The Highest Level of Scrutiny Belongs to BA

[Mitch]

BA said last week that they have been preparing for the Patriots “since May.” Which is quite curious because you CANNOT zone the Patriots’ passing game. The Seahawks’ zone, arguably the best in the NFL, could not stop the Pats’ short to intermediate passing game at U of P in Super Bowl 49.

The second we saw Julian Edelman running free and wide open routes versus the Cardinals, anyone who knows and understands the Patriots knows that the Cardinals just made it simple and easy for a QB in his first start.

The blown zone assignment by Brandon Williams told us that even on the Pats’ first drive they were rolling into zones. That TD was a gift and it set the tone for the night and gave the Patriots confidence that they could win.

Then, with the game on the line late, on 3rd and 15, JG shuffles to his left and finds a wide-open Danny Amendola in the middle of 3 Cardinals who clearly did not understand zone concepts. The underneath defender, D.J. Swearinger has to hedge to the deepest receiver in his zone and he just stood there frozen. Then the FS and CB hadn’t communicated as Amendola ran through the hash mark, thus leaving him wide open. The FS has to cover him until the CB can help.

What’s even more upsetting is how burned the Cardinals were in their zones versus the Panthers—something they either forgot or did not diligently bother to correct.

BA is calling out players—but, he even admitted it was his call to switch to zone—and that in itself deserves the greatest amount of scrutiny.

Plus, why were the coaches loath to put Patrick Peterson on Edelman? Still cannot believe they made it so easy for Edelman, Garoppolo and the rest of the Pats’ offense.

In conclusion—-as bad as it was—there were no half-time adjustments. Once again Bettcher’s (with BA telling him what to do) defense gives up a length of the field TD drive to start the second half. At least with Todd Bowles, the defense made adjustment and came out swinging in the 2nd half.

 

[oaken1]

the big test will be next season.... when it is painfully evident that Bettcher is not learning and adapting to being a defensive coordinator and a change is direly needed.... does BA recognize the truth?? Or does he let his loyalty to his coaching tree drag he and the team into the morass?

 

[Russ Smith]

Were were in zone on that first TD to Hogan? It seemed to me that Brandon Williams was in zone and the other 10 guys were in man and that was the whole problem he turned Hogan over to the next defender in the zone except there was no next defender?

From what I understood, Arians said they had to go zone during the game because they needed to help Williams and Tyvon Branch in coverage. That is they weren't planning since May to play zone, they did it in game because they realized they had to help Williams.

I agree on the not putting PP on Edelman but that seems to be a philosophy thing. Same reason the Washington offensive names spent all that money on Norman and then don't put him on Antonio Brown.

 

[BurqueCardFan]

Agree 100% about the D Coordinator. Last year I gritted my teeth because he was a first year guy but this year I have zero patience. The entire game I was blaming him for the wide open receivers and he didn't seem to change a thing the whole game. No creativity in trying to pressure the QB. QB is starting his first NFL game and we just let me sit back and look comfortable.

 

[82CardsGrad]

I hope I'm totally off base here... and maybe it's just me. But IMO, BA seems "off"... His energy level seems extremely low. His voice extremely soft/weak. If I didn't know any better, I would say this is a rather indifferent coach... but it's impossible for me to believe BA could ever be indifferent, about anything really. Again, maybe it's just me... but something, physically, seems off with him.

 

[187]

Were were in zone on that first TD to Hogan? It seemed to me that Brandon Williams was in zone and the other 10 guys were in man and that was the whole problem he turned Hogan over to the next defender in the zone except there was no next defender?

From what I understood, Arians said they had to go zone during the game because they needed to help Williams and Tyvon Branch in coverage. That is they weren't planning since May to play zone, they did it in game because they realized they had to help Williams.

I agree on the not putting PP on Edelman but that seems to be a philosophy thing. Same reason the Washington offensive names spent all that money on Norman and then don't put him on Antonio Brown.

Listened to BA yesterday on Bickley/Marrota's show and he said they switched into man on that play but BW missed the hand signal and stayed in zone.

 

[Russ Smith]

Listened to BA yesterday on Bickley/Marrota's show and he said they switched into man on that play but BW missed the hand signal and stayed in zone.

Thanks that's certainly what it looked like, everyone else was in man.

 

[oaken1]

I hope I'm totally off base here... and maybe it's just me. But IMO, BA seems "off"... His energy level seems extremely low. His voice extremely soft/weak. If I didn't know any better, I would say this is a rather indifferent coach... but it's impossible for me to believe BA could ever be indifferent, about anything really. Again, maybe it's just me... but something, physically, seems off with him.

might be the diverticulitis still.... have not heard anything in regards to him getting that handled. Very painful.... but if he trusts Bettcher that much he should just hand the keys over for a couple weeks and go handle his ish so he can concentrate.

