SB Nation - Bryant McFadden

Post Game Reaction: Arizona Cardinals Upset Minnesota Vikings 30-17

Andrew602 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:22:23 -0000

More photos » by Ross Franklin - AP

Arizona Cardinals' Anquan Boldin (81) gets past Minnesota Vikings' Cedric Griffin and heads for a touchdown in the second quarter.

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After the heart-breaking loss to Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans just a week ago, the Arizona Cardinals understood just how important a win today would be. The Vikings were 10-1 heading into Sunday's game and looked like the most complete team in the NFL.

The game began with a Tim Hightower fumble on the second play of the day. Brett Favre and the Vikings offense easily walked their way down to the 3 yard line on their opening drive. An overturned challenge gave Visanthe Shiancoe a 3 yard touchdown catch to give the Vikings the early lead. After a Steve Breaston 64-yard punt return, Kurt Warner found Anquan Boldin for a two yard score. The Cardinals had their way with the Vikings secondary for most of the game and Kurt Warner threw for 2 more touchdowns to give the Cardinals the win.

The Positives:

- The defense came to play. The Cardinals defense wiped any memory they had of last weeks performance and dominated the Vikings high-powered offense. Adrian Peterson was held to 13 carries for 19 yards, while Brett Favre was picked off twice and had a quarterback rating of 79.4. The Cardinals defensive line also found ways to penetrate into the backfield and sacked Favre 3 times on the night.

- The offensive line protection/blocking was great. Even with starting left tackle Mike Gandy missing the game, back up Jeremy Bridges filled in with an impressive performance. The Cardinals didn't allow one sack to a defensive line featuring Jared Allen and Kevin Williams. A larger part of the success went to the tight end and running back help, something Ken Whisenhunt shied away from at the beginning of the season. The Cardinals also managed to run for 113 yards on the night, something most teams have had trouble achieving against the Vikings defense.

- Kurt Warner showed no signs of post-concussion symtoms.After missing the last 6 quarters of play because of a concussion he suffered three games ago, Kurt Warner had a fantastic night. He was 22 of 32 for 285 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 127.7. Warner was able to read what the defense very well and put the ball on the money throughout the game. With Warner returning, Anquan Boldin had his best game of the season receiving 98 yards with 2 touchdowns.

- The all-red jerseys continue to help. Ken Whisenhunt may want to continue wearing the all-red look. The Cardinals have won their last two home games in dominant fashion and I personally think they look better.

The Negatives:

- The Cardinals settled for more field goals then TDs in the red zone. Usually Warner and Co. have no problem putting 7 on the scoreboard when in the red zone. Tonight the Cardinals went 1 for 4 and only scored 9 points in the second half because of that. Luckily the Vikings were not able to keep the game close. Settling for more field goals then touchdowns is not something this team can do if they want to continue winning games.

- Depth in the secondary continues to be a concern.The Cardinals lack of depth/talent beyond Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Adrian Wilson, and Antrel Rolle has become a pressing issue the last few games. Bryant McFadden had trouble defending outside passes and Michael Adams size allowed a late touchdown to Percy Harvin. Teams will continue to take advantage if the Cardinals cannot fix this problem.

Final Thoughts

Overall the Cardinals we all know and love decided to show up on Sunday and played tough enough to beat the red-hot Vikings. Kurt Warner showed why he gives the Cardinals the best chance to win the game, while the defense revealed their true potential. The 49ers also lost today keeping the Cardinals NFC West lead at 3 games, although next week's Monday night football showdown will still be crucial for the Cardinals chances of clinching the division and improving their playoff seeding. What are your thoughts on the game?

Kurt Warner and Matt Leinart Split Reps in Practice 50/50

Hawkwind — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:00:42 -0000

by Mark Humphrey - AP

Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner split reps 50/50 during practice today. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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The good news is that Kurt Warner says the foggy vision, residual effects from a concussion sustained against the Rams, is gone now . The better news is that he and Matt Leinart still split reps 50/50 at practice just in case Warner isn't ready for Sunday nights matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings. Ken Whisenhunt is taking a more cautious route this week after Warner took all of the reps last week but Warner is optimistic about playing this week.

News that isn't so good is that Mike Gandy is in jeporady of missing Sunday's game, which means that Jeremy Bridges will likely start in his place. To make matters even more interesting, Levi Brown also took reps at left tackle, in the event that Bridges goes down during the game. The last domino effected will be Brandon Keith who would step in at right tackle if Brown moves over (so needless to say he'll be active for the first time this year). Will Davis and Stephen Spach also missed practice while Tim Hightower, Bryant McFadden, Kenny Iwebema and Neil Rackers were all limited. Karlos Dansby, despite nursing injuries in both shoulders, fully participated in practice.

Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs Tennessee Titans

Andrew602 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:00:11 -0000

by Wade Payne - AP

Arizona Cardinals' Calais Campbell (93) and Bertrand Berry (92) stay on the field after the Tennessee Titans scored a touchdown in the final moments of an NFL football game Sunday.

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Arizona Cardinal punter Ben Graham had just pinned the Titans back at their 1 yard line with 2:37 remaining on the clock. With two timeouts left Vince Young and the Titans offense marched down the field, with Young completing 9 of 16 passes for 94 yards and the game-winning touchdown. The Titans also were 3-3 on 4th downs, including the touchdown pass that sealed the Cardinals fate. That itself should sum up the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday.

Defensive Line - The Cardinals defensive line played an intense game, containing Vince Young and sacking him 4 times after the Titans offensive line had only allowed 7 sacks on the year(season low). Darnell Dockett was the constant force of pressure, bringing down Young 3 times, giving him 7 sacks on the year. They also did a respectable job of limiting Chris Johnson, until he was able to break the big one in the second half for 85 yards. The problem on the day was that the Cardinals may have not forced enough pressure, as Vince Young was able to throw for 387 yards and had his way with the defense.

Linebackers - The Cardinals linebackers were already banged up before the game, with Chike Okeafor, Karlos Dansby, and Gerald Hayesall being limited in practice the last few weeks. It's no surprise that one of them was going to leave the game(Dansby) by injury. They also were particularly solid at slowing Chris Johnson, but running is running and at the end of the day, the Cardinals allowed 154 rushing yards to Johnson. The Cardinals linebackers also had a hard time covering the flats and Young exploited that when they were playing zone coverage. The Cardinals linebackers need to get healthy fast with Adrian Peterson coming to town on Sunday night.

Defensive backs - Vince Young - a quarterback who's known for making plays with his legs - threw for 387 yards for 1 touchdown on Sunday. In all fairness, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had a good game, limiting the receivers he covered and batting away 3 passes. Adrian Wilson also played well against the run and did a good job spying Young. Bryant McFaddencontinued to struggle and missed the ball when the Titans faced 4th down for the first time on their game-winning drive. McFadden has had tough showings the past three weeks and teams seem be targetinghim more. It's difficult to put your finger on what exactly the problems with the secondary are. Whether it's personel or coaching, Bill Davis needs to put together better game plans against teams that can pass the ball.

My defensive grade: D

They held the Titans to 6 points in the first half and limited Chris Johnson until the 85 yard run. They're failure to get just one stop on 4th down is what really hurt them and ended the Cardinals chanced of improving to 8-3. What grade did you give the Cardinals defense and why? What should Bill Davis be doing differently?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

A

7 votes

B

17 votes

C

61 votes

D

73 votes

F

43 votes

201 votes | Poll has closed

Interview With Pro Football Focus Reveals Excellent Analysis, New Jinx

ncoolong — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:51:14 -0000

BTSC writer Neal Coolong met up with one of the writers of Pro Football Focus, a web site dedicated to providing thorough and detailed statistics on every NFL player in every game. Neil and six other members of the site have been in existence since 2007, and were recently mentioned in SI writer Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column (beating Coolong to the punch, he's yelled at King since then). The interview took place over several emails in the past two weeks, here are the highlights:

NC: First off, thanks for doing this. I'll admit, when a co-worker of mine gave me the link to this site, my productivity at work was reduced greatly. So maybe I shouldn't be thanking you. But if I'm pissed at anyone, it's at Peter King for beating me to giving you guys the recognition I feel you deserve (No. 8 of 10 Things I Think I Think). Who does he think he is, anyway? Give me a little background. Who are you guys? How many people do you have on staff? How long has the site been up?

PFF: The site in some form or another has been up since 2006. In it’s initial guise it was more a vehicle for displaying my limited data than anything else. There’s a whole section on how we got going in the "About" tab under the "History" section which explains a lot more about how we started.

At the moment we have 7 guys working on the site. Interestingly (or perhaps shockingly) all bar one of us are based outside the US with the majority of us based in the UK.

NC: That brings me to the issue of grading, which is thoroughly explained here.

I'll paraphrase you, "We are not grading style or technique; just result...We've all heard the terms knee-bender, stiff hips, inconsistent footwork or over-extension etc. but as far as we're concerned it doesn't matter whether you know what they mean or not. All we care about is the result."

So you're grading the pure results of the play, black and white, win or lose. Personally, I love that approach in terms of ranking an evaluating individual players. Answer me this, though, in particular reference to the defensive backs, do you feel the amount of statistical data you keep on each player fairly takes into account the roles of that particular player in that particular defense?

