Catfish
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- Aug 14, 2006
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On the day of BA's arrival here in the valley after his hire, he proclaimed, "Cardinals will not cause Cardinals to lose". But that is precisely what happened on Sunday in St. Louis. And no-----it was not just because of one player. There were mistakes enough, by coaches as well as players, to go around.
In his Monday presser, Coach Bruce Arians admitted as much, but he also alluded to the fact that there were fixes for most of what led to the loss.
Momentum is a crucial factor in any game, but especially on the road. Several things occurred which caused the momentum, (which had been gained by Palmer completing passes to Fitz, Floyd, Roberts, etc); (and from a running game established by Mendenhall which kept the Rams honest); to slowly shift as the game progressed. This process began late in the second period, with the miss of a 50 yard field goal by Feely.
That miss resulted in a field position shift, which ultimately led to a Rams score before the half. Then it was compounded by a huge mental mistake by Javier Arenas immediately after the half, when he ran a high and deep kick-off out of the end zone resulting in getting stuffed near the five yard line. Those two plays gave away all the momentum the Cards had compiled, just when it should have been secured for us to put the hammer down on the Rams. We missed a score before the half, and gave away possession and field position in two plays.
Still, some great play got it back, along with an 11 point lead going into the 4th quarter. Then, inexplicably, BA took his foot off the gas and he began attempting to run the clock. This, for Cardinal's fans is an almost sure fire hint that we are about to give the game away.
This worked OK so long as Mendenhall was fresh, but as soon as he was gassed, in came Alphonso Smith, who promptly ran as fast as he could to where the play was designed to go, right into the heart of the defense. Arians, in his presser said that Ellington had earned the right to play. But by playing Smith as the change of pace back instead of Ellington, there was virtually no chance of finding a hole to squeak through. During this game, Smith ran directly into the pile on at least 4 occasions, when there was a hole slightly to one side or the other of where the play was designed to go. He has no vision for free space to run in, and was perhaps not the best choice to back up Mendenhall as a change of pace back this game. In any event our running was finished for the day.
Compounding that, was the third down wheel play where we threw to Ellington out of the backfield. This seemed to me to be another poor choice of play selection, given the day that our receivers had already achieved. I will be surprised if, (in the future), we see BA take his foot off the gas, and attempt to hold a lead instead of keeping up the momentum.
Yes, there was Levi, giving up the sacks, but there was also room for Palmer to step forward into the pocket on at least two of the three sacks, where Levi had run Quinn around the back side of the pocket. That is something that Palmer needs to be made aware of. Failure to step up into a protected pocket, while taking a sack deep, is a terrible mistake on his part. Then too, Arians said that Levi resorted back to old, (and bad), technique habits during this game. That can't happen either, but both causes are fixable, and need to be addressed heavily and often in practice.
Perhaps one of the greatest mistakes of this game, was only allowing our best pass rusher, John Abraham, to see the field for only 20 plays during the game. He needs to be in the mix, (especially off the edge), any time a pass play is obvious, not just on third and long. By the same token, trying to rush with Campbell as a DE is like having the 'Human Slug' negotiate contracts. The pace is simply not conducive to productivity. That is also correctable.
In any event, much of what caused this loss is correctable. Also there was much good to take note of that the Cards achieved. All in all, we let one get away, but let us see what, (if any), changes come next week against Detroit.
In his Monday presser, Coach Bruce Arians admitted as much, but he also alluded to the fact that there were fixes for most of what led to the loss.
Momentum is a crucial factor in any game, but especially on the road. Several things occurred which caused the momentum, (which had been gained by Palmer completing passes to Fitz, Floyd, Roberts, etc); (and from a running game established by Mendenhall which kept the Rams honest); to slowly shift as the game progressed. This process began late in the second period, with the miss of a 50 yard field goal by Feely.
That miss resulted in a field position shift, which ultimately led to a Rams score before the half. Then it was compounded by a huge mental mistake by Javier Arenas immediately after the half, when he ran a high and deep kick-off out of the end zone resulting in getting stuffed near the five yard line. Those two plays gave away all the momentum the Cards had compiled, just when it should have been secured for us to put the hammer down on the Rams. We missed a score before the half, and gave away possession and field position in two plays.
Still, some great play got it back, along with an 11 point lead going into the 4th quarter. Then, inexplicably, BA took his foot off the gas and he began attempting to run the clock. This, for Cardinal's fans is an almost sure fire hint that we are about to give the game away.
This worked OK so long as Mendenhall was fresh, but as soon as he was gassed, in came Alphonso Smith, who promptly ran as fast as he could to where the play was designed to go, right into the heart of the defense. Arians, in his presser said that Ellington had earned the right to play. But by playing Smith as the change of pace back instead of Ellington, there was virtually no chance of finding a hole to squeak through. During this game, Smith ran directly into the pile on at least 4 occasions, when there was a hole slightly to one side or the other of where the play was designed to go. He has no vision for free space to run in, and was perhaps not the best choice to back up Mendenhall as a change of pace back this game. In any event our running was finished for the day.
Compounding that, was the third down wheel play where we threw to Ellington out of the backfield. This seemed to me to be another poor choice of play selection, given the day that our receivers had already achieved. I will be surprised if, (in the future), we see BA take his foot off the gas, and attempt to hold a lead instead of keeping up the momentum.
Yes, there was Levi, giving up the sacks, but there was also room for Palmer to step forward into the pocket on at least two of the three sacks, where Levi had run Quinn around the back side of the pocket. That is something that Palmer needs to be made aware of. Failure to step up into a protected pocket, while taking a sack deep, is a terrible mistake on his part. Then too, Arians said that Levi resorted back to old, (and bad), technique habits during this game. That can't happen either, but both causes are fixable, and need to be addressed heavily and often in practice.
Perhaps one of the greatest mistakes of this game, was only allowing our best pass rusher, John Abraham, to see the field for only 20 plays during the game. He needs to be in the mix, (especially off the edge), any time a pass play is obvious, not just on third and long. By the same token, trying to rush with Campbell as a DE is like having the 'Human Slug' negotiate contracts. The pace is simply not conducive to productivity. That is also correctable.
In any event, much of what caused this loss is correctable. Also there was much good to take note of that the Cards achieved. All in all, we let one get away, but let us see what, (if any), changes come next week against Detroit.
