Why the Cards continue to Lose

[SissyBoyFloyd]

Offensive line is the key, it's that simple!

To understand how the quality of your OL correlates to success, one only has to look to the Patriots season compared to the Cardinals. The offensive line continues year after year to be one of the main strengths of the Patriots. Compared to the rest of the NFL, the Patriots led the league in pass-block win rate. Their entire unit held its blocks for at least 2.5 seconds on 61.4 percent of dropbacks. That was the best percentage in the NFL. The Cardinals had the worst pass block win rate (38%) in the NFL last season. First in OL win rate leads to a Super Bowl Championship. Last in OL win rate leads to the #1 pick in the next NFL draft.

No rocket science here. If we ever want to win a championship, we must put together a top notch OL across the board. With a top D and a scrambling QB or not (Vikings - from Tarkenton's HoF years to the present), it is hard to become a championship team without a top OL.

So, maybe our latest venture in an air raidering style offence will turn things around for us, but I won't be expecting any real satisfaction until we can say that the Cards have one of the top OL in the league.

Can that ever be accomplished? Well, maybe now the we will have saved so much money compared to other teams by having most of our skilled offensive weapons on rookie contracts. Maybe we can just go out and buy an all pro OL. When Fitz retires that should pay for a couple by itself..

 

[Cardinal]

Patriots starting OL last season

LT Trent Brown 7th round by SF 2015
LG Joe Thurney 3rd round 2016
C David Andrews UDFA 2015
RG Shaq Mason 4th round 2015
RT Marcus Cannon 5th round 2011

 

[blindseyed]

Yep!

 

[blindseyed]

Patriots starting OL last season

LT Trent Brown 7th round by SF 2015
LG Joe Thurney 3rd round 2016
C David Andrews UDFA 2015
RG Shaq Mason 4th round 2015
RT Marcus Cannon 5th round 2011

Not a 1st or 2nd rounder in there, unbelievable

 

[Zeno]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

 

[Delmar M Lewis]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

May just be the coaching in the Pat's case or they know good O linemen I dont know Hell it could just be the water up there

 

[Goldfield]

Ol stats depend on lots of factors. Good QBs get the ball out faster. Bad receivers can’t get open. <~ Cards last year.

 

[Delmar M Lewis]

One thing is certain until both offense and defensive lines are taken care This team will go NO WHERE my main gripe against this draft but there wasnt a really good to great O line man in this draft IMHO certainly not at #1

 

[BW52]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

Unlike here..players who (Iupati)were Pro-Bowlers come here and get injured.Stars who were at the end of their careers (Alan Faneca),others solid players who played well for a year or two then got hurt (Jared Veldheer) or Top pick who got hurt and never was the same (Jonathan Cooper) or having a guy(Leonard Davis) who was paid top OT money who left town and became a PRo_BOWl OG in Dallas.

 

[Brak]

Bill Walsh used to plug ham & eggers into the 49er lines on his championship teams and make it work, year after year. Belichick seems to be able to do the same thing. Is it coaching? Is it scheme? Or is it player evaluation? Probably a little of all 3, but mostly the evaluation factor.

That said - I agree with the OP's premise 100%. A dominant OL is absolutely necessary for success in this league. Look at Indy. Luck had to carry that team for years with a HORRENDOUS line, and it got him beaten up in the process. Finally, last year, they found a blue chip guy in the draft and put together a much better unit, and it made a massive difference in their offensive play.

I like the Cards' draft, as much as it can be liked before anyone has taken a snap, but the lack of focus on fixing the OL is more than a little concerning.

 

[juza76]

Patriots starting OL last season

LT Trent Brown 7th round by SF 2015
LG Joe Thurney 3rd round 2016
C David Andrews UDFA 2015
RG Shaq Mason 4th round 2015
RT Marcus Cannon 5th round 2011

brady is a big advantage
cause is it clears when those players leave boston they get back to their mediocre level

 

[Cardiac]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

I agree that those 3 things are the reason why the Pats Oline does so well. I would add playing calling but one might include that in O system.

We appear to have finally hired a great Oline coach so that should help a lot. I think KK's O system will help a great deal as well. If Murray is all that we've heard then his ability to scramble and gain yards with his feet will cause teams to go with the mush rush and or blitz less.

We have a lot more depth on the Oline this year so hopefully the injury bug won't run through the entire Oline this year.

 

[Goldfield]

Bill Walsh used to plug ham & eggers into the 49er lines on his championship teams and make it work, year after year. Belichick seems to be able to do the same thing. Is it coaching? Is it scheme? Or is it player evaluation? Probably a little of all 3, but mostly the evaluation factor.

That said - I agree with the OP's premise 100%. A dominant OL is absolutely necessary for success in this league. Look at Indy. Luck had to carry that team for years with a HORRENDOUS line, and it got him beaten up in the process. Finally, last year, they found a blue chip guy in the draft and put together a much better unit, and it made a massive difference in their offensive play.