For example, Ike Taylor and William Gay play in a different defensive scheme than, say, Antoine Winfield. While I am not surprised Winfield scores as highly as he does, do you feel your evaluations hold up when compared to his peers? Is it fair? Or is your intention more to show the results of individual players, without the concern of how they stack up against their peers?

PFF: I don’t think we’ll ever get a full view on secondary or WR play until the NFL allow us access to game film so we can actually grade each player on each play (I’m led to believe hell will be freezing over shortly so we should be OK). I think until then everything is a fudge to some degree, regardless of the scheme.

That said I think we do more than anyone else with equal access. Most people who delve into advanced type stats will just note down whose in coverage on a play. While we also compile the base stats for coverage we do it more for completeness than anything else. The truth of the matter is we try to use a combination of factors when rating CBs but go more off our grading than anything. The base statistics can tell a lot of lies regardless of whether the coverage is zone, man or some combination. Let me give you a few examples:

A team run a WR screen at a CB who is in man coverage. The CB is double-teamed by screen blocks and can do nothing but because of missed tackles by other players the screen goes for 80 yards and a TD. The CB was clearly in coverage and hence the yardage goes against him.
A CB is beaten badly for a reception but the WR then drops the ball.
Another CB is beaten badly and gives up a 70 yard TD by peeking in the backfield (Chris McAlister has patent pending on this) but the play is called back on a holding call

In the first of these the CB has done nothing wrong and is penalised by having 80 yards and a TD logged against him. In the latter two the CB has been poor but is rewarded with incomplete passes to his credit. Obviously in our grading the CB would not be penalised in the first but marked down significantly in the others.

To come back to the original question of schemes, I think the situation with CBs is fairly straight forward. The CB almost always has initial responsibility for the man across from them, he starts off in their zone and to all intents and purposes is in man coverage until such time as he’s handed off to a LB (on a crossing route) or a Safety (on a deeper route). As soon as he’s handed the guy off (and that point is normally very easy to judge) he no longer has responsibility. So the CB stats, taking into account my reservations above, are pretty accurate from a standpoint of responsibility and performance.

So I guess the question is back to you… can you give me an example where or why you think a Steeler CB may be at a disadvantage in our ratings? We were pretty high on both Bryant McFadden and William Gay last year.

NC: I wasn't suggesting they were at a disadvantage, I was simply using the Steelers players in a 3-4 zone blitzing scheme as opposed to Antoine Winfield, who plays in a Cover 2. I'd likely be hunted down and beaten up if I brought up Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph.

But since you mentioned Bryant McFadden, and I felt he was a very strong producer on last year's Super Bowl team, do you feel his play has really fallen off that much (currently 79th on your CB rankings)? William Gay hasn't produced, per your stats, nearly as much this year as he did last year.

I'm gonna have to plant a phrase on you: The Pro Football Focus Jinx. For Steelers Players. Cornerbacks in Particular.

There maybe something to be said for an overall scheme benefitting an individual players skills more than another, but that's a separate issue. Lemme ask you this, do you think you could apply your approach on Pro Football Focus to coaching? Do you think there is a measurable way to analyze coaches, beyond the normal wins/losses metrics? I understand any coach will tell you wins are all that matters, but do you think there is a statistical measurement for coaches?

PFF: Certainly Bryant doesn’t look as solid as he was last year. In 2009 he was in coverage for 344 snaps, gave up 342 yards and a TD, defensed 5 passes and intercepted a further 2. In addition he held up well in run defense and was pretty consistent in terms of having very few off days but never particularly setting the world on fire. It was therefore no surprise at all when he was picked up by the Cards who’d got a bit fed up with Rod Hood’s inconsistency and having two corners playing in that style (I’m not sure anybody thinks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will stop being "mercurial" any time soon) was a liability.

That said he appears to have morphed from a relatively safe pair of hands into Rod Hood II. Even excluding the W10 game vs. Seattle, Bryant has already been in coverage only 23 snaps less than last year and has had some decent performances but also some bad games. So far he has been marginally better than Rod Hood in 2008 but isn’t as sure as he was last year for you guys. In those 321 snaps he hasn’t given up a TD and he’s defensed 8 passes which is great but he’s also given up 467 yards including 171 YAC. All this suggests a more aggressive approach since the move and I’ve seen that on tape too.

Regarding William Gay I’d just be a little cautious when using the rankings in that way (a few points is very insignificant) and what we’ve seen is a reasonably average NFL corner who has had some good days (most notably against the Chargers) but has been less effective of late. Last year he was above average but as a part-time player and he’s already had a good couple of games worth of snaps in coverage more than last year.

If you wish to talk jinx it’s not the Steelers who should be concerned…… we’ve had a far more negative effect on the Bengals at a player level. We name Evan Mathis and Keith Rivers to our mid-season All-Pro and both are injured. You should be paying us to put their CBs on the team too!

