SB Nation - Adrian Peterson

Bucem Predictions

Niko Houllis — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:56:04 -0000

The showdown between Freeman and Sanchez will have to wait a few years, until the rematch. How interesting it will be when that comes around until 2013.

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The Season is winding down...with only a few weeks left, there are playoff races and draft picks to be decided and every game means something.

Here are some of the staff predictions for this week...Feel free to leave your own.

Cincinatti vs. Minnesota - I know this is going to be an upset pick, but I've got a good feeling about the Bungles in this one. Cincy has seemingly been able to plug any back (including the KC pariah Larry Johnson) and pick up a hundred yards on the ground over the past three weeks. They won't be able to do this vs. Minnesota, but Cincy also brings a stout run defense to the table (sorry Adrian Peterson owners, but it looks like two bad weeks in a row for you). This is really going to be too close to call ahead of time in my opinion, but I'll go out on a limb and pick Cincy. That's why I make the big bucks.

Detroit at Baltimore - This one is really a no brainer. The decision is made even easier by the fact that Daunte Culpepper will be behind center for this one. Being that I am going up against Calvin Johnson this week in my fantasy playoffs, I rejoice at this knowledge.

UNFNOLE

New Orleans at Atlanta - Atlanta will probably be without Ryan (Questionable due to turf toe) and may again be without stud back Michael Turner. In order for this team to be successful, they need both. New Orleans is accustomed to playing on turf, so Atlanta gains no advantage. I just don't think Atlantas defense has the pass rush necessary or the phenomenal athletes preferred to beat this high-octane offense.

Seattle at Houston - Steve Slaton has been shelved for the year, but was he really helping this team much anyway? Ryan Moats will get the majority of the carries. Seattle is deceptively good at stopping the run, but terrible at defending the pass. If they have any hopes of winning in Houston they better bring their A-Game.

BucsFanDave

Buffalo at KC

Craig T

NY Jets at TampaBay. All I've heard about this week is Revis Island, Revis Island, Revis Island. Even if he mans up, I think the Bucs will still spread the field and hit em with a heavy dose of K2 over the top. The continually improving run D slows Thomas Jones enough to stall the Jet offense and the Bucs pull out a win.... to the pleasure of some and chagrin of Suh-ome others.

Miami at Jacksonville

With both teams fighting for their playoff lives, this game is blacked out locally. Shame on you, Jacksonville fans. YOUR TEAM IS IN A PLAYOFF RUN! GO SUPPORT THEM! My goodness... anyway, off my high horse. Jacksonville will find success through the ground and air en route to a close victory.

WASHINGTON at Oakland - Surprisingly, both teams are playing much better as we approach the end of the season. Bruce Gradkowski seems to have learned the game and the Skins offense is moving right along. I think the difference in this contest is Bruce falling off a bit and the Skins pass defense. I'm waffling on this, but I say Skins by under a TD, for now.

St. Louis at TITANS - VY is questionable for the game, but I don't think it matters with Chris Johnson taking on one of the worst run defenses in the league. This should be a fairly quick game as both teams like to run the ball and have stellar RB's to do so. I think Tennessee is on a mission and takes this home.

Niko

SanDiego at DALLAS- The Cowboys probably wont throw the ball anywhere near as much as they did last week, as they need to keep pace with the Eagles who are all tied at 8-4 a game on the NY Giants. Chargers meanwhile have one up on the inconsistent Broncos. The Boys have won 4 of the last 5 meetings.

Philadelphia at GIANTS- Both teams need this one badly, and this game gets the national top billing because of it. These teams have split their last dozen meetings, but the Eagles cruised on the Gmen last time they played.

Mon- ARIZONA at SanFrancisco- The 49ers are a little disappointed at the overall predicament they have found themselves in this year, as they were hoping to contend for a title in the weak West. However, the Cardinals have rebounded from a shaky start to really assume command, at just the right time. After the impressive win over arguably the second best team in the NFC, a Win here could be a lock in momentum for the playoff bound Cards; for the 2^nd year in a row, practically a dynasty for this franchise.

