Watched the replay of Cards/Pack playoff game............depressing

[Cbus cardsfan]

Watched the replay on NFLN this afternoon. The game itself was fun to watch and it's always enjoyable to see Neil Rackers throw up all over himself in key situations. But the depressing thing was watching a very good football team become a bottom feeder in the span of 1 season. Through injuries, retirement, and letting players leave vis free agency, the Cards sure did lose a huge amount of main contributors and starters in one off season.

QB: Kurt Warner-retired
LT: Mike Gandy- let walk
LG: Reggie Wells- let walk
WR: Anquan Boldin- traded
WR: Steve Breaston- injured/played hurt
TE: Anthony Becht- let walk
FB: Dan Kreider- let walk
RB: Chris Wells- injured(not technically the starter but main RB at season's end)
LB: Karlos Dansby- let walk
DE: Bertrand Berry- retired
CB: Bryant McFadden- let walk
OLB: Chike Okeafor- let walk
S: Antrell Rolle- let walk
ILB: Gerald Hayes- injured
K: Neil Rackers- let walk
ST: Sean Morey- let walk
CB: Ralph Brown- let walk

I realize there is turnover on NFL rosters every year but losing over 1/3 of your main contributors in one off season is almost unheard of, especially from a playoff team. I know some were considered expendable but this was still a 10 win, division winning team. None of the replacements stepped in and played to the level of their predecessors. Taking a downgrade on that amount of roster spots is easy to see why they went 5-11 the next year. I kept watching how well they played against GB and was amazed that we let so many leave from, what was, a pretty talented roster. Thanks again, Rod.

 

[TJ]

Watched the replay on NFLN this afternoon. The game itself was fun to watch and it's always enjoyable to see Neil Rackers throw up all over himself in key situations. But the depressing thing was watching a very good football team become a bottom feeder in the span of 1 season. Through injuries, retirement, and letting players leave vis free agency, the Cards sure did lose a huge amount of main contributors and starters in one off season.

QB: Kurt Warner-retired
LT: Mike Gandy- let walk
LG: Reggie Wells- let walk
WR: Anquan Boldin- traded
WR: Steve Breaston- injured/played hurt
TE: Anthony Becht- let walk
FB: Dan Kreider- let walk
RB: Chris Wells- injured(not technically the starter but main RB at season's end)
LB: Karlos Dansby- let walk
DE: Bertrand Berry- retired
CB: Bryant McFadden- let walk
OLB: Chike Okeafor- let walk
S: Antrell Rolle- let walk
ILB: Gerald Hayes- injured
K: Neil Rackers- let walk
ST: Sean Morey- let walk
CB: Ralph Brown- let walk

I realize there is turnover on NFL rosters every year but losing over 1/3 of your main contributors in one off season is almost unheard of, especially from a playoff team. I know some were considered expendable but this was still a 10 win, division winning team. None of the replacements stepped in and played to the level of their predecessors. Taking a downgrade on that amount of roster spots is easy to see why they went 5-11 the next year. I kept watching how well they played against GB and was amazed that we let so many leave from, what was, a pretty talented roster. Thanks again, Rod.

Which is why that regime is no longer in place. There was no safety net in place when players like Dansby and Gandy were not retained. Basically, they were replaced with a mediocre Paris Lenon and a garbage Brandon Keith. Don't get me started on the QB. If there was one ounce of doubt Leinart would not have panned out, the team should have eliminated the distraction early on and cut him. I will say this: the team is not suffering from the Kolb fiasco, but rather the fact that our #1 QB from 2006 did not pan out. That led to the desperate signing of Derek Anderson and Kevin Kolb.

I think bottoming out last season will be a blessing in disguise. Even marginal growth this year is commendable given the unfortunate mess the previous regime left behind with some of the bad contracts and lackluster talent. If anything, last season revealed that this team has had difficulties scouting players and giving them contracts that were commensurate with their abilities (see Kolb, College, Snyder, Bradley, and Levi). Graves was simply in over his head as a General Manager, and fortunately, we not only promoted a person in Keim who seems to have his head on straight with football decisions, but also hired a guy whose sole job is to keep the team out of cap hell.

I have low expectations for this season, but at least the team appears to be on the right track.

 

[TJ]

BTW---let's not dwell on the negatives in this thread. That playoff game was arguably the most entertaining sporting event I've ever attended in my entire life.

Wowsers...what a barn burner!

 

[NJCardFan]

BTW---let's not dwell on the negatives in this thread. That playoff game was arguably the most entertaining sporting event I've ever attended in my entire life.

Wowsers...what a barn burner!

The fact that our Cardinals played in a game that's considered an NFL Classic is enough for me.

 

[kerouac9]

Which is why that regime is no longer in place. There was no safety net in place when players like Dansby and Gandy were not retained. Basically, they were replaced with a mediocre Paris Lenon and a garbage Brandon Keith. Don't get me started on the QB. If there was one ounce of doubt Leinart would not have panned out, the team should have eliminated the distraction early on and cut him. I will say this: the team is not suffering from the Kolb fiasco, but rather the fact that our #1 QB from 2006 did not pan out. That led to the desperate signing of Derek Anderson and Kevin Kolb.