On the coaching question it’s something I notice analyzing games; the whole play is executed well but it doesn’t work… at all. You wonder what they were thinking when they drew it up. That said it doesn’t happen often enough to be significant in my view and as we break down each play, 95% of the time I’d guess, a play works or fails because individual players either blow assignments or do something extraordinary. Obviously this is a coaching responsibility too for either a) not getting someone good enough to do the job b)not teaching them well enough or c)not motivating them sufficiently to see it through.

I suppose something we could do to check at a strategy level what coaches are performing (although I have absolutely no idea as to how relevant it might be) is to compare overall team performances on offense and defense with records. For example I would contend the Saints have a lot of below average players on defense (and some very good ones in the secondary) but haven’t lost a game and rank 17th in points allowed and 21st in defense. It might be expected that they would be a bit worse than that.

NC: Well, we still may see Cincinnati in the playoffs, so there's still time. How much would it cost to ensure the ratings of Joseph, Hall and their impressive nickel back, Morgan Trent, go way down? I'll get with Blitzburgh (our publisher) and work out some kind of payment. I'm not talking dismemberment or death here, just maybe like a debilitating stomach flu...

Obviously with the amount of games/plays you're watching on a regular basis, you have to develop a sense of overall teams as well. You mentioned the Saints, do you think they are the best team in football through nine weeks? Does any team have a clear advantage over the field in terms of Super Bowl contention right now?

PFF: It’s interesting because no team is without some significant weakness and I could genuinely still see 13 teams winning. My Preseason pick was the Vikings, mostly because of their defense but as it turned out their offense has been better than suspected and their defense worse.

I’m really sorry to tell you this but regardless of last weeks result I still think the Steelers are the best team in the AFC (and probably the NFL); just too much balance, too many quality players in every unit. Apologies for damning you to a season without playoffs.

In the NFC it’s difficult to look past the Saints but the cracks that have always been in the defense are starting to widen and I’m not going to get off an 8-1 horse at this stage.

NC: I was like you, I called the Steelers and Vikings at the beginning of training camp (pre-Favre) and it was because of the defense of those teams. Both of the Steelers recent championship teams had slides at or right after the mid-season point. There's still a ton of football to be played.

There seems to be enough football to play, and a tight enough race to wonder who will be league MVP. Who's your horse in that race?

PFF: For me MVP is all about what would happen if you remove that player from the team. We saw last year without Brady the Patriots were still functional as were the Steelers when Ben was hurt. Minnesota was still a playoff team without Favre. I think the same would be true this year too.

Without Brees and Manning I don’t think either the Saints or the Colts are over .5 and truthfully I believe the Colts record would be 2-7 not 9-0. When we analyze QBs we grade each pass and In the past we have seen games where we have not given Peyton a single negative mark. I think he’s likely to go down as the best of all time and a worthy MVP in 2009.

On a lighter note the most ridiculous comment I’ve ever heard was a sentence from Dan Patrick in SI which started with the phrase "It’s debatable which Manning brother is the better QB………"

NC: Almost as ridiculous as the idea that Kansas City would beat Pittsburgh...any given Sunday, right?

PFF: I’m really sorry, as soon as I said "I liked the Steelers in the AFC", I knew something like this would happen.

NC: Ok, we're blaming you.

Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. St Louis Rams

Hawkwind — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:08:47 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Curry - AP

Rams QB Marc Bulger is pulled down by Arizona Cardinals safety Antrel Rolle as Calais Campbell looks on during the first quarter. (AP Photo/Jeff Curry)

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The Arizona Cardinals defense continues to impress, under new coordinator Bill Davis, and on Sunday they limited the St. Louis Rams to just 13 points and dominated for most of the game despite missing multiple starters. Granted the Rams aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut but the Cardinals' "bend but don't break" game plan is starting to work very well. After this week the defense ranks just 21st in yards per game but a very respectable (and remarkably improved) 11th in points per game.

A couple of quick stats before we get into the defensive breakdown:

Two of the Rams' scoring drives, accounting for ten points, started in Cardinals territory thanks to turnovers from the offense.
The Rams had four four-and-out drives and seven drives that accounted for 30 yards or less.

Run Defense: The box score say Steven Jackson racked up 116 yards on 24 carries (4.8 ypc) so we certainly can't give the defense a big "atta-boy" but overall the run defense was better than the overall numbers would suggest. Although they didn't stop a single run behind the line of scrimmage, almost half of Jackson's yards came on one big 48 yard scamper meaning outside of that run he averaged 3.0 yards per carry. The run defense was also very stout in short yardage situations stopping the Rams on three out of four times in third or fourth-and-one opportunities. Karlos Dansby led the way with nine tackles and the return of Gerald Hayes had a significant impact as well.