Interview: Daily Norseman stop by to give us knowledge on the Vikings

Kirkendall — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:01:58 -0000

Some are already looking towards week 15 against the Chargers as the biggest game of the year for the Bengals, limiting the importance of this weekend's game against the Minnesota Vikings. However, in an odd world of things, both the Vikings and Bengals have proven very little against winning teams this year. If it wasn't for the Packers, neither team would have won a game against a team that has a winning record at this point in the season. So while Sunday's game has little to do with playoff implications, it does have a lot to do with proving that they belong with the NFL elite. Confidence is a big thing in the NFL and from Cincinnati's perspective, they'll need to beat the Vikings to prove that they can travel to California and beat the Chargers with the second seed in the AFC on the line.

But what about these Vikings? What should we expect? I sat down with Gonzo from Daily Norseman, who gives us some knowledge on our opponent this weekend, in a game that features two teams with a combined 19 wins this year.

1) The Vikings have played the Packers twice already. This is significant because before losing to the Cardinals, the Vikings had only beaten one team with a winning record. Then they lost by 13 to the Arizona Cardinals during last week’s Sunday Night football. Is there a feeling that the Vikings have a lot to prove against the Bengals, who are the third-ranked team in the AFC?
This week's game against the Bengals is, in my opinion, the most vital game of the season for Minnesota, because it could really set a tone for the team the rest of the way. If they beat the Bengals, it becomes easier to write the Cardinals' game off as simply a one-time bad performance, which I'm sort of under the impression it was. A loss to the Bengals, however, means that we could end up completely out of control going into what should be a relatively easy final three games of the season. The Vikings DO have a lot to prove against the Bengals this Sunday, and I think they'll be more than up for the challenge. I'm of the opinion that Sunday night in Arizona was the perfect storm of the Vikings coming out flat, the Cardinals being fired up, and Minnesota putting together their worst game of the season. I would be shocked if they played as badly against the Bengals as they did against Arizona.

2) Brett Favre is arguably having his best statistical season in his career. It seems that he’s willing to check down more often. Are there any concerns that Favre could take a downward spiral late in the season like last year when he played through an injury with the Jets?
With a guy Favre's age behind center, the concern obviously has to be there, but I don't think it's completely warranted. As you stated, last season Favre got injured during the course of the season, and it affected his ability to throw the football. As anyone this year that's watched Favre can see, his ability to physically throw the football is as good as ever. He's not playing through an injury this year or anything like that. What worries me more than that, however, is his admission that he let his emotions get the better of him against the Cardinals, which led directly to one of his interceptions. He can't afford to have that happen if the Vikings are going to continue to play well in the regular season and the post-season. He needs to continue playing smart, solid football, check it down when he has to, and just do what he's been doing through the first 3/4 of the season.

3) How will losing E.J. Henderson impact the defense?
The loss of E.J. Henderson is a significant one, to be sure. After he missed most of 2008 after dislocating his toes, it looked like he was finally back to being the old E.J. Henderson. Henderson is also one of the linebackers in the nickel package for the Vikings, as well as the defensive signal caller. Ben Leber will most likely take over Henderson's responsibility on both those fronts, and Jasper Brinkley, Minnesota's fifth-round pick in the 2009 draft out of South Carolina, will man Henderson's spot in the middle on first and second down. Brinkley has a world of potential, and with the Williams Wall in front of him, hopefully there won't be a lot of drop-off for Minnesota.

3a) The Vikings have one of the best rush defenses in the league. We’ve argued at Cincy Jungle that the Bengals need to attack the Vikings secondary. What would you say is the weakness in the Vikings defense this year?
Minnesota's front seven can compete with any team in the league, but the secondary has been no better than average for most of the year. More specifically, the safety play for most of the year has bordered on atrocious. Granted, the team has been without Antoine Winfield since Week 7, and you obviously have to change up your schemes when you lose someone of that caliber, but it doesn't excuse what we've seen from Madieu Williams and Tyrell Johnson for most of the year. (Johnson is unlikely to play on Sunday, and he'll likely be replaced by Jamarca Sanford, the Vikings' seventh-round pick in the 2009 Draft out of Ole Miss.) But the safeties are definitely the weak link in the Minnesota defense, because I think the Vikes have been pretty solid at CB for most of the year despite the loss of Winfield.