 

[football karma]

first: of course. He is the head coach

my criticisms:

it seems like BAs very light preseason schedule for the starters backfired in the beginning of the game. It took the Cards 25 minutes to warm up.

special teams: the Raiders did the "kick off to the 5 in the corner" to open week 1 of the preseason and the team hasn't handled it well ever since. Its not like the coaching staff wasnt warned.

and on the Amendola 3-16 catch in the 4th Q: the defense pre snap was confused -- you could see TM and others frantically signally to each other as if someone was not where they should be. Its one of the reasons why when the play broke down and Amendola crossed the formation deep -- nobody went with him. Call a TO for goodness sake at that point.

 

[Russ Smith]

first: of course. He is the head coach

my criticisms:

it seems like BAs very light preseason schedule for the starters backfired in the beginning of the game. It took the Cards 25 minutes to warm up.

special teams: the Raiders did the "kick off to the 5 in the corner" to open week 1 of the preseason and the team hasn't handled it well ever since. Its not like the coaching staff wasnt warned.

and on the Amendola 3-16 catch in the 4th Q: the defense pre snap was confused -- you could see TM and others frantically signally to each other as if someone was not where they should be. Its one of the reasons why when the play broke down and Amendola crossed the formation deep -- nobody went with him. Call a TO for goodness sake at that point.

I couldn't tell if they were really lost on that play or if TM was trying to confuse the QB? If that's the play I think it was it's the play where Garappolo faked the screen out to the right. TM clearly thought they were going to throw that ball he went flying over jumped the route and had himself a picksix except JG didn't throw the ball he faked it and pulled it back then moved around and eventually made the first down throw to Amendola.

I wasn't clear if TM was really trying to get someone in the right spot, or as I said if he was trying to confuse JG so he wouldn't think TM was going to jump that route?

Probably confused I'm probably over thinking it.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

BA said last week that they have been preparing for the Patriots “since May.” Which is quite curious because you CANNOT zone the Patriots’ passing game. The Seahawks’ zone, arguably the best in the NFL, could not stop the Pats’ short to intermediate passing game at U of P in Super Bowl 49.

The second we saw Julian Edelman running free and wide open routes versus the Cardinals, anyone who knows and understands the Patriots knows that the Cardinals just made it simple and easy for a QB in his first start.

The blown zone assignment by Brandon Williams told us that even on the Pats’ first drive they were rolling into zones. That TD was a gift and it set the tone for the night and gave the Patriots confidence that they could win.

Then, with the game on the line late, on 3rd and 15, JG shuffles to his left and finds a wide-open Danny Amendola in the middle of 3 Cardinals who clearly did not understand zone concepts. The underneath defender, D.J. Swearinger has to hedge to the deepest receiver in his zone and he just stood there frozen. Then the FS and CB hadn’t communicated as Amendola ran through the hash mark, thus leaving him wide open. The FS has to cover him until the CB can help.

What’s even more upsetting is how burned the Cardinals were in their zones versus the Panthers—something they either forgot or did not diligently bother to correct.

BA is calling out players—but, he even admitted it was his call to switch to zone—and that in itself deserves the greatest amount of scrutiny.

Plus, why were the coaches loath to put Patrick Peterson on Edelman? Still cannot believe they made it so easy for Edelman, Garoppolo and the rest of the Pats’ offense.

In conclusion—-as bad as it was—there were no half-time adjustments. Once again Bettcher’s (with BA telling him what to do) defense gives up a length of the field TD drive to start the second half. At least with Todd Bowles, the defense made adjustment and came out swinging in the 2nd half.

To be fair, Bruce Arians called himself out on the fact they played so much zone, he was accountable for that situation.

I still think the biggest issue in that game was missed tackles. WAY too many in key points in the game. This team makes half of the tackles they miss, and that is a win.

 

[MadCardDisease]

From an inside source:

After the game you could hear a pin drop in the locker room with the occasional curse word muttered. BA came in and addressed the team. He said this loss was on the coaches and they were going to fix it. He didn't say much after that.


The next day in the meeting rooms the coaches let the players have it. Players were called out and jobs were threatened. It wasn't a happy place to be.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Redneck Voodoo]

This may not be popular, but I think they're gonna miss Rashad and Powers. Neither are world beaters but Johnson knew this defense and it was well-known that he made sure everyone knew their assignments.

 

[JeffGollin]

I'm confused. The NBC ongoing telecast narrative held that B Wlliams was hung out to dry early in the game because he was on the proverbial "island" in man coverage...and that things stabilized after Bettcher went to more zone as the game wore on.

Most of the above posts suggest that the Cards were done in by zone scheming.

So what's the deal?

 

[justAndy]

Whatever a player's assignment is, they need to perform. Some indifferent "tackling" at times by our team. The opposition just seemed more focused and precise. Someone once said "1/2 of this game is 90% mental"

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[MrYeahBut]

Whatever a player's assignment is, they need to perform. Some indifferent "tackling" at times by our team. The opposition just seemed more focused and precise. Someone once said "1/2 of this game is 90% mental"

90 percent of the game is half mental.

Yogi Berra

 

[Redneck Voodoo]

90 percent of the game is half mental.

Yogi Berra

Yup...