Pass Defense: The secondary lost Bryant McFadden relatively early in the game but still did a good job of causing Marc Bulger all kind of trouble. He completed just 51.4% of his passes and his yards per attempt (5.8) and QB rating (57.8) were both below his season averages. With McFadden on the sidelines, the Rams picked on his replacement, Micheal Adams, a bit but the defense were still able to lower their yards per game average. Adrian Wilson also forced the only Rams turnover when he picked off Bulger in the second quarter.

Pass Rush: The Cardinals continue to get to the quarterback using a pass rush by committee approach with Will Davis, Darnell Dockett and Antrel Rolle getting into the mix this week. No player on the team has reached five sacks yet but eight different defenders have recorded multiple sacks and twelve different players in all have taken down a QB at least once this season. Bill Davis continues to use his pieces well and his defense does a good of getting to the quarterback without having to bring heavy blitzes. The Cardinals currently rank 6th in team sacks with 28.

Honor Roll:

Gabe Watson: Watson still hasn't regained the starting nose tackle job but it seems like he might be getting more and more snaps as the season progresses and he played well in this game. He made four solo tackles and Jackson ran for a grand total of three yards on those plays, including two that went for no gain.

Antrel Rolle: Rolle continues to play well and he logged the first sack of Bulger (although the NFL hasn't assigned the sack to him yet). Rushing the passer isn't Rolle's forte but he's athletic enough to create havoc once he gets into the backfield. Five tackles isn't a big game for Rolle but he's a big reason why the Rams weren't able to score a big play in the passing game.

Adrian Wilson: I know A-dub could be on this list every week but after picking off another pass for the second week in a row, I just couldn't leave him off. While he hasn't blitzed as much this season, Wilson is just one interception from matching his career high of four.

Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell: This defensive end duo continues to create a great deal of havoc. Nine-0 has logged a sack in three consecutive games and forced his first fumble of the season on the Rams final offensive play. Not much is expected, stat-wise, from defensive ends in a 3-4 defense but this duo continues to shoulder their fair share of the workload.

Michael Adams: Adams filled in for McFadden once he went down and it was pretty clear that Bulger and company were going to pick on him early and often. At times Adams struggled in coverage but Adams showed the tenacity and grit that earned him a roster spot. He's fearless run supporter and in time may develop into a decent nickel corner.

------------------------------------------------------------------

All in all the defense logged another game where they gave their offense every opportunity to win the game. The yardage totals continue to look high but as long as they're keeping teams out of the endzone, we can't complain too much. Thoughts?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

A

34 votes

B

155 votes

C

51 votes

D

4 votes

F

2 votes

246 votes | Poll has closed

Rams vs Cardinals: Gameday notes & injury report

VanRam — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:23:26 -0000

by Dave Weaver - AP

Can this man single-handedly stop Texas...and just how would he look with Golden Horns on his helmet?

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Don't count on injuries to give the St. Louis Rams a break today. The visiting Arizona Cardinals won't likely be sitting many player when they take drop into the Ed Jones Dome today.

RIght now, it looks like the only player out for Arizona is LB Chike Okeafor. The questionable list includes: CB Michael Adams (hamstring), LB Karlos Dansby (shoulder), T Mike Gandy (pelvis), LB Gerald Hayes (back), CB Bryant McFadden (ankle), WR Sean Morey (head), TE Ben Patrick (knee).

The Rams will be without DE Victor Adeyanju and OG Richie Incognito. As we've mentioned, the Adeyanju injury leaves them thin at defensive line. DE Chris Long is the only player listed as questionable, and Spagnuolo made it sound as though that would be a game time decision.

Continuing on the o-line theme form 3k's post yesterday, the PD has a look at the unit. No surprises there. This is a really strong group for the Rams now, with the potential to get better. One thing that's really helped the Rams this year is the depth. Adam Goldberg has started all but one game this season.

The Cardinals are kind of sneaky good again this season, winning five of their last six with the league's fifth best passing offense. It'll be a big day for our secondary.

Stray thoughts on college football

I watched the Mississippi State at Arkansas game yesterday, and three players really stood out. The obvious is Ryan Mallett. He's an accurate and strong QB, smart too, but needs to develop his ability to find other receivers when his guys are covered up too tightly. Surely, he stays in another season. Arkansas WR Cobi Hamilton, a freshman, is one helluva receiver. I was really impressed with Mississippi State running back Anthony Dixon. He reminded me of Steven Jackson, similar moves and style. There's probably a reason for that: Sylvester Croom, the former Bulldogs head coach who was hired as the Rams running backs coach this season. Croom isn't getting enough credit for Jackson's big season, but he should be.

