Team Awards AZ 31 NO 19

[Mitch]

Defense:

Game MVP: Tyrann Mathieu---all over the field making plays.
Game Difference Maker: Patrick Peterson---did a superb job on Brandin Cooks.
Game Unsung Player: Kevin Minter---came on strong at the end when we needed it most.

Offense:

Game MVP: Carson Palmer---like Domino's Pizza, he delivered.
Game Difference Maker---Larry Fitzgerald---came through in the clutch.
Game Unsung Player (tie)---Darren Fells---best game from a Cardinals' TE in eons---Earl Watford---battled hard, gave up zero sacks (whole line too).

Special Teams:

Game MVP: Chandler Catanzaro---A+ on FGs, XPTs and KOs.
Game Difference Maker---Drew Butler---pinning the Saints on the 3 yard line was key.
Game Unsung Player---Mike Leach---always deserves credit, the guy is an ace.

The win feels real good---hope Ellington's not out for the season----hope the coaches and players can clean up the costly substitution and late play calls mistakes on defense and STs---love BA's play call to David Johnson---he is trying to teach the team how to believe in themselves.

Happy and safe night to everyone!

Mitch

 

[gmabel830]

Good write up.. was nice to see Minter show up.. and how about Okafor with two sacks!

 

[Cardiac]

Agree with everything you posted but have to add that John Brown needs some kind of recognition as well. He was torturing the Saints DB's (esp 40) and the fake to him was key to spring D Johnson on the game winning TD.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Minter looks alot smaller. Did he lose alot of weight?

 

[gmabel830]

Minter looks alot smaller. Did he lose alot of weight?

Yes, I think it was 20 lbs

 

[jbeecham]

John Brown was also key in getting a few other guys open for big plays like on Darren Fells long catch & run.

David Johnson gets a game ball from me for icing the game on a great individual effort to get 55 yards & a TD on a play designed just to get a 1st down.

Good to see Minter showing up & making plays. Oakafor had 2 coverage sacks. Honey Badger was everywhere. Lots of good overall... a decent amount of bad to clean up & learn from. This was a great start to the season (outside of the Ellington injury) and hopefully we build off of it against our brutal schedule.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Yes, I think it was 20 lbs

I think it all came off of his butt and thighs.

 

[slanidrac16]

Okafor definitely needs to be honorable mention.

Good teams find a way to win when they don't play their best. We did exactly that. It bodes well to think what we are capable of when we do play our best.

One other thing:

Dear Carson,
Please go down sooner. You nearly gave all off us a heart attack!

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Great win

Agree on O with CP, Fitz and Fells

D with TM leading the way.

Butler rallied with the nice punt inside the 5

 

[Darkside]

Agree with everything you posted but have to add that John Brown needs some kind of recognition as well. He was torturing the Saints DB's (esp 40) and the fake to him was key to spring D Johnson on the game winning TD.

So, very true man. Brown was a beast early and xchanged their entire defense.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Positives:

Larry Fitzgerald is relevant again
Fells having an impact. What a story
The young burners giving the Saints secondary fits. Not a lot of catches but those calls.
David Johnson doing what we thought he could do
Tyran Mattheiu making plays
No sacks for the O-Line
Carson Palmer playing very well

Negatives
No pass rush to speak of, gave Brees way too much time
Poor clock management, esp at the end of the half
Poor substituion execution of defense, made the game closer than it should have been
Defense definitely has holes, especially covering the backs on blitzes.

 

[Finito]

I thought the o line played really well I liked what I saw from Cooper a lot. Can't ask for much more from Watford being thrown in the fire like that especially against a legit pro bowl DE.

Okafor and Golden looked good. Minter shut some people up today. CC just doesn't bring it every play he should be much more dominate than he is.

I think it's pretty clear this is now Badgers defense

 

[CtCardinals78]

I thought the o line played really well I liked what I saw from Cooper a lot. Can't ask for much more from Watford being thrown in the fire like that especially against a legit pro bowl DE.



Okafor and Golden looked good. Minter shut some people up today. CC just doesn't bring it every play he should be much more dominate than he is.



I think it's pretty clear this is now Badgers defense

I thought Peterson was pretty impressive today shutting Cooks down too.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Fitz took an intentional elbow to his balls... Came right back and made 2 huge catches! He's my MVP, even if his voice is now several octaves higher!!

