Levi Brown was and is HORRIBLE. Regardless of what some ratings say.

Sowell just plays harder and with more passion and that alone has improved our LT play.

Eric Winston is good, and I am hoping Bobby Massie in 2014 is even better.


For 2014:

LT - ______
LG - Jonathan Cooper
OC - Lyle Sendlein <--- can't fix it all in one year.
RG - Bradley Sowell <--- Cardinals would be crazy to take him off the field.
RT - Bobby Massie

IMO, that is upping the talent by a substantial margin already, and that is without knowing how our LT will be next season.

Not to mention the depth and money savings that the Cardinals will have.

Just my humble opinion of course.

 

[Mitch]

All fair.

What was unfair is to say he refuses to do so. Cause if you really think that is the case, my retort is Lyle Sendlein, Daryn Colledge, and Paul Fanaika refuse to create a pocket for Palmer to step up into.

My beef is your labeling of intentions.

You wanna bash Palmer's footwork then fine, but I highly doubt he is TRYING to put himself in a bad position.

OK---about labeling Palmer's intentions...I probably used the wrong word.

Let me put it another way, Ruggs. The good QBs have to have a 6th sense about how long they can stand stationary in the pocket---and when that time frame elapses they have to sense how to move their feet in order to buy that extra second.

Whether it's Palmer's intention or not---he lacks this sense.

Trust me---go back and look at the tape. The pocket was set well enough on the majority of the occasions, well enough for any QB to buy that extra second of time.

I think Colledge, Sendlein and Fanaika did a heckuva job on the Texans' interior---how often was Watt in the backfield up the middle? How about Antonio Smith---how often did you hear his name called?

The Texans' defense #1 in the NFL and #1 in pass defense at 166 ypg.

Our offense yesterday:

332 yards
241 yards passing and 2 TDs and 1 int
1 sack for -6 (the strip fumble)
1 tackle for loss (our defense had 5 tfl and 3 sacks)
8 QB hits (our defense had 10 QB hits)

J.J. Watt 4 tackles & 1 sack.
Antonio Smith 3 tackles, no sacks.

The edges with Sowell and Winston were good too/ How often dod you hear Brooks Reed's name or Bryan Braman's? No sacks---1 QB hit combined.

Give our guys some love! I mean C'MON MAN!

 

[82CardsGrad]

OK---I get that.

Let me put it another way, Rugby. The good QB have to have a 6th sense about how long they can stand stationary in the pocket---and when that time frame elapses that have to sense how to move their feet in order to buy that extra second.

Whether it's Palmer's intention or not---he lacks this sense.

Trust me---go back and look at the tape. The pocket was set well enough on the majority of the occasions, well enough for any QB to buy that extra second of time.

I think Colledge, Sendlein and Fanaika did a heckuva job on the Texans' interior---how often was Watt in the backfield up the middle? How about Antonio Smith---how often did you hear his name called?

The Texans' defense #1 in the NFL and #1 in pass defense at 166 ypg.

Our offense yesterday:

332 yards
241 yards passing and 2 TDs and 1 int
1 sack for -6 (the strip fumble)
1 tackle for loss (our defense had 5 tfl and 3 sacks)
8 QB hits (our defense had 10 QB hits)

J.J. Watt 4 tackles & 1 sack.
Antonio Smith 3 tackles, no sacks.

The edges with Sowell and Winston were good too/ How often dod you hear Brooks Reed's name or Bryan Braman's? No sacks---1 QB hit combined.

Give our guys some love! I mean C'MON MAN!

Not diminishing any of that... however, you failed to mention the change BA made midway thru the game, where he stopped dropping Palmer into 5-7 step dropbacks and went, almost exclusively to 3 step drops...

 

[RugbyMuffin]

OK---about labeling intentions...I probably used the wrong word.

Let me put it another way, Ruggs. The good QBs have to have a 6th sense about how long they can stand stationary in the pocket---and when that time frame elapses they have to sense how to move their feet in order to buy that extra second.

