Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
When comedians make jokes about current events that elicit groans from the audience they often ask, “Too soon?” That’s kind of how I feel about the Murray criticism. It’s just too soon. Last week left many thinking, he’s back. He is, just likely not all the way back. Plus, no QB is better than his supporting cast. Think of it this way. He basically had 2 targets, one WR and one TE. It helped a little that there was finally a Dortch sighting. In fact he was likely the most effective receiver Sunday. The coaching staffs’ failure to use him properly this season brings into serious question whether they can accurately evaluate talent? What does this guy have to do to be part of the offense?
This is especially curious with injury issues impacting Wilson. Keep in mind his college seasons were truncated by injury. It was why he fell in the draft. If he is truly fragile, that’s another position which needs to be filled. Murray deserves a decent set of receivers.
I also felt the play calling was an issue. Perhaps they were just experimenting. If not this was a horribly called game. Turning down points seems to have become a Cardinal tradition. They also seemed reluctant to roll out Murray. Perhaps it was fear of injury, but that’s level of restriction handicaps him unfairly.
The Good News
McBride looked good again, but for some reason wasn’t targeted enough. Some throws went to Dortch, a good choice. I won’t belabor the point, but it’s absurd how poorly he’s treated. No one shows they want the ball more. Connor continued to be amazingly effective. Moore finally got open on a deep throw. Murray led him so he could run under the ball. Murray still looks smooth when rushing. However, he seems hesitant and seemed to pass up first down runs on a couple of occasions. Prater was effective again. The O-line played a little better, but still made too many mistakes.
On defense Fotu had a nice sack before injury possibly ended his season. It’s kind of weird, but Hamilton makes a great interception, then he’s knocked out of the game by injury on the play. Also Barnes and Thompson had interceptions. I was stunned how fast Barnes ran on his return. Thompson suckered Stroud on his interception. The defense played hard and deserved a better fate.
The Bad News
Marco Wilson is the headliner for this section. It’s one thing when a second year player gets beaten for a play or two. Its quite another when that player gets beaten on virtually every play. It’s also not like he’s getting barely beaten; he’s often 5 yards from where the pass is being completed. This while Clark sits on the bench for some heinous action that goes unspoken. If the point is the Cards are teaching Clark some kind of lesson. It looks like they’re telling Clark, “You’re worse than this guy.” If getting beaten on the field was tough on the ego, this is incredibly demeaning.
Once again the Cards lost the toss. Has anyone checked this coin? Has anyone noticed Thomas has been missing in action? Higgins, who dropped a key pass last week, was flagged for holding which cost the Cards 20 yards or so. Brown not only failed to come up with a 50/50 ball, but he also failed to prevent an interception of the pass.
The game featured one of the strangest plays I’ve seen. A Texas receiver was allowed to slide into the end zone within arms reached of Thompson and Wilson. In fact Thompson jumped over the receiver to avoid touching him. That’s bizarre! Another strange play was the punt review. I’m not sure how there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn. My concern is how did the official see the ball hit a Cardinal when it didn’t. There’s a big integrity gap in these games lately. I’ve never been one to criticize what is a tough job, but this year has been sad.
Lastly, speaking of sad, this was a sad game. There’s no other way to put it. The offense was bad; specifically the passing game. This season is lost anyway. Nonetheless if this team is going anywhere next year, they must start to move forward.
This is especially curious with injury issues impacting Wilson. Keep in mind his college seasons were truncated by injury. It was why he fell in the draft. If he is truly fragile, that’s another position which needs to be filled. Murray deserves a decent set of receivers.
I also felt the play calling was an issue. Perhaps they were just experimenting. If not this was a horribly called game. Turning down points seems to have become a Cardinal tradition. They also seemed reluctant to roll out Murray. Perhaps it was fear of injury, but that’s level of restriction handicaps him unfairly.
The Good News
McBride looked good again, but for some reason wasn’t targeted enough. Some throws went to Dortch, a good choice. I won’t belabor the point, but it’s absurd how poorly he’s treated. No one shows they want the ball more. Connor continued to be amazingly effective. Moore finally got open on a deep throw. Murray led him so he could run under the ball. Murray still looks smooth when rushing. However, he seems hesitant and seemed to pass up first down runs on a couple of occasions. Prater was effective again. The O-line played a little better, but still made too many mistakes.
On defense Fotu had a nice sack before injury possibly ended his season. It’s kind of weird, but Hamilton makes a great interception, then he’s knocked out of the game by injury on the play. Also Barnes and Thompson had interceptions. I was stunned how fast Barnes ran on his return. Thompson suckered Stroud on his interception. The defense played hard and deserved a better fate.
The Bad News
Marco Wilson is the headliner for this section. It’s one thing when a second year player gets beaten for a play or two. Its quite another when that player gets beaten on virtually every play. It’s also not like he’s getting barely beaten; he’s often 5 yards from where the pass is being completed. This while Clark sits on the bench for some heinous action that goes unspoken. If the point is the Cards are teaching Clark some kind of lesson. It looks like they’re telling Clark, “You’re worse than this guy.” If getting beaten on the field was tough on the ego, this is incredibly demeaning.
Once again the Cards lost the toss. Has anyone checked this coin? Has anyone noticed Thomas has been missing in action? Higgins, who dropped a key pass last week, was flagged for holding which cost the Cards 20 yards or so. Brown not only failed to come up with a 50/50 ball, but he also failed to prevent an interception of the pass.
The game featured one of the strangest plays I’ve seen. A Texas receiver was allowed to slide into the end zone within arms reached of Thompson and Wilson. In fact Thompson jumped over the receiver to avoid touching him. That’s bizarre! Another strange play was the punt review. I’m not sure how there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn. My concern is how did the official see the ball hit a Cardinal when it didn’t. There’s a big integrity gap in these games lately. I’ve never been one to criticize what is a tough job, but this year has been sad.
Lastly, speaking of sad, this was a sad game. There’s no other way to put it. The offense was bad; specifically the passing game. This season is lost anyway. Nonetheless if this team is going anywhere next year, they must start to move forward.