3a) Reports suggest that Antoine Winfield could return this week after missing the previous six with a foot injury. What does his return mean to the secondary?
Winfield's return is huge, particularly when you're lining up against a team with one of the most talented receivers in the league. Winfield goes back to being the #1 guy, which allows Cedric Griffin to go back to the #2 spot and Benny Sapp can go back to being the nickel guy instead of starting. Winfield's presence in stopping the run also can't be underestimated, as there's no better run-support corner in the NFL, in my opinion. Every account I've read says that he's rested, healed, and ready to go, and I hope to heck we see him out there tomorrow afternoon. His presence against the Bengals could be huge, both against the run and against the pass.

4) Jared Allen is a beast. How should the Bengals game plan against one of the league’s best pass rushers?
I think you have to do what the Cardinals did against him... you constantly have to have someone over on his side along with the tackle, whether it's a tight end, a running back, or sometimes both. If you try to block Jared Allen one-on-one for the better part of a game, he's going to beat you unless you have a truly elite left tackle like a Joe Thomas or someone along those lines. You need to double-team him, you need to chip him, try to get him frustrated... and then hope that the rest of the line does their jobs against the Williams Wall and Ray Edwards (who is having a surprisingly good season thus far).

5) Sidney Rice is having a career year, already surpassing the 1,000-yard receiving mark. However, he only has four touchdowns. Does the Vikings offense tend to look away from their receivers in the red zone?
I'm not sure if it's that they "look away" from Rice in the red zone. . .it's just that Favre has been so good about spreading the ball around to all of the options he has this season that Rice has just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, for lack of a better way to put it. Whenever a Favre-led offense gets into the red zone. . .and it's been this way ever since he was in Green Bay. . .the tight end is the guy he loves to look for, and the nine touchdown catches for Visanthe Shiancoe this season are a testament to that. The go-to guy in the red zone can change from one day to the next. . .it might be Shiancoe, it might be Rice, it might be Bernard Berrian, it might be Percy Harvin...it just depends on matchups and who's open at that particular time. That's the thing that Favre has brought this year, the fact that defenses can't just key on one particular guy in the passing game.

6) Arizona limited Adrian Peterson to 19 yards rushing on 13 attempts. What did the Cardinals find out that shutdown Peterson?
They found out that the Vikings were way too quick to give up on the run, which is something that's been rare this season, and something that absolutely can not happen against the Bengals. As good as Brett Favre has been this season, the Vikings' offense needs to run through Adrian Peterson. Granted, Peterson seems to be a bit more impatient this season than he was his first two years. . .he's not letting his blocks develop at times. . .but he's also not getting a ton of help from the offensive line. According to the folks at Football Outsiders, the Vikings have the most "stuffed runs" in the NFL this season, and after what the Vikings' offense has done on the ground the last two seasons, that's completely unacceptable. I would be thoroughly shocked, however, if Peterson had a performance against Cincinnati as bad as his performance against the Cardinals.

Practice Report: Cincinnati Bengals (9-3) at Minnesota Vikings (10-2)

Kirkendall — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:42:32 -0000

BENGALS	WED	THUR	FRI	STATUS
TE Chase Coffman (ankle)	OUT	OUT	OUT	IR
DT Domata Peko (knee)	OUT	OUT	OUT	OUT
RB Bernard Scott (foot)	OUT	OUT	OUT	OUT
S Chris Crocker (ankle)	DNP	DNP	LP	Questionable
S Kyries Hebert (knee)	DNP	DNP	LP	Questionable
WR Chad Ochocinco (knee)	--	--	LP	Probable
CB Morgan Trent (knee)	DNP	LP	FP	Probable
C Jonathan Luigs (back)	--	FP	FP	Probable

VIKINGS	WED	THUR	FRI	STATUS
WR Percy Harvin (illness)	DNP	DNP	DNP	Questionable
S Tyrell Johnson (concussion)	DNP	DNP	DNP	Doubtful
T Phil Loadholt (shoulder)	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
RB Adrian Peterson (foot, ankle)	DNP	LP	LP	Probable
WR Bernard Berrian (hamstring)	LP	LP	LP	Probable
CB Cedric Griffin (neck)	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
G Anthony Herrera (concussion)	LP	LP	FP	Probable
G Steve Hutchinson (shoulder)	LP	LP	LP	Probable
T Bryant McKinnie (ankle)	LP	LP	FP	Probable
CB Karl Paymah (knee)	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
TE Visanthe Shiancoe (ribs)	LP	LP	FP	Probable
DT Pat Williams (foot)	LP	LP	FP	Probable
CB Antoine Winfield (foot)	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
QB Brett Favre (not injury related)	--	--	LP	Probable

