Thoughts after Seattle

[Totally_Red]

Steve Keim said it best shortly after his promotion to Cardinals G.M. The advantage of playing in the best NFL division, the NFC West, is that you have an excellent measuring stick for your roster. With that in mind, here is my two cents worth the day after Seattle.

1. Units. The Cardinals defense is more than competitive with the Seahawks. The Cardinals offense and special teams...not so much.

2. Larry Fitzgerald. The best player on the Cardinal offense, with the possible exception of Jared Veldheer, is Larry. We got a sneak preview of what the offense sans Fitz looks like and it wasn't pretty. It goes without saying that his incredible catch radius and elite hands make quarterbacks with accuracy issues better than they are. As it stands now, his 2015 salary cap hit is 23-million. If he is released, that hit drops to 16-million. It's not rocket science...find a way to reduce the 2015 cap hit by 6-8 million without mortgaging future years.

3. Chandler Catanzaro. Yes, the Cardinals upgraded their kicking in the offseason. No, it isn't good enough for the NFC West. Good isn't good enough when the opponents have kickers who can consistently nail field goals up to 60 yards and your kicker is problematic outside 40 yards. Having a less than an elite place kicker in the NFC West is not good enough. Target the position for further upgrade in the offseason.

4. Running back. The Cardinals do not have anyone on the roster who can break tackles when running between the tackles. You need thunder and lightning, not just lightning. That has to be another offseason priority. And if the Vikings are foolish enough to part ways with Adrian Peterson, I'd actively pursue him, even it means shoving Jerry Jones out of the way to get to the front of the line.

GO CARDINALS!!!

 

[thephoenixson28]

Our special teams need to step it up. Besides the block field goal. Our punting sucked, our punt return sucked, and our kicking game sucked. Am I missing something.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Steve Keim said it best shortly after his promotion to Cardinals G.M. The advantage of playing in the best NFL division, the NFC West, is that you have an excellent measuring stick for your roster. With that in mind, here is my two cents worth the day after Seattle.

1. Units. The Cardinals defense is more than competitive with the Seahawks. The Cardinals offense and special teams...not so much.

2. Larry Fitzgerald. The best player on the Cardinal offense, with the possible exception of Jared Veldheer, is Larry. We got a sneak preview of what the offense sans Fitz looks like and it wasn't pretty. It goes without saying that his incredible catch radius and elite hands make quarterbacks with accuracy issues better than they are. As it stands now, his 2015 salary cap hit is 23-million. If he is released, that hit drops to 16-million. It's not rocket science...find a way to reduce the 2015 cap hit by 6-8 million without mortgaging future years.

3. Chandler Catanzaro. Yes, the Cardinals upgraded their kicking in the offseason. No, it isn't good enough for the NFC West. Good isn't good enough when the opponents have kickers who can consistently nail field goals up to 60 yards and your kicker is problematic outside 40 yards. Having a less than an elite place kicker in the NFC West is not good enough. Target the position for further upgrade in the offseason.

4. Running back. The Cardinals do not have anyone on the roster who can break tackles when running between the tackles. You need thunder and lightning, not just lightning. That has to be another offseason priority. And if the Vikings are foolish enough to part ways with Adrian Peterson, I'd actively pursue him, even it means shoving Jerry Jones out of the way to get to the front of the line.

GO CARDINALS!!!

Catanzaro is who you are picking on? Tough crowd. You aren't going to find anyone kicking 90% out there again as a rookie or free agent.

 

[Totally_Red]

Our special teams need to step it up. Besides the block field goal. Our punting sucked, our punt return sucked, and our kicking game sucked. Am I missing something.

Tommy Kelly did get a FG block, but in general our special teams are not good. I look at Philly and see what good special teams units looks like. I'm not sure if the issue is coaching, personnel or a combination of both, but the unit definitely needs improvement IMO.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Catanzaro is who you are picking on? Tough crowd. You aren't going to find anyone kicking 90% out there again as a rookie or free agent.

I know right? The kid has already set a rookie record and can boom it out of the end zone on kick offs and this is the guy he chooses to pick on. Talk about being way off base.

 

[Totally_Red]

Catanzaro is who you are picking on? Tough crowd. You aren't going to find anyone kicking 90% out there again as a rookie or free agent.

