Warner has solid start in Cards' win over Chiefs

[azdad1978]

Associated Press
Jul. 20, 2005 09:09 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - If success this season hinges on backup quarterbacks, the Arizona Cardinals appear to be in much better shape than the Kansas City Chiefs.

Josh McCown threw two touchdown passes in the second half in relief of Kurt Warner to rally the Cardinals to a 24-17 victory over the winless Chiefs.

Damon Huard, who replaced Trent Green for Kansas City, was 1-for-12 for 11 yards and two interceptions. Huard was elevated to second team this week while regular backup Todd Collins nursed a hand injury.



In the battle of first-teamers, the Chiefs (0-2) were winners. Green hit Samie Parker with an 8-yard pass in the first quarter and engineered a 42-yard drive that resulted in Lawrence Tynes' 31-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead that held up until the Cardinals scored 10 points within less than a minute of the third quarter.

Neil Rackers, after missing from 37 yards, hit a 27-yard field goal. Then Eric Green grabbed the first interception off Huard and sped 27 yards for a touchdown.

Warner, the former regular-season and Super Bowl MVP with the St. Louis Rams, had a second straight good outing. He hit 12 of 23 passes for 99 yards. Green was 6-of-10 for 59 yards.

It was a nightmarish game for David Macklin, who started all 16 games at cornerback for the Cardinals last year and had four interceptions. The six-year veteran was flagged three times for pass interference while trying to defend Parker. The Chiefs picked up 33 yards on the first penalty against Macklin, and three plays later Green hit Parker for the TD.

Macklin was twice guilty of pass interference a few minutes later on a 6-play, 42-yard drive that resulted in the 31-yarder by Lawrence Tynes.

"I told Eddie (Kennison) in the huddle I'm not intentionally going the other way on purpose, right now Macklin's frustrated, and when you've got a frustrated corner you have to keep attacking him," Green said. "That's part of the game, and we got three calls and it set scoring opportunities up."

In a play that counted for nothing but held great significance for both teams, Anquan Boldin got loose down the sideline for a 49-yard touchdown pass from Warner in the first quarter.

A holding penalty on Leonard Davis brought the play back. But it was a good sign for the Cardinals that Boldin is OK after breaking his nose during a routine drill on Aug. 4 and missing the first preseason game.

And it was a chilling reminder of how vulnerable Dexter McCleon can be. The veteran cornerback, who lost his job for poor play two years ago, is slated to replace Eric Warfield while Warfield sits out the first four games for violating the NFL's drug policy.

It was also a bad night for the kickers. Tynes, who missed once last week against Minnesota, was short on a 38-yard attempt and wide on one from 46 yards.

After Rackers missed from 37 yards, Matt Fordyce missed from 30.


http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0820cardgamer-ON.html

 

[peterman]

ya considering warner had so much pressure on him with kc blitzin like every down he did great

 

[earthsci]

ya considering warner had so much pressure on him with kc blitzin like every down he did great

I think that it was great that they did that. We need to be ready.

 

[joeshmo]

Holding on to the ball to long be damned. He also had a few nifty moves stepping up into or out of the pocket to avoid sacks as well.

Thats what I was most encouraged about in this game, because it was the biggest knock against him coming here and he has so far shown the complete opposite.

 

[ajcardfan]

Holding on to the ball to long be damned. He also had a few nifty moves stepping up into or out of the pocket to avoid sacks as well.

Thats what I was most encouraged about in this game, because it was the biggest knock against him coming here and he has so far shown the complete opposite.

Yes, this has surprised me too. I thought he'd be a statue once he made his drop, but he's actually been pretty darn nifty with his feet.

 

[Treesquid PhD]

Warner has superior footwork while inside the pocket something the fleet of foot run first new age QB's could learn a thing or two about.

 

[jstadvl]

Warner

didnot look that good tonight. I thought some of his decisions were wrong and i thought he cost us moving the chains. But, it's only the second game and he's playing with a makeshift line. I also think Shipp should be playing with the 1's. He'll help K.W.
We'll be ok wiith Warner and McCown.