Taking Inventory: Bears Have a Mess to Clean Up

Dane Noble — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:27:12 -0000

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Now that the 2009 season is dwindling down towards an unsuccessful campaign, it's time to start looking at what we have in house that would be beneficial to carry over into 2010. We know that we have a lot of holes to fill, and that we will have to hit the next free agency period pretty hard, but it makes sense to first see who needs to weeded out of our current roster.

Brad Biggs does a good job of compiling some names of who will be RFAs and UFAs, and who he thinks might be worth bringing back in 2010.

Who does he think the Bears might bring back?

LB Nick Roach

From Biggs:

Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye, who leads the team with six sacks, is in the final year of his contract, and Angelo hasn't ruled out bringing him back. He's the only starter among six unrestricted free agents -- a list that includes Josh Bullocks, Cato June, Darrell McClover, Adrian Peterson and Pisa Tinoisamoa.

Strong-side linebacker Nick Roach will be a restricted free agent. Defensive end Mark Anderson, nickel back Danieal Manning and reserve linebacker Jamar Williams, members of the 2006 draft class, will be unrestricted if there is an extension of the collective-bargaining agreement before March. If not, they'll be restricted free agents heading into an uncapped year, and that will give the Bears the chance to control their rights.

From a defensive standpoint, we saw that Rod Marinelli seemingly made an impact at the beginning of the season with the pass rush, but in the latter weeks of the season has become ineffective. Is this a byproduct of the lack of talent on the DL?

Perhaps Marinelli just needs a full year under his belt before seeing the kind of improvements we hoped for, but we certainly have some personnel issues regardless.

As far as the linebackers go, seeing Urlacher, Pisa, and Briggs go down certainly hurt us, but having Jamar and Nick step up has been a good thing.

Looking at Biggs' information, who do you think would be expendable, and who should we bring back?

Grading The Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs Minnesota Vikings

Andrew602 — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:10:29 -0000

More photos » by Matt York - AP

Arizona Cardinals "defensive end" Darnell Dockett has emerged as one of the best defensive lineman in the league and that didn't stop against the Vikings on Sunday.

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Facing an offense featuring Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe is not easy task, but the Cardinals defense rose to the challenge and out played the Vikings offense Sunday night. The defensive line was stellar, limiting the best running back in the league and pressuring Brett Favre behind a very good offensive line. The secondary limited the Vikings quick receivers and intercepted two of Favre's passes. Let's take a look at each part of the defense.

Defensive line: The defensive line of the Arizona Cardinals was relentless on Sunday, often pressuring Brett Favre and forcing early throws. They added 3 sacks to their team total and Favre and offense was never in sync because of that. Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell continue to dominate at their respective positions and Dockett is not far from heading to another pro bowl. The best part of the game was the fact that the Cardinals front three were able to consistently pressure Favre and slow the run without having to bring added pressure from the linebackers. If the Cardinals can continue this success and mix up their defensive schemes, they'll be one of the toughest teams to beat come playoff time.

Linebackers: The Arizona Cardinals linebackers all played through injury yet you couldn't tell looking at their performance. A huge step forward for this unit was stopping Adrian Peterson, also known as "All Day". Peterson carried the ball 13 times and only recorded 19 rushing yards. One of his carries went for 11 yards which means Peterson had 12 carries that went for 8 yards(ouch!). The biggest surprise came from Karlos Dansby, who dropped into coverage as a safety several times throughout the game. One of those times payed off, as Dansby intercepted a desperation throw by Favre.

Defensive backs: The Cardinals secondary redeemed themselves after the 99 yard game winner in Tennessee. They blanketed some of the quickest receivers in the game and kept Favre from finding his favorite target Sidney Rice(7,72) as much as he would've liked. Perhaps the most improved aspect was their ability to stop a Vikings comeback. In the second half of the game, the Vikings were forced to abandon the run and pass the ball more. The Cardinals secondary didn't let up, stepping up on 3rd downs and also forcing two picks out of Brett. The secondary also beefed up on run support, often swarming the line of scrimmage after every hand off.