He is a distant fourth when ranking NFC West kickers. When your offense is struggling, that isn't good enough.

B.A. doesn't trust him over 50 yards, see the Detroit game.

And the Fox broadcast team video of his pre-game struggles when kicking off a tee were eye-opening. He is struggling with accuracy on longer kicks. If that continues, upgrade the position.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Catanzaro is who you are picking on? Tough crowd. You aren't going to find anyone kicking 90% out there again as a rookie or free agent.

This.

 

[Zeno]

I know right? The kid has already set a rookie record and can boom it out of the end zone on kick offs and this is the guy he chooses to pick on. Talk about being way off base.

Yeah that is crazy.

Cantanazaro has a higher FG % than any of the other kickers in the NFC West and he consistently puts the ball deep in the endzone on kickoffs.

 

[Chopper0080]

Our special teams coach could be on his way out...though I'm not sure how tied Arians is to him. Teams are where I believe we are struggling most with execution rather than talent. Poor return blocking, poor protection, and failure to flip the field are big issues when you want to be able to play low scoring games.

I disagree a bit on Fitzgerald. Our passing game struggled because he was out, Floyd is a shell of himself, and our otehr two Wrs are very young players. All of this vs Seattle's fantastic pass defense, and with Drew stanton at QB.

 

[kerouac9]

I disagree a bit on Fitzgerald. Our passing game struggled because he was out, Floyd is a shell of himself, and our otehr two Wrs are very young players. All of this vs Seattle's fantastic pass defense, and with Drew stanton at QB.

It's pretty dumb to put this loss on the special teams when the offense put up 3 points the entire game. Maybe the score would've been closer, but we're not going to win.

Drew Stanton may not be good on the road. His road splits so far are awful. It's going to be a problem in the playoffs if we can't secure home field advantage.

People who think that Larry is the linchpin of the offense are going to walk away thinking that this offense can't function without Larry Fitzgerald. There's not enough evidence to suggest that right now. Basically, this offense cannot function with Drew Stanton on the road. That's what I think we can say pretty certainly right now.

 

[AZCrazy]

Defense is fine. Maybe shuffle a few guys to secure the linebacking corps, but this defense is elite.

In order to compete we need our offense to function.
We need, specifically:

two new OG's
our starting QB back
a bruiser RB
our punter back

Everything else is fine or better.

 

[Chopper0080]

It's pretty dumb to put this loss on the special teams when the offense put up 3 points the entire game. Maybe the score would've been closer, but we're not going to win.

Drew Stanton may not be good on the road. His road splits so far are awful. It's going to be a problem in the playoffs if we can't secure home field advantage.

People who think that Larry is the linchpin of the offense are going to walk away thinking that this offense can't function without Larry Fitzgerald. There's not enough evidence to suggest that right now. Basically, this offense cannot function with Drew Stanton on the road. That's what I think we can say pretty certainly right now.

Fair point.

 

[Shaggy]

I don't think the Offensive issues are all on Stanton. They have no run game, there were several dropped passes. Its not all on Stanton. Yes he wasn't accurate some of the time but I don't think we lost because of those, it was a culmination of things on the offensive side.

 

[blindseyed]

Our special teams need to step it up. Besides the block field goal. Our punting sucked, our punt return sucked, and our kicking game sucked. Am I missing something.

You missed that BA said Stepfan Taylor wasnt out there on the block we only had 10 guys on the field, not excusing him just a mistake is all

 

[PDXChris]

It's pretty dumb to put this loss on the special teams when the offense put up 3 points the entire game. Maybe the score would've been closer, but we're not going to win.

Drew Stanton may not be good on the road. His road splits so far are awful. It's going to be a problem in the playoffs if we can't secure home field advantage.

People who think that Larry is the linchpin of the offense are going to walk away thinking that this offense can't function without Larry Fitzgerald. There's not enough evidence to suggest that right now. Basically, this offense cannot function with Drew Stanton on the road. That's what I think we can say pretty certainly right now.

But losing 9-6 would have been more exciting.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't think the Offensive issues are all on Stanton. They have no run game, there were several dropped passes. Its not all on Stanton. Yes he wasn't accurate some of the time but I don't think we lost because of those, it was a culmination of things on the offensive side.