I like the Cards' draft, as much as it can be liked before anyone has taken a snap, but the lack of focus on fixing the OL is more than a little concerning.

I keep reading they didn’t address the Oline. But they brought in 3 guys. 2 starters(Guard & Tackle) and one with starting experience to be the main backup. That isn’t exactly doing nothing to address a need.

 

[Zeno]

I agree that those 3 things are the reason why the Pats Oline does so well. I would add playing calling but one might include that in O system.

We appear to have finally hired a great Oline coach so that should help a lot. I think KK's O system will help a great deal as well. If Murray is all that we've heard then his ability to scramble and gain yards with his feet will cause teams to go with the mush rush and or blitz less.

We have a lot more depth on the Oline this year so hopefully the injury bug won't run through the entire Oline this year.

I realize it was in college but Tx Tech QBs had among the lowest sack % in the FBS, maybe the play calling here will do for us what it does in NE, I realize that isn’t likely but it gives me hope.

 

[mwanamatapa]

The Patriots have the best oline coach in the league. When he retired a few years back their line play wasn't as good so they brought him back from retirement. Sean Kugler is meant to be one of the best hopefully he can get the oline going in the right direction and that they stay healthy for a change.

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[Delmar M Lewis]

Unlike here..players who (Iupati)were Pro-Bowlers come here and get injured.Stars who were at the end of their careers (Alan Faneca),others solid players who played well for a year or two then got hurt (Jared Veldheer) or Top pick who got hurt and never was the same (Jonathan Cooper) or having a guy(Leonard Davis) who was paid top OT money who left town and became a PRo_BOWl OG in Dallas.

You forgot the all world Levi Brown instead of AP he should have a 3rd rounder at the earliest

 

[TheCardFan]

Bad drafting and bad coaching are the reasons we have sucked for so many years (bad ownership/leadership as well until MB).

 

[Chopper0080]

This is a valid concern.

 

[Cardinal]

Bill Walsh used to plug ham & eggers into the 49er lines on his championship teams and make it work, year after year. Belichick seems to be able to do the same thing. Is it coaching? Is it scheme? Or is it player evaluation? Probably a little of all 3, but mostly the evaluation factor.

That said - I agree with the OP's premise 100%. A dominant OL is absolutely necessary for success in this league. Look at Indy. Luck had to carry that team for years with a HORRENDOUS line, and it got him beaten up in the process. Finally, last year, they found a blue chip guy in the draft and put together a much better unit, and it made a massive difference in their offensive play.

I like the Cards' draft, as much as it can be liked before anyone has taken a snap, but the lack of focus on fixing the OL is more than a little concerning.

To be fair, Luck with a crappy O-Line still had tons of success.

Luck led the Colts to an 11-5 record each of his first three years in the league. They even went to the AFC championship his 3rd season.

Luck’s injuries were mainly due to his unwillingness to protect himself on scrambles and even interceptions. He reinjured his shoulder trying to tackle Aqib Talib on a interception return and lacerated his kidney while running for a 1st down.

 

[PACardsFan]

As earlier stated, there are so many variables that go into creating a great OL. Talent, coaching, scheme, QB, receivers, RB’s, etc, etc. I still maintain that KK’s schemes & KM’s overall skill set will automatically improve on what we saw last year. Is that enough? Probably not. But you can’t build a championship team in 1 year. As long as the point differential isn’t like last year (-200 pts), then I’m fine with a 5-6 win season next year. Personally, I think we can be in the 6-8 range, but I hate being overly optimistic.

 

[slanidrac16]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

Bingo!

 

[DRM08]

Patriots OL is an enigma. Average OL players go there and become stars, star OL players leave there and become average. A lot of it has to do with that offensive system, Brady and the coaching...there is no other explanation.

Brady has a super quick release and obviously genius level understanding of how to read defenses. Makes the OL look better than they are, especially at LT. I bet the LT who just got paid huge money by the Raiders won’t look anywhere near as good with Carr as the QB.

 

[thightower34]

I keep reading they didn’t address the Oline. But they brought in 3 guys. 2 starters(Guard & Tackle) and one with starting experience to be the main backup. That isn’t exactly doing nothing to address a need.

The FAs have injury histories


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[JeffGollin]

Sissy Boy - I agree with your proposed remedies, but don't buy your initial assumption.

The Cards don't "continue to lose." We've had roughly 2 years of losing seasons - one due to injuries followed bt the Wilks disaster.

In both the winning and losing years leading up to this, a strong case can be made that we've neglected the building of our OL. (Note - I can already hear the counter-argument that cherrypicks the exception; i.e. stuff like: "We signed a FA left tackle, therefore the entire OL is fixed." It doesn't work that way.

Doesn't matter whether it's injuries, poor coaching or bad drafts. Consider ithe OL our #1 priority and FIX IT!