This Had to be One of the Worst Coached Halfs in Cardinal History

[Mitch]

There have been so many poor coaching decisions, both in preparation and in the calls in this game it makes you wonder if we can really have any faith in this staff.

1. The empty backfields on thirds and three and NOT in a shotgun...which if the Colts take away Warner's first read, which is what they have DONE ALL NIGHT, so their pass rush can get to him, Warner is going to have no time or room to make another play.

2. Passing the ball to Dan Kreider on 1st and 10? The guy is a waste out there...plus, did any of you see how he just floated into the way of Hightower on the counter play and then totally missed his block?

THEN, they line him up near Freeney on 1st and 10...when the Cardinals were down 14-3 and got the ball back...and I'm thinking finally we are going to get some help for Gandy...and guess what? Kreider runs right past Freeney and goes out for a pass! Freeney blows by Gandy off the stupid play action and sacks Warner for a 7 yard loss...end of that drive before it even began.

3. Please explain to me why Neil Rackers after kicking his first kickoff into the end zone, squibs the next kickoff following the Cardinals' 3-0 lead?

4. How about once again the Cardinals calling a timout the first time they get to the redzone? Have they any sense of what momentum is? They are up 3-0, they have the Colts' defense on its heel reeling, and the Cardinals call timeout. That's awful. The next play: Hightower's fumble, which is clearly the major turning point of momentum in the game...thanks to the Cardinals' timeout.

5. The last play of the half? Are you kidding me? First and goal from the one inch line with a timeout left and .20 seconds and you pass the ball? Against a team that couldn't even stack the line of scrimmage versus the Dolphins?

6. The three and out down with all three runs going to Hightower, the third of which was the stupid delay counter that takes all day on a 3rd and 3?

7. Not jamming Dallas Clark?

8. DRC playing his own lackluster, guessing game out there? Versus Peyton Manning?

9. Any safety help anywhere?

It goes on and on.

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

If I hadnt survived the 90s and first half of the 2000's, I would easily agree with you. But this is bad

 

[Brewster10]

The refusal to help out Gandy in mind blowing.

Kurt looked to have audibled to that pass play on the goaline. Stupid. Trying to run the usual Fitz fade, but everybody knew that was what the audible was.

 

[Zeno]

I dunno about worst half in history, we did have Dave McGinnis as a head coach after all.

It is bad though.

 

[sportznutt]

It's bad, but if we score TD's on those 2 TO's, which we should have, it's 28-24 right now.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

everybody's a coach and has all the answers. It's pretty easy sitting on your couch.

 

[Duckjake]

everybody's a coach and has all the answers. It's pretty easy sitting on your couch.

Says a guy who bashes Jim Tressel at every opportunity.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Says a guy who bashes Jim Tressel at every opportunity.

i don't bash his coaching as much as his fake public persona.

 

[dogpoo32]

No Mitch! Not you too! Stop making so much sense!

 

[dogpoo32]

There have been so many poor coaching decisions, both in preparation and in the calls in this game it makes you wonder if we can really have any faith in this staff.

1. The empty backfields on thirds and three and NOT in a shotgun...which if the Colts take away Warner's first read, which is what they have DONE ALL NIGHT, so their pass rush can get to him, Warner is going to have no time or room to make another play.

2. Passing the ball to Dan Kreider on 1st and 10? The guy is a waste out there...plus, did any of you see how he just floated into the way of Hightower on the counter play and then totally missed his block?

THEN, they line him up near Freeney on 1st and 10...when the Cardinals were down 14-3 and got the ball back...and I'm thinking finally we are going to get some help for Gandy...and guess what? Kreider runs right past Freeney and goes out for a pass! Freeney blows by Gandy off the stupid play action and sacks Warner for a 7 yard loss...end of that drive before it even began.

3. Please explain to me why Neil Rackers after kicking his first kickoff into the end zone, squibs the next kickoff following the Cardinals' 3-0 lead?

4. How about once again the Cardinals calling a timout the first time they get to the redzone? Have they any sense of what momentum is? They are up 3-0, they have the Colts' defense on its heel reeling, and the Cardinals call timeout. That's awful. The next play: Hightower's fumble, which is clearly the major turning point of momentum in the game...thanks to the Cardinals' timeout.