 

[82CardsGrad]

I'm confused. The NBC ongoing telecast narrative held that B Wlliams was hung out to dry early in the game because he was on the proverbial "island" in man coverage...and that things stabilized after Bettcher went to more zone as the game wore on.

Most of the above posts suggest that the Cards were done in by zone scheming.

So what's the deal?

Things improved for Williams as the game wore on, but at no point was he good... He had a TON to still learn. On the initial TD where he got burned, he missed the signal to switch to man and out of zone (he assumed he had a high safety backing him up). Playing zone was not the problem... The problems were our inability to make Jimmy G uncomfortable in the pocket, and our piss-poor tackling...

 

[slanidrac16]

Potential downfalls.

Punter. Butler must have naked pictures of somebody to be able to keep his job.
Special teams. Is it coaching or is this team so talented that nobody feels they should have to play special teams
Defense. Is it scheme? Is it coaching? Is it Bettcher? Is it lack of talent? There are not too many teams in the league that have two #1 CB's. I find it hard to believe that we can't scheme to cover up our shortcoming at the one CB slot. It wasn't much better with Powers, Bethel and now Williams. Like it or not The BAdger may be forced to play CB.

 

[justAndy]

The math works both ways. I guess my phone's not smart enough. I hope the team is humbled and focused this week.

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[Russ Smith]

I'm confused. The NBC ongoing telecast narrative held that B Wlliams was hung out to dry early in the game because he was on the proverbial "island" in man coverage...and that things stabilized after Bettcher went to more zone as the game wore on.

Most of the above posts suggest that the Cards were done in by zone scheming.

So what's the deal?

Supposedly BA said that he had to go to zone in the game because of Williams and Branch, presumably one being a rookie the other new to the system. So while we clearly played some man, we played more zone than usual and the pats carved that up underneath.

It was one of those do I keep them in front and make them go on 10 play drives, or do we go man and take the risk that they go after Williams all night long. It sounds like in hindsight BA thinks he should have let Williams play more man.

 

[cardpa]

This may not be popular, but I think they're gonna miss Rashad and Powers. Neither are world beaters but Johnson knew this defense and it was well-known that he made sure everyone knew their assignments.

I think this may say a lot about some of the confusion in the defensive secondary. It seemed that more often than not there was no one who took on that responsibility to make sure players were in the correct position on defense. One common comment made a lot last year was how well Johnson coordinated the secondary and made sure players were where they were suppose to be. Maybe what they need to find most is someone who takes charge in the secondary and literally dictates the secondary.

What was really disappointing during this game was if you are in a zone defense isn't that suppose to prevent teams from converting 3rd and longs by keeping the receivers in front of you and then tackling them short of the first down marker? Isn't that why teams play a zone in those situations?

 

[JeffGollin]

It was unpleasant watching Blount and other NE ball carriers run with incredibly low pad level and either push our tacklers backward for several yards or break tackles altogether.

I'm not sure this was due to poor technique or lack of motivation by our guys or incredibly good technique by their guys...and whether this is fundamentally taught by the Pats or whether it was something special they practiced in anticipation of the Cardinals.

All I know is that it worked, we didn't anticipate it (& I'm not sure we'd stop them if we did).

 

[cardpa]

It was unpleasant watching Blount and other NE ball carriers run with incredibly low pad level and either push our tacklers backward for several yards or break tackles altogether.

I'm not sure this was due to poor technique or lack of motivation by our guys or incredibly good technique by their guys...and whether this is fundamentally taught by the Pats or whether it was something special they practiced in anticipation of the Cardinals.

All I know is that it worked, we didn't anticipate it (& I'm not sure we'd stop them if we did).

I think it was more this than anything else. You watch NE and they execute consistently on a very high basis. That has a lot to do with technique. This is why they are always in or around playoffs and always a threat to go to the SB. I just have a feeling that Belichick has a high bar to reach when it comes to technique and for execution. You don't reach that bar and you are gone. NE probably has the best coaching staff in the NFL.

 

[Harry]

I come back to not using the first string enough in preseason. Also the Cards played mostly vanilla defense, how could new players adjust? You can't adjust in practice. Allen Iverson was right about that.

The Cards needed to play zone, but they looked tentative. Zone requires quick threat response but the Cards were clearly confused about who had what responsibility. Taking the time to analyze not just react is typically fatal. Not surprising that Williams missed a hand signal with all the distractions. Still the Cards aren't the first team to have to play with a weak corner. I do agree a vet likely doesn't miss that signal.

Finally this zone or any zone looks better when you pressure the passer. The Cards must accomplish that with their front 7. Golden continues to show effort but not success. The D-line failed to collapse the pocket with any regularity. Jones had a play or two but mostly was neutralized by a tight end. I suspect BB knew he could do that. Mostly Jones looked ordinary. Don't get me started on NK. He may develop but this game looked similar to what I often saw in college. If he gets discouraged its over.

Finally the lack of numerous, sustained drives by the offense was disappointing. The Cards need to keep the defense off the field.