I think bottoming out last season will be a blessing in disguise. Even marginal growth this year is commendable given the unfortunate mess the previous regime left behind with some of the bad contracts and lackluster talent. If anything, last season revealed that this team has had difficulties scouting players and giving them contracts that were commensurate with their abilities (see Kolb, College, Snyder, Bradley, and Levi). Graves was simply in over his head as a General Manager, and fortunately, we not only promoted a person in Keim who seems to have his head on straight with football decisions, but also hired a guy whose sole job is to keep the team out of cap hell.

I have low expectations for this season, but at least the team appears to be on the right track.

LOL. Um... I guess, if by those names you mean "Daryl Washington" and "Levi Brown.

Wasn't Reggie Wells traded to Philly? Did we really cut him to replace him with the Decomposing Corpse of Alan Faneca?

We definitely traded Bryant McFadden back to Philly for the rights to John Skelton.

I mean, I guess it's sad in retrospect what happened to that team, but without Kurt Warner, the Arizona Cardinals were going to become rudderless unless full faith and credit was placed in Matt Leinart. Instead, Ken Whisenhut decided to embarrass the organization by using his contractual authority to cut Leinart on the eve of the season and replace him with Derek Anderson.

 

[NJCardFan]

I DVR'd this game and so far, watching the 1st offensive drive(after the now gone DRC's INT on the first play of the game), with the exceptions of Fitz, Sandlein, and Levi every offensive player is gone. Well, except for Dockett who led Beanie into the endzone but he really doesn't qualify as offense.

 

[GatorAZ]

You're right, watching Bryant McFadden attempt to cover JerMichael Finley was definitely depressing. Also when Rackers shanked that kick I lost it, almost turned it off and walked. Man that game was intense, it actually had an effect on my physically lol!

 

[TJ]

Funny. As I recall, D-Wash was only a rookie and was a back up for a good portion of the season in 2010. When Lenon was signed prior to the draft, it was to fill the void left behind by Dansby.

And Keith replaced Gandy as the blindside blocker for the southpaw , while Levi was simply repositioned. When that experiment failed, they kept Levi at LT with limitless success

 

[English on tour]

The fact that our Cardinals played in a game that's considered an NFL Classic is enough for me.

....and won it!!

 

[Duckjake]

Funny. As I recall, D-Wash was only a rookie and was a back up for a good portion of the season in 2010. When Lenon was signed prior to the draft, it was to fill the void left behind by Dansby.

And Keith replaced Gandy as the blindside blocker for the southpaw , while Levi was simply repositioned. When that experiment failed, they kept Levi at LT with limitless success

Jeremy Bridges was the left tackle in that game not Gandy. Both he and Lutui were still on the team in 2010. Just shows how clueless Grimm was that 4 of the 5 offensive linemen that started vs GB were still on the roster in 2010 but only Sendlein was still starting in the same position. An overweight Lutui was better than Hadnot. Kind of an appropriate name. Hadnot blocked anybody all season.

 

[Duckjake]

LOL. Um... I guess, if by those names you mean "Daryl Washington" and "Levi Brown.

Wasn't Reggie Wells traded to Philly? Did we really cut him to replace him with the Decomposing Corpse of Alan Faneca?

We definitely traded Bryant McFadden back to Philly for the rights to John Skelton.

I mean, I guess it's sad in retrospect what happened to that team, but without Kurt Warner, the Arizona Cardinals were going to become rudderless unless full faith and credit was placed in Matt Leinart. Instead, Ken Whisenhut decided to embarrass the organization by using his contractual authority to cut Leinart on the eve of the season and replace him with Derek Anderson.

McFadden went back to Pittsburgh not Philly. Prompting the infamous quote from Ray Horton that he had to "coach the Arizona out of him".

 

[TJ]

Jeremy Bridges was the left tackle in that game not Gandy. Both he and Lutui were still on the team in 2010. Just shows how clueless Grimm was that 4 of the 5 offensive linemen that started vs GB were still on the roster in 2010 but only Sendlein was still starting in the same position. An overweight Lutui was better than Hadnot. Kind of an appropriate name. Hadnot blocked anybody all season.

Yeah, Gandy had a hernia IIRC. But he was at least serviceable in pass pro.

 

[kerouac9]

Funny. As I recall, D-Wash was only a rookie and was a back up for a good portion of the season in 2010. When Lenon was signed prior to the draft, it was to fill the void left behind by Dansby.

And Keith replaced Gandy as the blindside blocker for the southpaw , while Levi was simply repositioned. When that experiment failed, they kept Levi at LT with limitless success

Washington was a rookie, but I don't know what that has to do with anything. A moment's worth of research or even reflection would have revealed the obvious: Washington started from Week 1, was benched in Week 9 for mental errors, and worked his way back into the lineup by the end of the year.

As for Lenon, when we signed him very few believed that it was even to start. He was expected to be a sub-package player and special teams guy (Lorenzo Alexander thinks we're talking about him). He was expected to compete to replace Gerald Hayes, who was on the roster, but suffered from a back injury that kept him on PUP and eventually ran him out of the league.