Les Miles, seriously?

Ndamukong Suh will get a national stage when Nebraska is sacrificed to Texas in the Big 12 championship game. I still think it could be a pretty interesting game, and I look forward to watching what he can do against one of college football's elite teams.

Michigan got beat by guys in sweatpants...Rodriguez has to go now.

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams: 5 Keys to Success

Andrew602 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:08:13 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

Having linebacker Gerald Hayes back from injury will be key for the Cardinals run defense to contain Steven Jackson.

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When the Arizona Cardinals take the field at the Edward Jones Dome to face the division rival St. Louis Rams, a 6-3 record and the possibility of going 3-1 in the division will be on the line. After nearly blowing another home game to the lowly Seattle Seahawks last week, the Cardinals know that they can't take any opponent for granted, no matter how bad their season has been. So far this year, the Cardinals haven't fell asleep on the road, starting 4-0. Let's take a look at the keys to the game.

1. Slow Steven Jackson: We all know that the Rams best player is running back Steven Jackson. He's currently third in the NFL with 915 rushing yards and has played even better the last few weeks. The one area the Cardinals have struggled at the last 3 weeks has been defending the run. They allowed a whopping 270 rushing yards to the Panthers, and 140 yards to the Seahawks - however, both games were at home. One important stat to take notice of, is that Jackson has only 2 rushing touchdowns on the year. He may get his usual yardage, but if the Cardinals can keep him out of the end zone they'll have a better chance of winning the game.

2. Get rid of them penalties!: The Cardinals committed 11 penalties against the Seahawks last week, for 136 yards, which was 12.3 yards per penalty. As we all know, penalties are drive-killers/momentum-killers. Ken Whisenhunt was on top of his team midway through last season, as the team cut down on committing them. This season is different, and the Cardinals will need to play smarter on Sunday, and for the remainder of the season.

3. Go for the kill: It may sound cliche, but the Cardinals typically keep games a lot closer then they should. Facing a team like the Rams is like corning an animal in desperation - they'll do anything they can to stay alive. The Cardinals need to keep their foot on the neck(not the elbow) and not let the Rams back into this game. And as a note for Ken Whisenhunt, please don't put Matt Leinart in unless the game is completely out of reach.

4. Solid play from secondary: The defensive backs have each had their issues this year, whether it be DRC early in the season, Wilson against Greg Olsen, or Bryant McFadden last week. On Sunday, they need to establish some consistency and not give up the big play. The Rams could use the same game plan the Seahawks used, and attack McFadden. He'll need to get back to what he does best, which is being a physical corner, and know where the ball is at all times. The Rams have burners at receiver, so the Cardinals must be ready.

5. Balance on offense: In the last two wins the Cardinals have relied heavily on their offense to win the games. Part of that has been possible because of the new found rushing attack. They've had over 100 yards rushing two straight games for the first time this year. The name "wear and tear", given to Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower by linebacker Clark Haggans has some meaning. Hightower opens the game and wears out the defense with his relentlessness, pass blocking, and receiving, while Wells comes in the game to tear through the defense as he did last week. With a running game in tact, the Cardinals can air it out to their receivers much more effectively.

If the Cardinals can make these keys to the game possible, they should win on Sunday against a weaker Rams squad. Winning Sunday will also keep them further away from the San Francisco 49ers, who play on the road as well against the Green Bay Packers. What are your keys to the game and why?

Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams: Injury Report

Hawkwind — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:20:40 -0000

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

Arizona Cardinals ~~wide receiver~~ special teams ace Sean Morey continues to deal the after effects of a concussion. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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As the season wears on the Arizona Cardinals injury report seems to get longer and longer and this week is no exception. In all there were 13 players listed on the report with four DNP's, eight limited particpations and a single player who was listed but participated fully. Duece Lutui is officially on the report because he missed practice but it wasn't injury related so we can assume that he'll be back at practice today. Joining him on the DNP list are Bryant McFadden (ankle), Chike Okeafor (back) and Michael Adams (hamstring). On the limited side were Steve Breaston (knee), Karlos Dansby (shoulder), Mike Gandy (pelvis), Gerald Hayes (back), Kenny Iwebema (knee), Sean Morey (head), Ben Patrick (knee) and Adrian Wilson (groin). Reggie Wells continues to be on the report with a broken thumb but he's yet to miss any practice or game time because of the injury.

Needless to say that's quite a bit of talent standing on the sidelines, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Five of the eleven starters missed at least some of practice yesterday, including three of our four linebackers, so hopefully this was just a day where Ken Whisenhunt took it easy on some veterans. It's good to see Hayes back in practice, even if just on a limited basis, and there is some hope that he'll be ready to go by Sunday. Okeafor is a guy we'll have to continue to monitor as his back continues to give him problems. He's missed two games already this season and he's one of the more consistent pass rusher. If he's unable to go then his OLB spot will again be filled by a combination of Bertrand Berry and rookie Will Davis.