 

[100%CardsFan]

I think Shipp should have been in there to help out a balanced attack. Arrington isnt as good as Marcel

 

[blindseyed]

Wow I really thought the 1st few series were terrible. They settled down abit but it wasn't pretty. That being said, it's pre-season and 2 starters are out on the O-line, JJ showed bursts but started out really bad. I don't think Warner held the ball too long, he had guys on him within seconds of the snap, he didn't have much choice. The D had a rough time with the run too. I'm only talking about the 1st teamers here not the whole game.

The next game will be the big test since the 2nd to last pre-season game is the big tune-up for the beginning of the season. I thing DG will be ripping some tail this week...hehe

 

[Duckjake]

Wow I really thought the 1st few series were terrible. They settled down abit but it wasn't pretty. That being said, it's pre-season and 2 starters are out on the O-line, JJ showed bursts but started out really bad. I don't think Warner held the ball too long, he had guys on him within seconds of the snap, he didn't have much choice. The D had a rough time with the run too. I'm only talking about the 1st teamers here not the whole game.

The next game will be the big test since the 2nd to last pre-season game is the big tune-up for the beginning of the season. I thing DG will be ripping some tail this week...hehe

Remember last year when Denny sent several guys packing a week before the cut deadline? Though I don't think that will happen this year as most of the guys left are players he brought in. But with Green you never know.

 

[joko4]

Remember, this was the Chiefs opening game this year. The fans where pumped.KC is a very hard place to play in.
The refs in KC are very biased to the home crowd. That's why you saw so many calls go against he Cards in the first half. Actually, the REFS, controlled most of the 1st half. When the refs decided that they satisfied the Chiefs fans in the first half
and went back to calling a more legitamate game, things changed pretty fast.
CHILL OUT, IT"S ONLY PRE-SEASON.

 

[justAndy]

refs

I'm allergic to posts about them...

 

[spanky1]

Well if BIG was incorrectly called for a holding penalty on the TD pass to Boldin, Warner's numbers are: 13-24 for 150 with no INT's.

Take away the other stupid penalties and this game wasn't close.

 

[Cardsmasochist]

The refs in KC are very biased to the home crowd. That's why you saw so many calls go against he Cards in the first half. Actually, the REFS, controlled most of the 1st half. When the refs decided that they satisfied the Chiefs fans in the first half
and went back to calling a more legitamate game, things changed pretty fast.
CHILL OUT, IT"S ONLY PRE-SEASON.

Denny Green made an interesting comment after the game when asked about Macklin's performance. He said that it depends on who is officiating the game. Can't the NFL fine Denny for saying that?

 

[joko4]

This was our fault, but the play where we had the Cheifs about 3rd and 8 on ther 7 and we let the RB get away for a 1st down. That hurt. Who screwed up on that play?
But the point, is we just need a little twinking here and there.
We where loosing in a very hostile situation and came back in the 2cd half, regained our composure and won. For our team,
that's a stepping stone's improvement.

 

[JeffGollin]

Warner has solid start in Cards' win over Chiefs
I love Warner and am glad he's our starter, but get real.

Warner didn't have a "solid start." He missed on his first 8 pass attempts before settling down and hitting his receivers. He wound up 12 for 23 and 99 yards and no TD's or picks (which translates to 24 for 46 and 178 yards, 0 TD's and no picks for an entire game).

Much of this was due to poor offensive line protection and blitz pickup. But that's part of the package and comes with the territory. Bottom line was: for whatever the reasons, he wasn't very productive.

If you throw in that pretty completion to Boldin that was called back, you might nudge the assessment to "so-so" start, but definitely not a solid one. Throwing 8 straight incompletions does not suggest "sharpness."

You have to wonder whether the AP guy actually saw or heard the game, or whether he merely scanned the gamebook afterwards.

