Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
Let me start by saying in my season preview I said Detroit was 50/50, Indy was a win and Dallas would be a loss. So actually results-wise nothing's changed. However the future looks like my predictions are in jeopardy.
Next I saw one of the greatest performances ever by a veteran receiver. Sadly much like the Super Bowl, Fitz' greatness wasn't enough.
I've been watching football for more than half a century. So I rarely encounter something new. Last night I did. I've never seen a 3 man rush totally humiliate a 5 (at times 6) man defensive line. While you can yell at the players I've got to point my finger at the coaching. Did you see any double-team blocks? I didn't. Rarely was a back kept in to help. Gresham was assigned to single block a rusher a tackle couldn't block. Plays that worked and slowed the rush, like the inside screen to Fitz, weren't repeated. The obvious, admittedly not highly desirable, option of moving Veldheer back to LT and Wetzel to right was never tried. Whether it's the line coach, the OC or BA, this was dereliction of duty by all.
The receivers played well (Fitz unworldly), but again they need to be coached to leave a little more boundary cushion. It was sad with the game on the line they didn't have a short, effective red zone go-to play. That again says as much about the coaches as the players. I was okay with the choice to go for a TD.
Despite Bethel getting beat, he played a fairly good game. TM was undisciplined and displayed poor tackling technique. He must be gotten under control. He's forgotten it's a team game. He did make a great play on Elliot. The run defense overall has been much better than I expected.
The defense as a whole played a solid game and was likely tired in quarter 4. So far Nkemdiche is as useless as I predicted he'd be when drafted. At least with Reddick they drafted a player they didn't have to red shirt.
The Cards' safeties played better, but this is a much weaker safety group than the one they let walk away.
For those of you old enough to remember Simeon Rice, Golden must be déjà vu. Rice has immense talent, but he had a one track mind. Game after game from his DE position he would charge the QB often ignoring ball carriers going the other way. Golden needed to trust the interior of the Cards' defense until he locates the ball. They should test his vision. Mauro was invisible again. Peters had a decent game.
Reddick was okay but like most rookies got pulled out of position. Bynes never saw a pass he could cover.
The tight ends rarely blocked effectively. Gresham is not worth close to $4 mil. Only Keim didn't know that. Of course compared to the rest of the unit, he looks like a Pro Bowler.
Finally there's Palmer. With time to throw I'm confident he beats Dallas. He should have retired for his own safety.
So what's all this mean for the future. Well this isn't a Super Bowl team. It's probably not a playoff team. The defense is good enough to win a few. The offense can handle a few bad defenses. Figure this is about a 7-9 team. The overall league mediocrity works in the Cards' favor. The sad part is they likely won't even be entertaining.
Next I saw one of the greatest performances ever by a veteran receiver. Sadly much like the Super Bowl, Fitz' greatness wasn't enough.
I've been watching football for more than half a century. So I rarely encounter something new. Last night I did. I've never seen a 3 man rush totally humiliate a 5 (at times 6) man defensive line. While you can yell at the players I've got to point my finger at the coaching. Did you see any double-team blocks? I didn't. Rarely was a back kept in to help. Gresham was assigned to single block a rusher a tackle couldn't block. Plays that worked and slowed the rush, like the inside screen to Fitz, weren't repeated. The obvious, admittedly not highly desirable, option of moving Veldheer back to LT and Wetzel to right was never tried. Whether it's the line coach, the OC or BA, this was dereliction of duty by all.
The receivers played well (Fitz unworldly), but again they need to be coached to leave a little more boundary cushion. It was sad with the game on the line they didn't have a short, effective red zone go-to play. That again says as much about the coaches as the players. I was okay with the choice to go for a TD.
Despite Bethel getting beat, he played a fairly good game. TM was undisciplined and displayed poor tackling technique. He must be gotten under control. He's forgotten it's a team game. He did make a great play on Elliot. The run defense overall has been much better than I expected.
The defense as a whole played a solid game and was likely tired in quarter 4. So far Nkemdiche is as useless as I predicted he'd be when drafted. At least with Reddick they drafted a player they didn't have to red shirt.
The Cards' safeties played better, but this is a much weaker safety group than the one they let walk away.
For those of you old enough to remember Simeon Rice, Golden must be déjà vu. Rice has immense talent, but he had a one track mind. Game after game from his DE position he would charge the QB often ignoring ball carriers going the other way. Golden needed to trust the interior of the Cards' defense until he locates the ball. They should test his vision. Mauro was invisible again. Peters had a decent game.
Reddick was okay but like most rookies got pulled out of position. Bynes never saw a pass he could cover.
The tight ends rarely blocked effectively. Gresham is not worth close to $4 mil. Only Keim didn't know that. Of course compared to the rest of the unit, he looks like a Pro Bowler.
Finally there's Palmer. With time to throw I'm confident he beats Dallas. He should have retired for his own safety.
So what's all this mean for the future. Well this isn't a Super Bowl team. It's probably not a playoff team. The defense is good enough to win a few. The offense can handle a few bad defenses. Figure this is about a 7-9 team. The overall league mediocrity works in the Cards' favor. The sad part is they likely won't even be entertaining.