The Rams injury list isn't nearly as long but there are some key names.

Did Not Practice:

G Richie Incognito (foot)
DE Chris Long (knee)

Limited Participation:

C.J. Ah You (knee)
DE James Hall (back)
DE Leonard Little (knee)
DT Clifton Ryan (toe)

Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle Seahawks

Hawkwind — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:30:11 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

Arizona Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson does his best Superman impersonation while intercepting a shuffle pass from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck during the final minutes of the Cardinals' 31-20 win. (AP Photo/Paul Connors)

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In what's becoming a bit of a trend, the Arizona Cardinals defense had some up and down moments throughout their game against the Seattle Seahawks. On the upside, they allowed just only 20 points but on the downside they gave up 472 yards of total offense to a unit that was averaging less than 340 yards per game. The defense also harrassed and sacked Matt Hasselbeck four times but allowed relatively unknown Justin Forsett to rush for over 120 yards. All in all thought the bottom line is that their effort was good enough to win and they made some very important plays when they needed to perserve the lead.

Rush Defense: What else can you really say? Forsett, a seventh round pick from a year ago with 20 career carries coming into the game, basically ripped up the Cardinals front seven from start to finish. In total he carried the ball 17 times, with six of those rushes going for at least ten yards. Since the Hawks didn't trail by two scores until the the latter half of the 4th quarter, they were able to keep the running game a factor for most of the game. In addition to Forsett's yardage the Hawks got another 41 yards on a combined seven carries from Julius Jones (who suffered a terrible injury), Louis Rankin and Matt Hasselbeck. In total they racked up 164 yards on the ground on 24 carries (a gaudy 6.8 ypc average) while only losing yards on two of those carries. The Cardinals rush defense has fallen to eighth in the league and with Stephen Jackson, Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson coming in the next three weeks, they'll need a much better effort to stay inside the top ten.

Pass Defense: This might be a hard stance to defend but I think the Cardinals pass defense was at least decent on Sunday. Sure, Hasselbeck threw for over 300 yards but he also only completed 50% of his passes, threw more picks than touchdowns and had a QB rating under 60. Digging a little bit deeper, 84 of his 315 passing yards on the day came on two mistakes by Bryant McFadden, but more on that later. Most of Hasselbeck's game was limited to short passes, as evidence by his yard per attempt number of 6.1, and the pressure that the front seven was able to apply certainly had an influence on his performance. The overall yardage number is tough to ignore but considering that it took 52 pass attempts to barely break 300 yards, I'd still consider it a decent performance by the secondary.

McFadden's Tough Day: If there was one guy who had a tough day on Sunday, it was Bryant McFadden. He not only was personally responsible for the Hawks two biggest offensive plays but he also accounted for three penalties totaling 51 yards. The first big play allowed, a 53 yard pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh, was simply a case of McFadden never finding the ball. By the time he turned his head to locate the ball, it was in Housh's hands and McFadden had to grab a handful of facemask to get him to the ground. It total the play moved the Hawks from their own one yard line to the Cardinals' 31 and they would score thier first touchdown five plays later. His next big mistake was a bit less obvious but head coach Ken Whisenhunt confirmed it yesterday during his press conference. On the Seahawks second touchdown the Cardinals secondary was in a "three deep" defense and it was McFadden's job to cover anyone who went deep on his side. Somehow though he overlooked John Carlson streaking down the seam and the pass ended up going for a 31 yard touchdown. Blown coverages are going to happen at every level of football but this combined with a couple more poor plays really highlighted a bad day at the office for McFadden.

Pinning the Seahawks Deep: One thing that I think has gotten overlooked so far is where the Seahawks had to start most of their drives and once you see this you may look at their yardage totals a bit differently. The Hawks had 13 drives in this game and their average starting field position was their own 19, but even that doesn't tell the whole story. Four of those 13 drives started inside the Hawks' five yard line, including back to back drives that started at their own one yard line, and nine of the 13 drives started at or inside their own 20. Pinning them that deep is a testament to not only Ben Graham and the Cardinals special team coverage units, but also the Cardinals offense. When the offense doesn't turn the ball over they take a tremendous amount of pressure off this defense and making an opposing offense drive the length of the field really helps the "bend but don't break" philosophy.

Honor Roll:

Will Davis: We haven't talked much about him even though there's a large segment of the Cardinal-fandom that lists OLB as our biggest need heading into next years draft, but Davis is playing really well. Officially he had just one tackle but if watch the tape he's starting to show up more and more. With Chike Okeafor sidelined with an injury, Davis was splitting time with Bertand Berry and he was able to pressure Hasselbeck a couple of times and looks fairly comfortable in his role at outside linebacker. All in all not a bad rookie season for our sixth round pick.