My defensive grade: A

Final Thoughts: The last touchdown of the game was more of a garbage time play, but either way, the Cardinals defense dominated Vikings in every which way. They were fearless against the run, and forced Brett Favre to make more mistakes then he had all year. What grade did you give the defense and why?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

A

423 votes

B

22 votes

C

1 votes

D

10 votes

456 votes | Poll has closed

Knowshon Moreno & The Tiki Barber Slip 'N Slide Index

TJ Johnson — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:30:11 -0000

More photos » by Jack Dempsey - AP

25 days ago: Denver Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno, right, runs before a tackle by New York Giants safety Michael Johnson, left, during the first quarter of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

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Is Knowshon Moreno prone to fumbling?

This is a question I've been asked many times in the last several weeks. Given that the Broncos invested the 12th overall pick in this year's draft on Moreno, it's an important question. Moreno--barring injury--is going to be this franchise's primary running back for several years to come. You want this guy dropping jockstraps and jaws, not footballs.

So where does Moreno stack up? Does he fumble more than the league average? More than other rookies? More than other great Broncos running backs?

We can answer all of these questions with a handy little contraption called the Tiki Barber Slip 'N Slide Index.

Tiki Barber, for those that may not remember, was known as a fine running back for the New York Giants until his early retirement after the 2006 season. But he was also known for a few other things. First, he liked to criticize his former teammates and coaches--Eli Manning, specifically. Second, the Giants won the Super Bowl the year after he left. Third, and most important for our purposes, Barber was well-known for having trouble holding onto the football. In fact, his problems were so severe that during one 4-year stretch between 2000-2003, Barber put the ball on the ground 35 times. He was truly the Slip 'N Slide of NFL running backs. So this Index is named in honor of him.

The Tiki Barber Slip 'N Slide Index is simply the number of fumbles as a percentage of total carries. It's quite easy to follow. However, there are two things you´ll want to know about this index. First, we use Fumbles as opposed to Fumbles Lost, because it's a better predictor of a tendency towards fumbling, since recovering fumbles is almost completely random. And second, we are presenting the stat as a ratio instead of a number so that we can compare running backs with more carries to running backs with less. Just as it's silly to say one quarterback has more touchdowns than another because they have more attempts, it's both incorrect and insidious to suggest another running back fumbles more often if they have more carries. Thus, the stat has to be a ratio.

Let's walk through a simple example using the man himself, Tiki Barber:

Career Carries: 2,217

Career Fumbles: 53

Career Fumbles Lost: 22

Tiki Barber Slip 'N Slide Index: 2.39% (53/2,217)

Frequency: Every 42 carries

So Barber fumbled the ball in his career 2.39% of the time, or on average, every 42 times he carried the ball. This may not seem like a lot, but it really is, as we will soon see. Lucky for Barber, he fixed his fumbling problem late in his career. During the bad four-year stretch mentioned earlier, this ratio was a whopping 3.64%. This was every 27 carries.

Now we can perform the same calculation with Knowshon Moreno. Keep in mind that this is a relatively small sample size, but it's not so small that we can't compare it to other running backs. Again, this is the reason for the ratio. Here is the up-to-date statistics for Moreno through Week 12.

Total Carries: 161

Total Fumbles: 4

Fumbles Lost: 4

Tiki Barber Slip 'N Slide Index: 2.48%

Frequency of Fumbles: 40 carries

League Averages

One way to judge Moreno is to compare him to the rest of the league. Here are the league averages over the last two seasons, along with 2009 (through Week 11). I restricted my analysis to those players with a minimum of 100 carries.

The League Index varies between 1.16% and 1.39%. Given Moreno´s Index of 2.48%, we can reasonably conclude he´s turning the ball over more often than he should be--when judged against the league.

Rookie Averages

But don't all rookies struggle with the learning curve of the NFL? The kinds of carries that they get in space during their college careers simply don't exist in the NFL. Therefore, wouldn't it make sense that running backs fumble more often during their rookie season?

