Totally_Red
Air Raid Warning!
Well yesterday featured plenty of the bad and the ugly.
But let's not forget the really, really good. The Cardinals have the long-term answer at franchise quarterback in Kyler Murray. There may have been a sliver of doubt before the season. There is absolutely no doubt anymore. Kyler has matured and blossomed into an elite quarterback THIS season. I think one area where he shown awesome progress is recognizing defenses and changing play calls to avoid disaster or the improve the chance of success.
When your backupor third-stringer is playing you usually lose a lot of that capability. Sure, Colt McCoy will have no trouble with the play clock getting close to expiration. But if you notice, elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and even Tom Brady will take the clock down to low single digits and even occasionally be forced to spend (waste) a timeout to avoid a delay-of-game penalty. That is why Kingsbury has to get the play calls in quicker IMO.
The negative is that Kyler may not be as durable with regard to injuries as Rodgers, Brady and Russell Wilson have proven to be. It means the Cardinals will have to continue to focus on making the offensive line the best that it can be going forward.
The verdict is still out on Kliff Kingbury's ceiling as an NFL head coach. Sunday was not his finest hour. He got outcoached and that may occur more frequently later in the season. Good head coaches do their best work in the middle and later parts of the season when they have plenty of opposition film to review and dissect. (See Bill Belichick). The plays calls on 3rd & 4th and 1 at the Cardinals 41 on the second drive pretty spelled the end of any chance 'we' had yesterday. It was obvious early that the defense was going to have do more than half the work if the Cardinals were going to beat Carolina. But the early McCoy fumble and the ill-advised decision to go for it on 4th and one pretty much sealed the loss by putting the defense on its heels. If you do have 3 of your top 5 or 6 offensive players available you probably make it on third down. Without them, you are playing with fire going for it on 4th and 1 in your own territory and Kingsbury got burned.
In a strategic sense, yesterday illustrated that the Cardinals have to continue surrounding Kyler with as much talent as possible. That includes re-signing Christian Kirk and drafting a guard in the first three rounds of next year's draft IMO. I'm optimistic for the future, but worried about Kliff's ceiling as a head coach. One thing that has to happen in my view is bringing a savvy and experienced offensive mind as a consultant like the Titans have with Jim Schwartz this season on the defensive side. That's how you improve from good to elite. Let's hope it happens.
But let's not forget the really, really good. The Cardinals have the long-term answer at franchise quarterback in Kyler Murray. There may have been a sliver of doubt before the season. There is absolutely no doubt anymore. Kyler has matured and blossomed into an elite quarterback THIS season. I think one area where he shown awesome progress is recognizing defenses and changing play calls to avoid disaster or the improve the chance of success.
When your backupor third-stringer is playing you usually lose a lot of that capability. Sure, Colt McCoy will have no trouble with the play clock getting close to expiration. But if you notice, elite quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers and even Tom Brady will take the clock down to low single digits and even occasionally be forced to spend (waste) a timeout to avoid a delay-of-game penalty. That is why Kingsbury has to get the play calls in quicker IMO.
The negative is that Kyler may not be as durable with regard to injuries as Rodgers, Brady and Russell Wilson have proven to be. It means the Cardinals will have to continue to focus on making the offensive line the best that it can be going forward.
The verdict is still out on Kliff Kingbury's ceiling as an NFL head coach. Sunday was not his finest hour. He got outcoached and that may occur more frequently later in the season. Good head coaches do their best work in the middle and later parts of the season when they have plenty of opposition film to review and dissect. (See Bill Belichick). The plays calls on 3rd & 4th and 1 at the Cardinals 41 on the second drive pretty spelled the end of any chance 'we' had yesterday. It was obvious early that the defense was going to have do more than half the work if the Cardinals were going to beat Carolina. But the early McCoy fumble and the ill-advised decision to go for it on 4th and one pretty much sealed the loss by putting the defense on its heels. If you do have 3 of your top 5 or 6 offensive players available you probably make it on third down. Without them, you are playing with fire going for it on 4th and 1 in your own territory and Kingsbury got burned.
In a strategic sense, yesterday illustrated that the Cardinals have to continue surrounding Kyler with as much talent as possible. That includes re-signing Christian Kirk and drafting a guard in the first three rounds of next year's draft IMO. I'm optimistic for the future, but worried about Kliff's ceiling as a head coach. One thing that has to happen in my view is bringing a savvy and experienced offensive mind as a consultant like the Titans have with Jim Schwartz this season on the defensive side. That's how you improve from good to elite. Let's hope it happens.