Clark Haggans: Perhaps the games's defensive MVP, Haggans registered two sacks and six total tackles. We didn't expect a great deal from him but so far he leads the team in sacks and is on pace for his best season since 2006.

Antrel Rolle: Somebody must be whispering in Rolle's ear about the possibility of big dollars in his future because Rolle is finally turning into a bona-fide playmaker. He once again led the team in tackles and his pick of Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter was the first of two nails in the Hawks' coffin.

Karlos Dansby and Darnell Dockett: I almost didn't want to list these guys considering that the Seahawks ran all over the Cardinals front seven but Dansby and Nine-0 were instumental in the pressuring of Hasselbeck. Dansby carried the load without Gerald Hayes in the lineup and finished with eight tackles and half a sack. Dockett registered half a sack as well and finished with six tackles of his own.

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Considering the defense was missing two starters, I still look at this as a positive game for them as a whole. There are some aspects that can certainly be improved upon but overall I think this kind of effort/outcome gives this team a chance to win more often than not. Thoughts?

Poll

How would you grade the Arizona Cardinals defense?

A

5 votes

B

111 votes

C

136 votes

D

8 votes

F

9 votes

269 votes | Poll has closed

Post Game Reaction: Cardinals Beat Seahawks 31-20 With Second Half Effort

Andrew602 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:29:17 -0000

More photos » by Paul Connors - AP

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had trouble getting away from Cardinals defenders. Hasselbeck was sacked four times on the day.

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Just as the headline states, the Arizona Cardinals were able to come back after trailing early in the game. In the first quarter the Cardinals found themselves going for a 4th and 1 at the 1 yard line. Tim Hightower wasn't able to get in the end zone as they turned the ball over on downs. Immediately after, the Seahawks marched 99 yards after Bryant McFadden allowed a 53 yard pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Justin Forsett ran the ball 11 yards to give them the 7-0 lead. In the second quarter, a breakdown in coverage allowed a wide open John Carlson to score a 31 yard touchdown pass, giving the Seahawks a commanding 14-0 lead. Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense came back in the hurry up, and threw a 28 yard touchdown to a wide open Steve Breaston. The Seahawks added a field goal and the Cardinals would've scored another touchdown had Mike Gandy not held onto a defender during a would-be Steve Breaston touchdown. In the Second half, a different Cardinals team showed up that was balanced. Beanie Wells got the bulk of the second half carries and took advantage, scoring two rushing touchdowns, one being on a 4th and 1. The final score came early in the 4th quarter when Kurt Warner found Larry Fitzgerald who dove for the touchdown, putting the Cardinals up 31-20. Two Matt Hasselbeck interceptions later and the Cardinals won the game. Here's some positives and negatives from the game.

The Positives

- Kurt Warner was once again spot on, completing 29 of 38 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. He was finally able to put together a good home performance. Warner had an even more impressive stat, which was not turning the ball over or getting sacked.

- Beanie Wells showed up as the rookie the Cardinals drafted, bringing explosive play and putting the Cardinals up late in the second half. He didn't get over 100 rushing yards but appeared to gain positive yardage anytime the Cardinals handed the ball off to him. He ended the day with 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

- The protection from the offensive line was excellent, not allowing any sacks on the day. They gave Warner plenty of time in the pocket and opened up big rushing lanes for Wells.

- The Cardinals defense buckled down in the second half, only allowing 3 points, but more importantly picked off Matt Hasselbeck late to ice the game.

- The Cardinals finally won at home. It had been a few weeks and things weren't looking bright after getting killed by the Panthers only three weeks ago. They gave the fans something to feel better about and got the proverbial monkey off their back.

The Negatives

- Penalties were horrendous. They ended a few drives and gave the Seahawks good field position at times. The Cardinals ended the day with 11 penalties for 136 yards. The Cardinals need to play smart and limit penalties, as they can dramatically change games.

- First half defense disappeared. The Cardinals defesne in the first half couldn't stop Seattles young, second year running back, Justin Forsett. Speed backs have been their weakness and facing Chris Johnson in two weeks has me worried.

- Mike Gandy's holding called killed a potential second touchdown to Steve Breaston. Gandy has had problems with penalties this year and his future is not bright in Arizona.

That's really the only negatives that I can think of to be honest. The game was closer then the score showed but the Cardinals came through when they needed to. They also didn't turn the ball over once or allow a sack, which is rare in Cardinal-land. This win puts the Cardinals at a comforting 6-3 record with a road game in St. Louis next week. What are your thoughts on the game?