Whether it's Palmer's intention or not---he lacks this sense.

Trust me---go back and look at the tape. The pocket was set well enough on the majority of the occasions, well enough for any QB to buy that extra second of time.

I think Colledge, Sendlein and Fanaika did a heckuva job on the Texans' interior---how often was Watt in the backfield up the middle? How about Antonio Smith---how often did you hear his name called?

The Texans' defense #1 in the NFL and #1 in pass defense at 166 ypg.

Our offense yesterday:

332 yards
241 yards passing and 2 TDs and 1 int
1 sack for -6 (the strip fumble)
1 tackle for loss (our defense had 5 tfl and 3 sacks)
8 QB hits (our defense had 10 QB hits)

J.J. Watt 4 tackles & 1 sack.
Antonio Smith 3 tackles, no sacks.

The edges with Sowell and Winston were good too/ How often dod you hear Brooks Reed's name or Bryan Braman's? No sacks---1 QB hit combined.

Give our guys some love! I mean C'MON MAN!

Fair enough.

Now saying Palmer lacks "sense", that I can agree with. He is not a great or good QB. He is very average, and makes up for a lot being a veteran who has a "been there done that" attitude. Nothing more, and sometimes less.

As for the offensive line. Sure I will give them some love. They are improving, no doubt. They are doing enough to not lose games, and give the team a chance.

And, if it not glaringly obviously, I really, really like Bradley Sowell, and would be upset if he doesn't find a spot on this line next season. That kid plays to the whistle EVERY PLAY, and I have yet to see him take a play off.

When he gets beat, it is because he is not a good enough athlete to go up against the top end talent in this league, that you face at the LT position. That is not his fault. He is a band aid being asked to do things that are beyond his god given skills.

But, at RG ? That kid could be special. He has the ability to pull, to get to the second level, and he is really good (solid, what have you) when blocking in space.

Cooper and Sowell as our guards next season ? UH, yes please.

 

[bankybruce]

Both tackles changed.

Paul Fanaika is solid, but how much better he actually is than Adam Snyder is not really by that much. Fanaika is better so improvement is improvement.

The reason I say that is because our interior line is currently as close to status quo over the last 3 years as it can be.

Levi Brown was and is HORRIBLE. Regardless of what some ratings say.

Sowell just plays harder and with more passion and that alone has improved our LT play.

Eric Winston is good, and I am hoping Bobby Massie in 2014 is even better.


For 2014:

LT - ______
LG - Jonathan Cooper
OC - Lyle Sendlein <--- can't fix it all in one year.
RG - Bradley Sowell <--- Cardinals would be crazy to take him off the field.
RT - Bobby Massie

IMO, that is upping the talent by a substantial margin already, and that is without knowing how our LT will be next season.

Not to mention the depth and money savings that the Cardinals will have.

Just my humble opinion of course.

Levi Brown did not play last year. We are comparing Potter to Sowell. But I agree, next year with Copper back, Massie playing and a new LT, the line should take a leap forward.

 

[bankybruce]

Not diminishing any of that... however, you failed to mention the change BA made midway thru the game, where he stopped dropping Palmer into 5-7 step dropbacks and went, almost exclusively to 3 step drops...

And don't forget all the 3 TE sets. That helped a lot too.

 

[82CardsGrad]

And don't forget all the 3 TE sets. That helped a lot too.

Good point... BA did everything possible to help stem the o-line leakage... He's not an engineer, but he's pretty smart nonetheless...
Now, if he can get smart about Mendy, he'd be quite a coach for sure!

 

[bankybruce]

Good point... BA did everything possible to help stem the o-line leakage... He's not an engineer, but he's pretty smart nonetheless...
Now, if he can get smart about Mendy, he'd be quite a coach for sure!

I don't get the love for MendenFall. Maybe MendenFumble owes Bruce money adn he is trying to get him paid so he will pay him back.