5. The last play of the half? Are you kidding me? First and goal from the one inch line with a timeout left and .20 seconds and you pass the ball? Against a team that couldn't even stack the line of scrimmage versus the Dolphins?

6. The three and out down with all three runs going to Hightower, the third of which was the stupid delay counter that takes all day on a 3rd and 3?

7. Not jamming Dallas Clark?

8. DRC playing his own lackluster, guessing game out there? Versus Peyton Manning?

9. Any safety help anywhere?

It goes on and on.

1. Agree on formation. Has Warner looked at a second read this season?

2. Right on.

3. Too many shots to the head on kick coverage.

4. No. They don't. This has been one of my biggest problems with a Whis run offense. Stop the momentum! I need to think!

5. Dumb to pass, Q was held, and as soon as Kurt sees Q held he needs to throw it away. If he thought it was a free play, he needs to stop thinking that.

6. Epitome of stupid.

7. See #6

8. He needs to get put in his place. Paging AW.

9. :crickets:

 

[OmahaCardsFan]

Cards 4 man rush WAY < Colts 4 man rush...

When you play a team like that you have to win your one on one battles, because if you try to out scheme the schemer to make up for our lack of a pass rush you will get burned and we did. If we had a pass rush this could have been a different game. We may have been in a place to play with a more balanced offense (I know it was bad to). Once we got down so fast, it was too late and we became an embarrassing 1 dimensional team. WE NEED PASH RUSHERS!!!! What we have now is an embarrasement. We'll win some games on scheming alone but I don't see us winning one game on our 4 man rush and manin' up. Notice how in preseason what happened when we tried to man up on D.

-ocf

 

[LarryStalling]

one thing that was obvious to me was that the Cards were respecting the run from the Colts with the defensive line. Instead of doing like the team did in the playoffs and rushing the passer first, they hesitated to check out the run possibility. Bad idea against PM. And why we can not stop a reverse absolutely befuddles me!

 

[OmahaCardsFan]

We can't stop a reverse because we got slow OLB that over play and can't react.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

one thing that was obvious to me was that the Cards were respecting the run from the Colts with the defensive line. Instead of doing like the team did in the playoffs and rushing the passer first, they hesitated to check out the run possibility. Bad idea against PM. And why we can not stop a reverse absolutely befuddles me!

the REALLY frightening thing is that we hesitated to check out the run and they STILL ran effectively on us as a compliment to their passing attack. and they're an awful running team!

 

[nashman]

Our coaching staff was shown to be a JOKE tonight, quite embarrassing! I hope this game can finally put an end to Whiz and others thinking he can be the OC and the HC at the same time, CLEARLY this is a bad idea and not working! Beanie Wells our first round pick and possible homerun threat only having 2 carries is a complete JOKE! Whiz you and your boy Hightower SUCK!

 

[Russ Smith]

We can't stop a reverse because we got slow OLB that over play and can't react.

I think those misdirections are completely aimed at Wilson. he over commits so often when he's near the LOS they were just running misdirections and getting him to bite every time.

The DL and LB's did too but the reason they got such good gains on those is Wilson is always out of position.

I don't think he made a play tonight.

 

[dogpoo32]

I think those misdirections are completely aimed at Wilson. he over commits so often when he's near the LOS they were just running misdirections and getting him to bite every time.

The DL and LB's did too but the reason they got such good gains on those is Wilson is always out of position.

I don't think he made a play tonight.

Wilson was a no show. I think Q had more tackles.

 

[azsouthendzone]

Our coaching staff was shown to be a JOKE tonight, quite embarrassing! I hope this game can finally put an end to Whiz and others thinking he can be the OC and the HC at the same time, CLEARLY this is a bad idea and not working! Beanie Wells our first round pick and possible homerun threat only having 2 carries is a complete JOKE! Whiz you and your boy Hightower SUCK!

+1

 

[CardLogic]

5. Dumb to pass, Q was held, and as soon as Kurt sees Q held he needs to throw it away. If he thought it was a free play, he needs to stop thinking that.

I also think that play was designed to go to Q. But Warner obviously sees him being held, and trys to go to Fitz instead. How the officials missed that hold on Q, I don't know.

But the solution would have been to thow the ball away, yes; but throw it in the direction of Q, and maybe the official wakes up and throws the flag...

Oh, and I agree with Mitch, terrible coaching job this week!