I can't believe that you think that the Cards' plan was to put their worst and least experienced lineman on Leinart's blindside.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Watched the replay on NFLN this afternoon. The game itself was fun to watch and it's always enjoyable to see Neil Rackers throw up all over himself in key situations. But the depressing thing was watching a very good football team become a bottom feeder in the span of 1 season. Through injuries, retirement, and letting players leave vis free agency, the Cards sure did lose a huge amount of main contributors and starters in one off season.

QB: Kurt Warner-retired
LT: Mike Gandy- let walk
LG: Reggie Wells- let walk
WR: Anquan Boldin- traded
WR: Steve Breaston- injured/played hurt
TE: Anthony Becht- let walk
FB: Dan Kreider- let walk
RB: Chris Wells- injured(not technically the starter but main RB at season's end)
LB: Karlos Dansby- let walk
DE: Bertrand Berry- retired
CB: Bryant McFadden- let walk
OLB: Chike Okeafor- let walk
S: Antrell Rolle- let walk
ILB: Gerald Hayes- injured
K: Neil Rackers- let walk
ST: Sean Morey- let walk
CB: Ralph Brown- let walk

I realize there is turnover on NFL rosters every year but losing over 1/3 of your main contributors in one off season is almost unheard of, especially from a playoff team. I know some were considered expendable but this was still a 10 win, division winning team. None of the replacements stepped in and played to the level of their predecessors. Taking a downgrade on that amount of roster spots is easy to see why they went 5-11 the next year. I kept watching how well they played against GB and was amazed that we let so many leave from, what was, a pretty talented roster. Thanks again, Rod.

And THAT is why they are the SAME OL CARDINALS!

32 million under the cap the next year, BTW.

This franchise was about to shed the label's "laughing stock" and "Same Ol' Cardinals", and then had a colossal fail. They repeated the mistakes of 1998, and then doomed themselves to be a "fluke" that was furthered by Warner proving to be the only thing that got that team where it got.

They still, to this day, have not proved other wise. And regardless if the "Green Machine Police" wanna talk away my fan card for calling it as I see it, this is the SAME OL CARDINALS.

Hardest thing that Bruce Arians and Company have to do, is to shed that label, and bury it forever.

 

[Stout]

I remember watching that game, thinking we had our last shot with Warner and the current roster, and that we were watching the next great team in the Packers get ready to explode on the scene.

 

[NJCardFan]

I remember watching that game, thinking we had our last shot with Warner and the current roster, and that we were watching the next great team in the Packers get ready to explode on the scene.

The next game, when THT broke free for that 75 yard run actually gave me hope that we might be able to pull off another Carolina miracle. Even more so when we got the ball back then Jeremy "Butters" Urban fumbles the very next play which was after a nice pass and catch, NO scored pretty quick and it was all down hill from there. Then Warner's career ends due to a bounty.

 

[NJCardFan]

Still watching this, some observations. For starters, it wouldn't have surprised me if Aikman at some point went down onto the field and fellated Clay Matthews. I've never seen such a man crush in all my life. 2nd, Bill Davis' defensive scheme sucked. We had GB buried. BURIED and his prevent defense in the 3rd quarter allowed them to get back into the game. On their first drive, they were buried on 3rd and longs and, as Denny Green would say, we let them off the hook. Stupid penalty allowed the drive to survive on another play and on 3rd and goal, it was just a good catch. Then, when the lead was cut to 31-24, the offense comes out and gets another great drive but Davis' defense, again, let's GB march down field. Hell, the tying TD took like 3 plays. And what happened to the Doucet who played in this game? Beanie Wells as well. But if we have the defense we had in 2011-12 and the offense that was in this game, we would have won a few Super Bowls.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

Jeremy "Butters" Urban

Oh man, I really didn't like that guy, AT ALL.

He was the momentum KILLER. One of Whiz's "high effort" guys that should have never seen the field.

 

[NJCardFan]

Wow. I had forgotten how close we came to losing this in OT. First play, Jennings is wide open behind Rolle. Had Rogers put a little less air on that pass, history would be looking at this game much, much differently.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

The fact that our Cardinals played in a game that's considered an NFL Classic is enough for me.

Good point. And our Super Bowl is rated one of the best ever.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

Wow. I had forgotten how close we came to losing this in OT. First play, Jennings is wide open behind Rolle. Had Rogers put a little less air on that pass, history would be looking at this game much, much differently.

Remember after that play I went to the fridge grabbed a beer, turned on the computer and started to make reservations for the playoff game in New Orleans because I figured if we dodged that bullet somehow we are going to win the game.

 

[NJCardFan]

Good point. And our Super Bowl is rated one of the best ever.

Actually, it sucked. Would have been the best ever had we won.

 

[Osbern61]

And what happened to the Doucet who played in this game?

I was pretty sure Boldin would be gone the next year and Doucet's performance in this game gave me hope we had a replacement.
I tried watching this game again, but it was too depressing seeing what we had and recalling the complete nose dive the next year.