 

[Mitch]

Not diminishing any of that... however, you failed to mention the change BA made midway thru the game, where he stopped dropping Palmer into 5-7 step dropbacks and went, almost exclusively to 3 step drops...

Good point, 82. Especially if you consider quick shotgun passes three step drops.

It helped when BA went back to 5 step drops to call the deep passes to Roberts, the last of which was the game winner as it turns out.

Good point, Banky as well about the 3 TE formations.

 

[Mitch]

I don't get the love for MendenFall. Maybe MendenFumble owes Bruce money adn he is trying to get him paid so he will pay him back.

I will bet you that BA has his doubts just as we do. Clearly, he is trying to pick his spots with Ellington. But I bet that even though Mendy may start, we will see more of Taylor in short yardage situations and in 4th quarters of games.

I bet you too that BA is just as upset with Mendy for dancing on that 3rd and 1 when the right side of line had created a push.

 

[BACH]

3. Most of all---the game was won up front on both sides of the ball, especially in that second half. The defensive line led by Abraham, Campbell, Dockett, Williams, Shaughnessy, Rucker, Bernard, Ta'amu was hammering the Texans' line and getting to ball in a flash. The offensive line took over the game in the 4th quarter. It was a rush to see them play so hard and tough versus a very talented defensive line. Clearly, this is the most committed the Cardinals have been to the running game and being physical up front that we've seen in years. The only thing i don't get, is why on first and goal from the five yard line, you run power for 2 yards down to the 3 yard line and then go right into a shotgun and abandon the run the next play...for two errant passes under duress....the second of which Roberts' arm was being being held by the CB...a call that Roberts doesn't seem to get in key conversion situations. The goal-line RB should be Ellington (because he can bounce and beat people to the end zone via quickness) and Taylor (because he's the toughest inside RB on the roster). Did you see Mendenhall earlier in the game on 3rd and 1---both Paul Fanaika and Eric Winston got a good push on their men, all Mendenhall had to do was hammer forward, instead he danced laterally and was dropped for a 1 yard loss. Mendenhall finally hit the hole hard a couple of times later (guess he was motivated to do so by Ellington's runs)---but he doesn't finish off runs---in fact, now he's just turning his back instead of lowering his shoulder.

I was with you on this. I was amazed about the blocking in this game. They faced a tough challenge in Watt et al and for the most held their own and often dominated. It was great to watch and I can't remember a Cardinal game where the O-line reached the 2nd level on such a consistent basis. This was the best rushing game I remember since beating the Bears in Chicago back in '09, but this was some of the best blocking I remember ever (I have always known this team as a passing team).

 

[JeffGollin]

Fitz - It's hard to tell watching TV, but Palmer's throws to Fitz don't seem to have the zip you'd expect. The football seems to turn into a balloon about 80% of the way to the target, giving DB 's ample time to break on the ball.

I think we ran between the tackles just enough to keep Watts occupied and slow him up just enough to keep him from blowing up Palmer even more. Aside from the fumble, Mendy had some nice gains between the tackles - especially in the 2H. I especially like the play where he identified and ran through a bizarre running lane that slanted from RG diagonally to the left side of the secondary.

On another play, Ellington was one cut to the left away from replicating his 80 yard TD run.

Props to the OL - except for the 3 falseys (two by Winston/one by Colledge).

Zastudil had a great game. Lechler had a sick game - although he averaged about 48 ypp, at least six of those punts were between 55 and 60 yards.

Our pass rushers create more havoc thru the A gaps than other teams whose rushers come off the edge more often.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I really like our Head Coach.

The only thing driving me nuts is the Mendenhall thing as it seems very Wiz to me, but then again one of the things I like about him is the way he interacts with his players and this is the cost of doing business I guess. I am just hoping despite his comments yesterday he is realilzing the folly of his reliance on Rashard and going to move away from that.