We can answer that question as well. Here are the Indexes for the rookie seasons of running backs with at least 100 carries from 2004 until 2009 (excluding Moreno,of course) :

It appears that, on average, rookie running backs tend to fumble at the same rate as the rest of the running backs in the league. Certainly, there are some interesting rookie exceptions like Darren McFadden, Adrian Peterson, and Beanie Wells, but most rookies seem to do a decent job. From this list, we can maintain with confidence that Moreno has been fumbling at a rate higher than the average rookie. However, there certainly have been rookies who have fumbled more in the past several years.

Lessons from Davis, Portis, and The Marine

Despite Moreno's numbers, one shouldn't be overly concerned. That's because we are probably judging him a little too early. His current number of carries (161) averages out to approximately 14.6 carries per game. If he keeps up this pace, he'll have 234 total carries for the season. If he doesn't fumble during this time, his Index will drop from 2.48% to 1.71%. Even if Moreno fumbles once during this stretch, the Index will drop to 2.14%. Neither is perfect, but manageable.

But more important than this is what we can learn from former successful Broncos running backs of the recent past. Here are the TBSNS Indexes of the rookie seasons of Terrell Davis, Clinton Portis, and Mike Anderson when compared to their entire careers.

For all three, their fumble stats tended to drop as they continued through their careers. In fact, these Broncos greats aren't uncommon. I found the same trend with others like Marshall Faulk, Edgerrin James, Brian Westbrook, Jamal Lewis, and Fred Taylor. After their rookie seasons, they tended to fumble less often, eventually fumbling at rates closer to the league averages we've seen.

So if we looked at Terrell Davis during his rookie year, we might say he had a tendency to fumble more often than he should. But by the end of his career, there was no such worry. The same was true of Clinton Portis. Mike Anderson didn't fumble as often as Davis and Portis, but the trend was still there.

In other words, Moreno has time to regress to the mean. Or better.

And, like Barber, he's got coaching. In Barber's case, Tom Coughlin taught him to hold the ball with his arm higher and tighter in a curl position. This made his arm stronger and his fumbles disappeared almost overnight. For Moreno, things aren't nearly as dramatic (he had no fumbling history in college), but if a problem does develop, it can be fixed by Bobby Turner and Josh McDaniels.

We all saw the other night against New York how special a runner Moreno can be (for a fine analysis of Moreno's yards/carry and comparisons to other backs, check out legendarywalton's excellent post here). A runner like this doesn't come around every year. And Russ Hochstein's knee won't be waiting for him after every goal-line run.

Go Broncos!!

Arizona Cardinals Chat With The Enemy: Music City Miracles

Andrew602 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:10:53 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

Vince Young has undoubtedly been the difference maker on offense and has led the Titans to a four-game win streak.

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We were recently able to talk with Jimmy, the lead blogger at Music City Miracles about the Tennessee Titans. We also answered 5 questions for their site, which you can view here Music City Miracles.

1 - The Titans are obviously on a roll after a really rough start to the season that included tough losses to some of the best teams in the AFC. Some have listed the quality of your opponents as one of the big reasons for the turnaround while others note the lack of turnovers from the offense. What is the biggest difference in your mind between the first six games and the past four?

It is hard to say what the biggest difference is. A lot of it has to do with the secondary getting healthy. The biggest concern for most Titans fans in the offseason was the lack of depth at corner, and in the first 5 games they lost both starting corners and their nickelback. All of those guys are back now.

Of course switching to Vince Young has provided a spark to the offense. He has played well and having him on the field opens some things up for Chris Johnson, but I would say that the defense was the bigger problem in the first 6 games.

2 - Chris Johnson is starting to challenge Adrian Peterson for the "best back in the league" title and it seems as that he can do just about anything with a football. After seeing him first hand for the past year and half, does he have a noticeable weakness that you'd attack if you were a defensive coordinator? Or is it simply about praying that he doesn't hurt you too much?

The only real knock on his is that he takes a lot of negative plays. Obviously his biggest asset is his speed, and sometimes he thinks he can pick up some yards running to the sideline if a defensive line gets some penetration. I am not sure that I would really call that a weakness, but it is the one thing that people point too when they are making the case for Peterson.

That really is about it. I would say defending him is all about keeping him from the 1 or 2 big runs he has been getting every week through this four game stretch especially.

