I thought after a night's sleep this loss may not sting as much.
I was wrong.
This, to me, is the most painful loss I've experienced with the Cardinals (and, as you know, we have lots to choose from).
Here's what still sticks with me:
1. Warner. I've softened my stance a little on starting Leinart next week in the ATL. But, Warner is on a VERY short leash. He gets a half of work--30 minutes. If he hasn't cured his Plummeritis, then I'm shouting from the rooftops "START LEINART!!"
Judging from the post-game comments by players, sounds like they may be done with Warner even sooner than many of the fans. If Denny doesn't handle this right, then he'll lose the team...if he hasn't already.
2. Cornerbacks: First, why was Ware covering Holt? And, after the drive that Holt dominated, why didn't that situation get addressed? Rolle, Macklin, more zone schemes, any or all of these options were better than doing nothing.
3. Fullback: I think we miss Hodgins more than we know. Femi between the 20s is a good option, but when we got on the goalline we inserted Schable? WTF? If Femi is not a capable powerblocker, then we should have kept Hodgins.
Now, the good:
5. The line was run-blocking better then I've seen in a while. Ross played very well, and hopefully will only get better as he gets in shape.
6. Boldin is a man-child. A grown-ass man among boys.
7. Overall, the defense was pretty good. If we can hold teams to 16 on a regular basis, we should win a lot of games.
If I were to have told you yesterday morning that the Cards were going to hold the Rams to 16, get James 94 yards on the ground, Boldin 130 and Fitz 70 ... you might think we would've won that game.
I was wrong.
This, to me, is the most painful loss I've experienced with the Cardinals (and, as you know, we have lots to choose from).
Here's what still sticks with me:
1. Warner. I've softened my stance a little on starting Leinart next week in the ATL. But, Warner is on a VERY short leash. He gets a half of work--30 minutes. If he hasn't cured his Plummeritis, then I'm shouting from the rooftops "START LEINART!!"
Judging from the post-game comments by players, sounds like they may be done with Warner even sooner than many of the fans. If Denny doesn't handle this right, then he'll lose the team...if he hasn't already.
2. Cornerbacks: First, why was Ware covering Holt? And, after the drive that Holt dominated, why didn't that situation get addressed? Rolle, Macklin, more zone schemes, any or all of these options were better than doing nothing.
3. Fullback: I think we miss Hodgins more than we know. Femi between the 20s is a good option, but when we got on the goalline we inserted Schable? WTF? If Femi is not a capable powerblocker, then we should have kept Hodgins.
Now, the good:
5. The line was run-blocking better then I've seen in a while. Ross played very well, and hopefully will only get better as he gets in shape.
6. Boldin is a man-child. A grown-ass man among boys.
7. Overall, the defense was pretty good. If we can hold teams to 16 on a regular basis, we should win a lot of games.
If I were to have told you yesterday morning that the Cards were going to hold the Rams to 16, get James 94 yards on the ground, Boldin 130 and Fitz 70 ... you might think we would've won that game.
:roll:
