I thought that article was very poorly written, with assumptions being the meat of the article.
The best and worst of plummer...Did Shannahan know, that they had to search forever to find enough good clips to fill up the good tape, and had to cut out 90% of his bad plays to fit on one tape???? That should tell you something.
He isn't right. He said THE CARDS FANS DON"T KNOW TALENT. Not, that the cards can't keep talent
I emailed him with this. Tell me what you think
As a journalist, it is your job to promote your viewpoint. You get paid for it. However, I must point out a few things, so that your viewpoint is a little more truthful, and your perspective is a bit more clarified.
"They can't even recognize that the Cardinals have one of the worst owners in sports. (Wait until they get a load of the Cardinals' new quarterback.)"
What are you talking about? Everyone here knows how 'bad' of an owner he has been, since he brought his team here. I was 10 at the time, and you know what, I knew it then. EVERYONE in Arizona knows who and what Bidwill stands for; to protect his own pocketbook, and to throw us a bone once in a while to keep us interested. To spend a certain amount, a certain way, and whatever the team's record is, is what it is.
You must seem to forget the night and day differences between him and Jerry Colangelo. We experience both sides of the owner spectrum, every year here in Phoenix. Just remember that.
That would be like saying, the Denver people cannot tell between a good basketball player and a bad basketball player. Does that make much sense? NO. Neither do your comments in this regards. Just look at your Nuggets.
Now on to Jake. You take a shot on our offensive line. That's fine. But remember, that the game you mentioned was with 4 of 5 of our starting lineman INJURED. I hope you would do your homework, but that's okay.
Oh yeah. Look at the stats, and our starting ol as individuals. It IS one of the biggest, and best in the league when healthy. So the only misinterpretation of skills on a position is you and the ol, not us and Jake.
Your viewpoint on Jake is that of, 'The Grass Is Greener on the Other Side." Well let me tell you something, grass doesn't grow here to well in Arizona. Realistically, and metaphorically about Jake.
He has regressed since he was at ASU, and his first year or two in the NFL. Do not forget, we have watched him for 10 years. We have seen him on a great teams, decent teams and bad teams.
The only thing Plummer never really had here, was a good running game. Although at times, it did fair decently. Do not forget that your rushing attack has been uncharacteristically good considering the shuffling of the players. However, this past year, we gave him a running attack as well.
He had GREAT receivers throughout the years. David Boston, and Rob Moore in his prime are good examples. He had a GREAT ol the past couple of years. The Cardinals organization also gave him a good TE this past year in Freddie Jones.
The funny thing is, has been the nationwide OVERESTIMATION of his skills. First I'll acknowledge his real skills, those that are not overestimated. He is durable, except I believe, but am not certain, his thumb never really returned to form after his injury. It may not hurt, but I still believe it isn't what it used to be. His running ability, his elusiveness, his ability to turn a broken play into a positive. The latter is one point you did mention correctly.
However, here is where there is an overestimation of his skills by Denver, and the Nation. He cannot read defenses. He reads them as well as a first grader would read Shakespeare. He makes way too many mental mistakes. He has been up front about it, every year, and just about every game for 4 plus years. He always said this is something he had to work on.
I tell you what, I don't see that changing. In fact, at the end of last year, the offensive coordinator told Plummer, JUST LOOK AT ONE HALF OF THE FIELD so that you can make better reads. He still did terribly.
I ask you, is that what a good QB does? Is that what a $40 million Quarterback does?
We brought in offensive coordinators for him, we brought in qb coaches for him, we did EVERYTHING under the sun, do make him a winner. I don't see how a couple more weapons, will suddenly make him a 'winner.'
Remember Marc Trestman, the Raiders OC, was his OC before. Plummer was at his worst then. So, seeing that you run a version of the West Coast offense as well, watch out.
Plummer has so many QB come from behind victories, because HE put us there. Had the Cardinals had a better QB over the past few years, they would have been a better team. Not a good team, but a decent one.
Plummer cannot throw a spiral consistently. Most of his passes are wobbly. Worse yet, if he tries to throw deep, which for him is anything over 30 to 35 yards, the ball is a wounded duck 50-60% of the time. Which leads to underthrows, and guess what INT's. He does not have good accuracy throwing the ball.
I hope you realize that in many of his incompletion's and interceptions were on plays where AT LEAST 1 Cardinals WR was WIDE OPEN, either deep for a touchdown, or over the middle, or whatnot.
Plummer locks in on his receivers, and guess what, the RAIDERS ALWAYS INT HIM. So have fun in those 2 games. Just watch out for that out route. INT for a TD time and time again.
You see, Jake has been the X factor for the past few seasons. If he would have done well, the Cards would have done well. He hasn't, and the Cardinals haven't.
The Cardinals built their whole offense around him. Look at the cap numbers on offense compared to defense the past few years. MOST of our cap was spent on providing him with the tools to succeed, and he couldn't. Our defense suffered because him, in a sense.
We, the Cardinal fans, want him to leave, we have seen enough bonehead plays for a lifetime. We are cheerful, and giddy at the chance to start over. Even if we have to have a stop gap of a QB for a while. Like a Kordell Stewart, who is just about the same skill level as Plummer, except a little faster.
We don't want him either, but if cheaper, and is for the short-term, we can learn to accept it.
So when you write your opinions about Phoenix fans, remember this, we aren't the ones buying into his potential 'upside'. We are not the ones that signed him to a salary cap albatross of a contract this season. We are not rewarding mediocrity...if that, and seeing with rose colored glasses a superstar QB, on a bad team. You are. So in my opinion, you opinion will come to an about face.
You will be eating crow, very soon. Just wait and see. I have nothing against the Broncos, their fans, or their ownership. You are in the AFC, so many times I have been rooting for your team to beat my friends Raiders. Good luck, you Broncos WILL need it.