 

[football karma]

On one hand, I take the pressure the Chiefs put on with a grain of salt-- when you are running corner blitzes in a pre-season game, it kind of says -- I had a crappy D last year, and I want to feel some success this year. Particulalry true coming off getting pasted by the Vikings. In a regular season game, the offense would have spent the week getting protection packages lined up.

That being said-- this is the same kind of pressure defense the Cards have seen constantly over the past forever, it seems. Last nights tape will be the cookbook defensive coordinators will start with in the regular season until the Cards prove they can fry it.

THe difference this year vs prior years is that if protection can give the QB a modicum of a pocket, the Cards finally have a QB who will step up into it, find the open guy and deliver the football. Plummer towards the end was a back foot thrower in those situations (with questionable decision making), Blake would bail out, and Josh would rarely, if ever, step up, preferring to try to get outside the pocket.

 

[Goldfield]

Man people are going off the deepend here.

We looked pretty bad, yes. But were also talking about the chiefs. We are not ready to be on the same level they are on.

I dont want the Cardinals to to have too easy of a time in preseason. They need to see they still have alot of work to do.

At the same time there were some things we can build on. For instance, the Oline wasnt as bad as they looked. The right side is where the pressure was comming from blitzes & missed assignments. The bright spot about that is Ross should put a stop to that or atleast help.

The Chiefs did ALOT of blitzing. Yes we need to learn how to pick that up, but we also have 2 backups starting up front.

Shipp looked real good. He was powerfull and hard to bring down. His vision is very impressive.

If you dont think Green is gunna kick this team in the ARSE on monday think again.

This is exactly what preseason is about, learning what you need to work on.


Also remember this is the very first time Rowen has called plays. He is still learning and he has done a pretty solid job sofar.

If Green & co are on top of things they will Start Shipp & Hodgins next week so we can get a running game going and let JJ Arrington regain his confidence vs the second stringers...

Its preseason take it with a garin of salt. But yes the looked a step behind the Chiefs.

 

[john h]

didnot look that good tonight. I thought some of his decisions were wrong and i thought he cost us moving the chains. But, it's only the second game and he's playing with a makeshift line. I also think Shipp should be playing with the 1's. He'll help K.W.
We'll be ok wiith Warner and McCown.

I have by no means been a McCown fan but give him his due. He looked better last night than I have seen him in some time. Great catch on that TD pass he threw.

 

[Buckybird]

I have by no means been a McCown fan but give him his due. He looked better last night than I have seen him in some time. Great catch on that TD pass he threw



McCown still sucks and freeks out when under pressure. Call me when he completes a pass over 10 yards. If Warner gets hurt, we are done.

 

[Evil Ash]

I have by no means been a McCown fan but give him his due. He looked better last night than I have seen him in some time. Great catch on that TD pass he threw



McCown still sucks and freeks out when under pressure. Call me when he completes a pass over 10 yards. If Warner gets hurt, we are done.

This is a joke, right?

 

[BigDavis75]

I didn't like Rowne's play calling at all to be honest. Also, we had like 15 penalties for 150 yards so that really hurt us. I liked how our D played, KC as 1st in offense last year, right?

 

[40yearfan]

I have by no means been a McCown fan but give him his due. He looked better last night than I have seen him in some time. Great catch on that TD pass he threw



McCown still sucks and freeks out when under pressure. Call me when he completes a pass over 10 yards. If Warner gets hurt, we are done.

Yeah, 2 TD passes in a little over a quarter of play. He really sucks.

 

[Buckybird]

Josh is so good we have tried to replace him with how many QB's in less than
one season. You're right he is a stud. Denny will probably draft a replacement
to be groomed after the season.

 

[Evil Ash]

Josh is so good we have tried to replace him with how many QB's in less than
one season. You're right he is a stud. Denny will probably draft a replacement
to be groomed after the season.

Yeah and he sucks so bad that Denny kept him on the roster (and tagged him with the middle tender). Maybe he develops into a good QB maybe he doesn't. Who knows?

There is a difference between criticism of a player and biased stupidity. You are showing the latter.