 

[Vermont Maverick]

Good post Mitch.

I will add: Most fun play of the game: Gresham's bowling pin crackback block on two Saints, contributing to Fells 50 yard reception.

 

[Catfish]

Nice job Mitch------------this was a real feel-good win and you have listed the huge reasons why. A great win to begin the new season, although there will be a good number of red faces in the room when BA breaks out his little note book during the film sessions this week.

 

[AZCrazy]

Saints are still dirty defenders. Intentional punch to Fitz' jewels after he had gone down and was laying still. Flying knee into Palmer's back after he slid down at the end of the first half, making him unable to get up to make the last play, and making him limp off the field.

 

[DemsMyBoys]

Saints are still dirty defenders. Intentional punch to Fitz' jewels after he had gone down and was laying still.

Can the Saints player be fined for that?

 

[CFLredzoned]

I thought the o line played really well I liked what I saw from Cooper a lot. Can't ask for much more from Watford being thrown in the fire like that especially against a legit pro bowl DE.

Yeah I thought Cooper looked good. That right side got some decent push.

What a great learning experience for our rookie DC, making his debut against a top-5 play caller in the league. There was alot to clean up. But we came out of it alive.

Love seeing Fells emerge as the #1 TE. And BA sandbagging David Johnson for the entire game until just the right moment.

 

[Azlen]

One aspect of the game that I thought was pretty bad was the condition of the field. Training camp on that field isn't a great idea if this is the result. I sure hope they get it looking better for the game in two weeks.

 

[Shaggy]

My question is, did they play well because it was NO or do you all think we would have won if it was against say Seattle?

I think they did well on coverage. PP2 wasn't mentioned but maybe one time, which is a great thing. I think the offense got lost mid game and I thought they might not win this game. It seems the offense clicks in the beginning of the game and then at the end, but they always seem to vanish in the middle. They need to stay consistent the whole game.

I loved seeing TM all over the place! Was awesome to see. I hope the throws to Fitz continue like they did today. I love the amount of weapons CP has to throw at.

We may have lost AE for a few weeks/month/whole season, but I think we will be fine with CJ, DJ, and KW. I don't think we will miss a beat. I really like the CJ signing even more.

Okafor might break 10 sacks this year if he keeps it up. They didn't get a lot of pressure on Brees but the coverage was so great that he had nowhere to throw and the line collapsed on him. They are missing Graham for sure. Brees looks lost without him.

I was happy to see Minter and Golden step up. Golden to me was a beast and pushing his guy back all the time. They just didn't get alot of pressure on Brees.

 

[Cheesebeef]

One aspect of the game that I thought was pretty bad was the condition of the field. Training camp on that field isn't a great idea if this is the result. I sure hope they get it looking better for the game in two weeks.

I was stunned at how awful the field looked.

stoked with the W, though!

 

[THESMEL]

Goodwin for kicking BA in the balls and running the ball in the 2nd half - badger was MVP

 

[Shane]

That Alex Okafor guy is a player!!!!

 

[Cheesebeef]

My question is, did they play well because it was NO or do you all think we would have won if it was against say Seattle?

I think they did well on coverage. PP2 wasn't mentioned but maybe one time, which is a great thing. I think the offense got lost mid game and I thought they might not win this game. It seems the offense clicks in the beginning of the game and then at the end, but they always seem to vanish in the middle. They need to stay consistent the whole game.

I loved seeing TM all over the place! Was awesome to see. I hope the throws to Fitz continue like they did today. I love the amount of weapons CP has to throw at.

We may have lost AE for a few weeks/month/whole season, but I think we will be fine with CJ, DJ, and KW. I don't think we will miss a beat. I really like the CJ signing even more.

Okafor might break 10 sacks this year if he keeps it up. They didn't get a lot of pressure on Brees but the coverage was so great that he had nowhere to throw and the line collapsed on him. They are missing Graham for sure. Brees looks lost without him.

I was happy to see Minter and Golden step up. Golden to me was a beast and pushing his guy back all the time. They just didn't get alot of pressure on Brees.

I think NO is going to be awful, but I don't care what that says about the W. It's a W and that's all that matters.