For more years than I'd like to count I've been analyzing the Cards. I've never been less sure in my observations. I honestly thought going into 2016 that this was a very strong team. Now I believe what I'm seeing is that the whole is not equal to the sum of its parts.
In college football momentum often rules the game and one player can take over a game. The more talented team is frequently upset. In the NFL coordination is often more critical. Rarely is it man-to-man abilities. It's much more how a team plays as a team. In this respect the 2016 Cards have failed thus far.
I know this is going to release the hornets, but I think the acquisition of Chandler Jones has hurt the Cardinals. He's more of a 4-3 DE than an OLB. In fact the Cards use him that way. That's how the Cards ended up with Minter covering a RB in pass coverage rather than an OLB. It's not that Jones has played badly, rather it's the Cards lack cover guys for those short routes so critical in third down situations. The Cards can't simply switch to a 4-3 as they lack LBs that could play that structure. They might have been better off getting a few solid LBs for the same money. They needed a better rush but they did decently with Freeney. They might also have been better off if they'd stuck with him.
Another major change that hasn't gone well was letting Rashad Johnson leave. He was the de facto captain of the secondary. As TM has returned things have not gone smoothly. First they played him deep and moved Jefferson up. Jefferson played well but TM was invisible. In the last game they moved TM up and Jefferson back but TM only had a positive impact on one play that I saw. On another play he covered the wrong receiver and that resulted in a huge completion. Jefferson on the other hand was unfamiliar in the Johnson roll overrunning another play that lead to a Rams' score. The secondary looked disjointed all night. The middle of the field was constantly open. Even though he gave up a few bad completions, Cooper was adequate and PP was fine though he made a mistake or two. Virtually all CBs do. Branch has been barely adequate, and he's a major drop off taking on many of TM's responsibilities. Of course TM's injury left little choice other than signing Branch, so mark that one unavoidable..
The biggest deficiency may be the loss of leadership that resulted from the Johnson departure. In 1999 Lomas Brown, Jamir Miller and Larry Centers were allowed to leave and a good Cards team literally fell apart. A team has to be careful not to undervalue leadership. It's never easy to see it will happen but in the case of Johnson I think the Cards lost leadership they're having trouble replacing.
The draft has been a topic of concern and if you check my posts at the time you will see some of these concerns. NK may yet be a player but for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, he was a bad choice. Pick two went for Jones. I would have made that deal too but it didn't help much. Then pick 3 was used on a player not ready to contribute. Boehm and Toner provide decent depth, but again offer no immediate assistance. So while some of these picks may have long term value, they won't likely impact 2016. Left unaided early spots included LB, TE, CB & OL. Finally the Cards again failed to secure a return man. Think about how you felt when the Cards last chance hinged on getting a good kick return. The Cards never had a chance. Returning kicks is an art, not just a routine function. The Cards undervalue it and field position constantly suffers.
So I'm not sure the Cards can recover this year. Can the pieces adjust their edges enough to fit into a solid configuration? Will the team remain fractured and struggle to mediocre results?
This team has too much talent to have a total disaster, but what impact will this have on Fitz's and Palmer's desire to play next season? With Floyd a near cinch to be gone also it's reasonable to wonder if anything will be left of the passing game in 2017. This may be the start of a major rebuild for this team and they're not starting from a very good place.
In college football momentum often rules the game and one player can take over a game. The more talented team is frequently upset. In the NFL coordination is often more critical. Rarely is it man-to-man abilities. It's much more how a team plays as a team. In this respect the 2016 Cards have failed thus far.
I know this is going to release the hornets, but I think the acquisition of Chandler Jones has hurt the Cardinals. He's more of a 4-3 DE than an OLB. In fact the Cards use him that way. That's how the Cards ended up with Minter covering a RB in pass coverage rather than an OLB. It's not that Jones has played badly, rather it's the Cards lack cover guys for those short routes so critical in third down situations. The Cards can't simply switch to a 4-3 as they lack LBs that could play that structure. They might have been better off getting a few solid LBs for the same money. They needed a better rush but they did decently with Freeney. They might also have been better off if they'd stuck with him.
Another major change that hasn't gone well was letting Rashad Johnson leave. He was the de facto captain of the secondary. As TM has returned things have not gone smoothly. First they played him deep and moved Jefferson up. Jefferson played well but TM was invisible. In the last game they moved TM up and Jefferson back but TM only had a positive impact on one play that I saw. On another play he covered the wrong receiver and that resulted in a huge completion. Jefferson on the other hand was unfamiliar in the Johnson roll overrunning another play that lead to a Rams' score. The secondary looked disjointed all night. The middle of the field was constantly open. Even though he gave up a few bad completions, Cooper was adequate and PP was fine though he made a mistake or two. Virtually all CBs do. Branch has been barely adequate, and he's a major drop off taking on many of TM's responsibilities. Of course TM's injury left little choice other than signing Branch, so mark that one unavoidable..
The biggest deficiency may be the loss of leadership that resulted from the Johnson departure. In 1999 Lomas Brown, Jamir Miller and Larry Centers were allowed to leave and a good Cards team literally fell apart. A team has to be careful not to undervalue leadership. It's never easy to see it will happen but in the case of Johnson I think the Cards lost leadership they're having trouble replacing.
The draft has been a topic of concern and if you check my posts at the time you will see some of these concerns. NK may yet be a player but for a team with Super Bowl aspirations, he was a bad choice. Pick two went for Jones. I would have made that deal too but it didn't help much. Then pick 3 was used on a player not ready to contribute. Boehm and Toner provide decent depth, but again offer no immediate assistance. So while some of these picks may have long term value, they won't likely impact 2016. Left unaided early spots included LB, TE, CB & OL. Finally the Cards again failed to secure a return man. Think about how you felt when the Cards last chance hinged on getting a good kick return. The Cards never had a chance. Returning kicks is an art, not just a routine function. The Cards undervalue it and field position constantly suffers.
So I'm not sure the Cards can recover this year. Can the pieces adjust their edges enough to fit into a solid configuration? Will the team remain fractured and struggle to mediocre results?
This team has too much talent to have a total disaster, but what impact will this have on Fitz's and Palmer's desire to play next season? With Floyd a near cinch to be gone also it's reasonable to wonder if anything will be left of the passing game in 2017. This may be the start of a major rebuild for this team and they're not starting from a very good place.