But man you heard both Reed and P2 makes comments about the coaching, that drive in the 4th was the best of the season, i love the TE in the backfiled look, the TE screen was masterful, our defense has actually gotten BETTER then last year (who would have thought that? Alot of Bowles haters are eating TONS of crow right now) and our adjustments at the half were everything you could have wanted.

And to win coming out of the bye against a quality opponent (record be damned) is defintely notable considering Wiz's record after the bye.

As many have said the OL is actually being coached, the defense is adjusting and playing man at the right times, and i like the playcalling 90% of the time.

Its just the reliance on BA guys that drives me a little but nuts. Hopefully it pays off with Palmer but the quick Mendenhall is attached to the bencht the better. Taylor brings everythign he does and doesnt fumble. No brainer to me.

 

[BigRedRage]

multiple False start by one lineman = in over your head

Suprised Massie didnt see the field.

 

[Reddog]

Mitch I am happy for the win but agree with your observations. Tell me if I am being too critical here. I was really unimpressed with Peterson's punt retuning judgement. besides running backwards too many times I really think he should have used better judgement on the late punt that pinned us inside our 5 yard line and led to the Mendenhall fumble. Sure it was a great bounce but if he fields that I think we are on the 15+ vs the 5 with a little more breathing room. I also think we don't let them back into that game.

 

[CFLredzoned]

I bet you too that BA is just as upset with Mendy for dancing on that 3rd and 1 when the right side of line had created a push.

He did go out of his way to mention that play after the game. He didn't blame Mendenhall specifically. But he took issue with it and said it needed to be a first down.

I think one thing that clouds the whole Mende/Ellingtion issue with the fans is that BA doesn't like to call players out in the media - at least not his guys, that is. For one of his guys, like Mende, he's going to make every excuse he can before slamming him publicly. I'm sure in the coaches meeting rooms, it's a different story.

As for Palmer not stepping up in the pocket, I wonder if he's a little bit shell-shocked from his knee injury in Cinci. How could he not be? He probably has some sort of muscle memory of the event, where he imagines himself stepping up right into a guy flying into his knee.

Fitz - It's hard to tell watching TV, but Palmer's throws to Fitz don't seem to have the zip you'd expect. The football seems to turn into a balloon about 80% of the way to the target, giving DB 's ample time to break on the ball.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. Even on short 10-yard passes, he puts alot of hang time on the ball. I wonder why he doesn't zip those in faster? The interception to Housler was way underthrown - so much to the point that Housler couldn't break it up, since the DB made a great play, getting just a touch of separation at the last second, enough that Housler couldn't recover back to make the breakup. If that ball were thrown 5 to 10 yard farther, it would have been a different result.

Zatudil had a great game. Lechler had a sick game - although he averaged about 48 ypp, at least six of those punts were between 55 and 60 yards.

That was huge. If he doesn't make it to the Pro Bowl this year, something is wrong. Same with Bethel.

You have to love the defensive adjustments at half time. I wonder if Bowles isn't sandbagging with the timing of the pressure. Lull them into a sense of security in the first half. Then bring the heat in the second half, knowing that alot of teams won't adjust after half time.

One thing that had me concerned was the penalties on special teams. We either had 2 holding/block-in-backs with another 1 reversed - or 3 holding/block-in-backs with another 1 reversed. Either way, I cringed on every return, waiting for the flag. I'm sure that's something they will try to clean up this week. Those things can be game killers.

 

[Matt L]

Fair enough.

Now saying Palmer lacks "sense", that I can agree with. He is not a great or good QB. He is very average, and makes up for a lot being a veteran who has a "been there done that" attitude. Nothing more, and sometimes less.

As for the offensive line. Sure I will give them some love. They are improving, no doubt. They are doing enough to not lose games, and give the team a chance.

And, if it not glaringly obviously, I really, really like Bradley Sowell, and would be upset if he doesn't find a spot on this line next season. That kid plays to the whistle EVERY PLAY, and I have yet to see him take a play off.

