Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
1. Bad Karma? If you believe in football gods---BA's hubris following the win in St. Louis last year certainly could have been an added motivation for the Rams in this game and they played like an angry, fed-up, inspired team. Some of us were worried about this game for that very reason.
2. Honey Badgering? In my opinion, it was poor taste to call out the 49ers' offense in the media early in the week last week to point out how predictable they were---not only was it time to focus on the Rams and put the 49ers' game behind them, but why fan the flames in SF as well? Plus, why was HB in Gurley's grill, after his long run? Maybe there had been a bunch of trash talk going on all game---but, imo, it made HB look like a sore-loser punk. Wish HB would have put that kind of aggression into his coverage on Stedman Bailey's TD, where HB got beat and quit on the play. That play was HUGE. On the flip side, HB made a great play previously stripping Jared Cook of a TD, which forced the one FG of the 17 points off turnovers the Rams had.
3. Surreal Ending? How confident did you feel in Palmer leading the offense to the winning score with under 2 minutes? You know, after years of being a Cardinals' fan, i rarely feel confident that the Cardinals are going to win, because all too often in the past they found ways to lose and it's hard to forget those heartaches. But---this time---I swear I was 100% confident Palmer and the offense was going to pull it out. Yet, the last two passes Palmer threw were his wildest throws of the day---it was as if the dude with the wind machine at Buffalo Wild Wings took over the game. Even worse, it was just plain surreal to watch the defense give up 60+ yards of rushing to Todd Gurley when the game was still on the line, and to see Gurley just slowing down and milking the clock was surreal as well. It was as if the Cardinals' defense was trying to let him score perhaps in hopes that they would miss the extra point and it would still be an 8 point game with over a minute of clock. Otherwise, it just looked like the defense had given up and given up badly.
4. Calais at NT? Man---that's a surprise wrinkle that is looking ingenious.
5. Play-calling Adjustment? One of the real plusses about BA's play calling in the second half was that he stopped pulling the guards on run plays because the Rams' interior penetration was blowing up the plays before they could get started. So, he started zone/area blocking and it made a big difference. Great to see Chris Johnson and David Johnson run so hard and tough between the tackles.
6. 4 Down Territory? On all those 3rd and 2s in Rams' territory---and with 1st and goal at the 1 yard line, why didn't BA send in Shipley and hammer the RB straight over LG behind Iupati and Shipley? It makes no sense to sign Iupati and then run sweeps on first and goal. None. Plus, on 3rd and 2s you can run it twice, and in this game, probably should have run it twice. In a way, BA settling for FGs in this game was like Sean Payton punting in game one. BA says he doesn't 2nd guess the play-calling. Hmmm. Guess only his players screw up, huh?
7. Q and DJ? David Johnson as a WR looks like a slightly faster Boldin. This kid looks like a potential stud in the making. He plays nasty too.
8. Weatherspoon Delay? Seeing as Minter and Bucannon played every snap---why not try Weatherspoon at OLB? He's got the athleticism the Cardinals need on the outside---much more than LaMarr Woodley who played half the defensive snaps yesterday and did anyone even notice him? Okafor was quiet, for this being such a big game. Golden had the one sack, on a twist (TEX) stunt and is very active.
9. Azberry Turnovers? Still hard to believe that at home the Cardinals only punt one time and lose.
10. AZ Rams? You can see how much tape they've been watching of BA's and Todd Bowles' Cardinals. It is a copycat league and you have to emulate the other team's plays anyway in practice---and they sure found out why many of those plays work---so now they are running bunch formations and blitzing like Bowles?
2. Honey Badgering? In my opinion, it was poor taste to call out the 49ers' offense in the media early in the week last week to point out how predictable they were---not only was it time to focus on the Rams and put the 49ers' game behind them, but why fan the flames in SF as well? Plus, why was HB in Gurley's grill, after his long run? Maybe there had been a bunch of trash talk going on all game---but, imo, it made HB look like a sore-loser punk. Wish HB would have put that kind of aggression into his coverage on Stedman Bailey's TD, where HB got beat and quit on the play. That play was HUGE. On the flip side, HB made a great play previously stripping Jared Cook of a TD, which forced the one FG of the 17 points off turnovers the Rams had.
3. Surreal Ending? How confident did you feel in Palmer leading the offense to the winning score with under 2 minutes? You know, after years of being a Cardinals' fan, i rarely feel confident that the Cardinals are going to win, because all too often in the past they found ways to lose and it's hard to forget those heartaches. But---this time---I swear I was 100% confident Palmer and the offense was going to pull it out. Yet, the last two passes Palmer threw were his wildest throws of the day---it was as if the dude with the wind machine at Buffalo Wild Wings took over the game. Even worse, it was just plain surreal to watch the defense give up 60+ yards of rushing to Todd Gurley when the game was still on the line, and to see Gurley just slowing down and milking the clock was surreal as well. It was as if the Cardinals' defense was trying to let him score perhaps in hopes that they would miss the extra point and it would still be an 8 point game with over a minute of clock. Otherwise, it just looked like the defense had given up and given up badly.
4. Calais at NT? Man---that's a surprise wrinkle that is looking ingenious.
5. Play-calling Adjustment? One of the real plusses about BA's play calling in the second half was that he stopped pulling the guards on run plays because the Rams' interior penetration was blowing up the plays before they could get started. So, he started zone/area blocking and it made a big difference. Great to see Chris Johnson and David Johnson run so hard and tough between the tackles.
6. 4 Down Territory? On all those 3rd and 2s in Rams' territory---and with 1st and goal at the 1 yard line, why didn't BA send in Shipley and hammer the RB straight over LG behind Iupati and Shipley? It makes no sense to sign Iupati and then run sweeps on first and goal. None. Plus, on 3rd and 2s you can run it twice, and in this game, probably should have run it twice. In a way, BA settling for FGs in this game was like Sean Payton punting in game one. BA says he doesn't 2nd guess the play-calling. Hmmm. Guess only his players screw up, huh?
7. Q and DJ? David Johnson as a WR looks like a slightly faster Boldin. This kid looks like a potential stud in the making. He plays nasty too.
8. Weatherspoon Delay? Seeing as Minter and Bucannon played every snap---why not try Weatherspoon at OLB? He's got the athleticism the Cardinals need on the outside---much more than LaMarr Woodley who played half the defensive snaps yesterday and did anyone even notice him? Okafor was quiet, for this being such a big game. Golden had the one sack, on a twist (TEX) stunt and is very active.
9. Azberry Turnovers? Still hard to believe that at home the Cardinals only punt one time and lose.
10. AZ Rams? You can see how much tape they've been watching of BA's and Todd Bowles' Cardinals. It is a copycat league and you have to emulate the other team's plays anyway in practice---and they sure found out why many of those plays work---so now they are running bunch formations and blitzing like Bowles?
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