 

[D-Dogg]

5. The last play of the half? Are you kidding me? First and goal from the one inch line with a timeout left and .20 seconds and you pass the ball? Against a team that couldn't even stack the line of scrimmage versus the Dolphins?

Absolute worst call given the scenario I've seen in my life. That counts playing in jr high and high school, coaching CHICKS in powder puff, watching college and the NFL.

It is just ridiculous that they didn't pound the ball in right there, OR if they were hell bent on passing the ball, how bout a REAL SOLID playaction at the goal line with a rollout pass.

It was, without a doubt, the worst call I think I've ever seen when you take into account they were missing two starting LBs and their best defensive player who is a strong run support safety, while holding a TO in their pocket, IIRC.

Just horrid playcalling there, IMO.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Absolute worst call given the scenario I've seen in my life. That counts playing in jr high and high school, coaching CHICKS in powder puff, watching college and the NFL.

It is just ridiculous that they didn't pound the ball in right there, OR if they were hell bent on passing the ball, how bout a REAL SOLID playaction at the goal line with a rollout pass.

It was, without a doubt, the worst call I think I've ever seen when you take into account they were missing two starting LBs and their best defensive player who is a strong run support safety, while holding a TO in their pocket, IIRC.

Just horrid playcalling there, IMO.

Agreed. That this call was horrific, not to mention this is EXACTLY the lesson the Cardinals should have learned from the Superbowl. Either run the ball, or if you do pass and it is first down THROW THE DAMN BALL AWAY WHEN BOTH WR are covered and you are under pressure. Ugh.....so frustrating.

Bravo to all in this thread. All points stated are more than valid, and no blind rage.

IMO, my vibe about this team matches the rest of the board. I am not ready to "put a fork" in this team, but I am seriously concerned about our coaching.

I really don't think this team gave up, and I think the players effort was there. Just too many key mistakes, both mentally and physically. But the coaches have the biggest questions to answer, it was very apparent our team was out coached on just about every level last night. This coming from a guy that doesn't question the coaching a lot, but it was glaringly obvious last night.

 

[MrYeahBut]

We can't stop a reverse because we got slow OLB that over play and can't react.

The scheme, whatever it is, calls for the edge to lose outside contain or not even try to defend it...see stretch play and the aforementioned reverse.

 

[TJ]

Im convinced the Cards and coaches didnt watch game tape

 

[conraddobler]

I think those misdirections are completely aimed at Wilson. he over commits so often when he's near the LOS they were just running misdirections and getting him to bite every time.

The DL and LB's did too but the reason they got such good gains on those is Wilson is always out of position.

I don't think he made a play tonight.

It's called a gameplan Russ.

I've heard that some teams do this, study the other teams weaknesses and exploit them, but that's not something we do.

We're not about that.

Which is why we tried to pass on a team that has a weak run D because that's how we roll.

 

[JeffGollin]

Not Mentioned Yet...

The one play that had me throwing stuff at my TV screen was Donald Brown's 72-yard catch & run.

Davis had us in a three-man front (without even bluffing at a fourth rusher).

So with 8 guys dropping back in coverage, it wasn't as if no one was available to cover Brown.

Instead, he catches the ball all alone and rambles 72 yards uncontested down the right sideline.

Regarding passing instead of running near the end of the first half - there was nothing wrong with the play-call & everything wrong with its execution. It was first down and there were 0:28 seconds left on the clock. We had one time out left. If we ran the ball and didn't get it in, we'd have to use our last time out and then probably kick a FG. But if we took one or two shots at the end zone thru the air, we'd still have at least one more shot at running it in for a touchdown while holding onto that final time out. The problem was that Warner - whose past history is not very good when throwing on the run - tried to force the ball in there instead of throwing it away so that he could live for at least one more play.

Finally, the team's lack of consistency, discipline, resiliency and poise is troubling. I sense that Wiz (who is an upbeat kind of guy) lacks the "fear factor" of, say, a Singletary and that, during the week, some players are taking advantage of his better nature.

I would have loved for Wiz to (a) call his entire roster and staff into a meeting room, (b) tell them he hoped they enjoyed their "Bye Week" last week and that (c) there would be no time off between now and the Houston game - with a (d) red vs. white full-pads scrimmage scheduled for next Sunday (& jobs on the line).

This team has to "get real" and toughen up - mentally as well as physically.