When he gets beat, it is because he is not a good enough athlete to go up against the top end talent in this league, that you face at the LT position. That is not his fault. He is a band aid being asked to do things that are beyond his god given skills.

But, at RG ? That kid could be special. He has the ability to pull, to get to the second level, and he is really good (solid, what have you) when blocking in space.

Cooper and Sowell as our guards next season ? UH, yes please.

Can Sowell transition to Center?

 

[bankybruce]

Can Sowell transition to Center?

Bradley Sowell is 6'7" and I am not sure that is a good height for Center. To have to lean down, hike the ball and then get in proper techniuqe would seem to be more difficult the taller you are. Sendlein is 6'3", Jeff Saturday was 6'2" and the tallest of the good ones appears to be 6'4".

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Can Sowell transition to Center?

I wish.

 

[Cardiac]

How do you know this ?

Brought to you by the "Bradley Sowell for right guard in 2014" committee.

How about So Well to LG, Watford at RG and Cooper to OC.

 

[football karma]

The OT had no help on that play. If you block JJ Watts one-on-one, that is the kind of stuff that happens.

I must claim responsibility

just before that very snap - I said out loud "wow -- haven't heard JJ Watts name yet"

While Palmer did hold too long, Watt has made a career out of plays like that --

 

[football karma]

Fitz - It's hard to tell watching TV, but Palmer's throws to Fitz don't seem to have the zip you'd expect. The football seems to turn into a balloon about 80% of the way to the target, giving DB 's ample time to break on the ball.

.

I am seeing consistent pressure right in his face, and he cant step up, resulting in those passes that take forever to get there

the int to Housler was on a pass like that, ditto the TD pass to Roberts

 

[Cardiac]

OK---about labeling Palmer's intentions...I probably used the wrong word.

Let me put it another way, Ruggs. The good QBs have to have a 6th sense about how long they can stand stationary in the pocket---and when that time frame elapses they have to sense how to move their feet in order to buy that extra second.

Whether it's Palmer's intention or not---he lacks this sense.

Trust me---go back and look at the tape. The pocket was set well enough on the majority of the occasions, well enough for any QB to buy that extra second of time.

I think Colledge, Sendlein and Fanaika did a heckuva job on the Texans' interior---how often was Watt in the backfield up the middle? How about Antonio Smith---how often did you hear his name called?

The Texans' defense #1 in the NFL and #1 in pass defense at 166 ypg.

Our offense yesterday:

332 yards
241 yards passing and 2 TDs and 1 int
1 sack for -6 (the strip fumble)
1 tackle for loss (our defense had 5 tfl and 3 sacks)
8 QB hits (our defense had 10 QB hits)

J.J. Watt 4 tackles & 1 sack.
Antonio Smith 3 tackles, no sacks.

The edges with Sowell and Winston were good too/ How often dod you hear Brooks Reed's name or Bryan Braman's? No sacks---1 QB hit combined.

Give our guys some love! I mean C'MON MAN!

Hey Mitch, where do you get your stats from because I'm looking for a good source myself. I'm very interested to look for Old Abe's pressures etc for the season.

 

[Totally_Red]

Regarding Rashard was I the only one that caught the 'if looks could kill you'd be dead' gesture that BA gave RM when he came off the field and did a beeline away from BA toward the bench?

 

[JeffGollin]

I am seeing consistent pressure right in his face, and he cant step up, resulting in those passes that take forever to get there

the int to Housler was on a pass like that, ditto the TD pass to Roberts

I think you're right.

So OK. What do we do about it? If CP can't step up on those throws, should he throw them away? Should he hang onto the ball and take the sack? Or should he continue to throw balloon balls and accept the 33% possibility of a completion, 33% risk of an interception or 33% chance he'll throw an incompletion and/or possibly get his WR injured. Or should he dump off more to his RB's or TE's in the flat?