Stanton has lead the Cardinals to 3 points in the last 7 quarters. It's not all on him, but he's the guy who needs to play better.

The terrible announcing crew in Seattle said it all: The Seahawks were daring the Cardinals to pass on them. Arians and Stanton refused to accept that challenge.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Stanton has lead the Cardinals to 3 points in the last 7 quarters. It's not all on him, but he's the guy who needs to play better.

The terrible announcing crew in Seattle said it all: The Seahawks were daring the Cardinals to pass on them. Arians and Stanton refused to accept that challenge.

I dunno... I think Stanton threw enough. He just didn't complete enough, the drops from Jaron Brown and Ellington (2) notwithstanding...

 

[kerouac9]

I dunno... I think Stanton threw enough. He just didn't complete enough, the drops from Jaron Brown and Ellington (2) notwithstanding...

It's not just the pass attempts, it's also the targets. Ellington was targeted on no fewer than 7 of Stanton's 26 attempts. That's more than 25% of his passes. That's too many.

 

[82CardsGrad]

It's not just the pass attempts, it's also the targets. Ellington was targeted on no fewer than 7 of Stanton's 26 attempts. That's more than 25% of his passes. That's too many.

No argument from me... I do think though that not having Fitz in the game influenced the targets. Stanton was pressured a great deal as well and I'm sure he felt the need to get rid of the ball quicker than he would've liked. But, I think the WR's and TE's just didn't get open quick enough as well...
Not making excuses for Stanton because, again, he's a back-up. I have NO doubt that Palmer would've completed many more passes downfield as he is an accomplished starter. As such, Palmer knows how to read defenses pre-snap, recognize coverages and throw WR's open... Stanton seriously, as a back-up, lacks in these areas...

 

[Chopper0080]

I don't think the Offensive issues are all on Stanton. They have no run game, there were several dropped passes. Its not all on Stanton. Yes he wasn't accurate some of the time but I don't think we lost because of those, it was a culmination of things on the offensive side.

If the offense has issues it is on the QB. End of story. We have enough talent that a good QB can make it work. Stanton was awful on Sunday.

 

[Buckybird]

If the offense has issues it is on the QB. End of story. We have enough talent that a good QB can make it work. Stanton was awful on Sunday.

Yep

Didn't play that well in NY or Denver & either.

 

[MrYeahBut]

No one is happy with Stanton's game from yesterday and deservedly so, but I'm not going to hate on him. He's all we've got. I think the team should be able to scratch out a couple of wins with him under center and maybe he'll have his sea legs under him by the post season should they make it.

 

[cardncubfan]

Defense is fine. Maybe shuffle a few guys to secure the linebacking corps, but this defense is elite.

In order to compete we need our offense to function.
We need, specifically:

two new OG's
our starting QB back
a bruiser RB
our punter back

Everything else is fine or better.

Imagine this defense with no injuries or suspensions? I think they would be lights out.

 

[Catfish]

3. Chandler Catanzaro. Yes, the Cardinals upgraded their kicking in the offseason. No, it isn't good enough for the NFC West. Good isn't good enough when the opponents have kickers who can consistently nail field goals up to 60 yards and your kicker is problematic outside 40 yards. Having a less than an elite place kicker in the NFC West is not good enough. Target the position for further upgrade in the offseason.

GO CARDINALS!!!

#3. Easy-----the kid has missed what, 2 field goals. He is a rook, and needs to get more time to play in pressure situations. He is technically a very good kicker. His kickoffs have great length as well, giving us a good long field advantage in most games.

Now, if you want to call out the punt team and the punt return team, go right ahead. Both return teams for that matter. But you will be hard pressed to find a better young (or even experienced), kicker than CAT MAN.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

If the offense has issues it is on the QB. End of story. We have enough talent that a good QB can make it work. Stanton was awful on Sunday.

There were some nice throws to John Brown - great catches too. Jaron Brown dropped a sure TD. Ellington dropped at least one sure catch. Floyd had a nice catch negated by a Housler hold.

It's not all on the QB.

It was an odd game. If we keep winning - we won't have to go back up to Seattle this year.

Next up.

Let's get a W in Atlanta.