3 - Vince Young seems to do just enough at QB to keep defenses honest and it seems as if they're tailoring the offense around him finally (options and option reads out of shotgun), but he still looks pretty raw as a passer. How do Titan's fans feel about his future with the team and how do you see him ultimately making his mark in this league?

We are starting to feel really good about his future with the team. A month ago pretty much every Titan fan thought VY would be on another team when 2010 kicked off, but he has played really well over these four games. He spent time in the film room really learning the offense and has been making great decisions.

As for his mark in the league, I would say it will be in an offense like he is running right now. He is never going to be the Manning/Brady type that shreds a defense from the pocket. He is at his best when he is throwing some from the pocket and making some plays with his legs.

4 - The Titans defense seems to have turned a corner during the recent win streak as well. To what do you attribute their improved play over the past four games?

The health of the secondary. Vincent Fuller, the Titans nickel back, went down in week 3. Pro Bowl corner Cortland Finnegan went down in week 4. That left the only remaining starter Nick Harper, and he is terrible. Both guys returned after the bye week, and the team has played a lot better.

5 - The general consensus at ROTB after watching last nights game is that the Cardinals must shut down Chris Johnson and the Titans run game in order to win. Regardless of how that's done (jumping out to an early lead or stacking the box), is Vince capable of winning a game right now if he has to truly shoulder the load?

That is the question we as Titans fans are all waiting to see the answer too. It is really impossible to tell because he hasn't had too at this point, but judging by the way he has handled the offense in his 4 starts I really think that he is. Hopefully we don't have to find that out.

Seattle Seahawks One in Five Shot of Not Being Lynched by Their Own Tracheas

John Morgan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:54:54 -0000

More photos » by Hannah Foslien - AP

Makes me want to swig ipecac so I may vomit all over my laptop.

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This is the part of the week when Brian Burke releases his objective projections and I muddy everything with opinions. Burke projects Seattle as pronounced underdogs. I am aghast to read this. Seattle is a juggernaut just finding its oars. It's a wakened monster about to rain Justin Forsett all over the Metrodome. Oh bow before us Land of a 10,000 Mosquito Ponds!

The Seahawks have one chance of not being defenestrated from the top floor of Capella tower.

Brett Favre.

If the Seahawks can somehow stop Adrian Peterson - scoff if you will, Peterson is the type of boom or bust back that Seattle has been able to shut down - it needs only Favre to provide some Favre magic for Seattle to upset. Favre is primarily a play action quarterback now, and without the run game chugging, he can be exposed.

I would have a little more confidence if someone named Colin Cole was not matching across someone named Steve Hutchinson. Perhaps, if nothing else, this is the game that dooms Cole to the bench. Or maybe Hutch will do us a solid and drive block Cole back to Green Bay. The Packers could use a nose tackle. Cole is awfully heavy.

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

Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears

Hawkwind — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:54 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

about 1 month ago: Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, bottom left, sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. In the background is the Cardinals' Gabe Watson (98). (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Coming off a disappointing loss against the Carolina Panthers, Kurt Warner wasn't the only Arizona Cardinals' player with something to prove this past weekend. The Cardinals' defense, namely the front seven, had some serious questions to answer after allowing the Panthers to run rough shot over them just seven days prior. Standing in their way would be a Chicago Bears team that was undefeated at home and one of the league's more complete running backs in Matt Forte. Needless to say the Cardinals defense had their work cut out for them and here's a breakdown of how they performed.

Overall Defensive Performance: Depending on how you look at it the Cardinals defense was anywhere from very good to very marginal. From the "very good" department, the defense only allowed two drives of 45 yards or longer but the two "very bad" drives were both 90+ yards and resulted in touchdowns. From the "very good" file, with roughly one minute left in the third quarter the defense had allowed just 200 yards on the Bears' first seven drives, 90 of which came on their opening drive, but the Bears also racked up another 180 yards on their final four drives (including a 93 yard TD drive). One thing is pretty clear, the defense either started to fail or relaxed in the fourth quarter resulting in most of their overall numbers looking very average. it is worth mentioning however that portions of the fourth quarter were played with backups like Will Davis and Kenny Iwebema. By the time the game was over the Bears' offense had racked up 417 yards from scrimmage (averaging 6.6 yards per snap) and had scored 21 points.

Rush Defense: It's pretty fair to say that the Bears' abandoned their run game early in the game considering that they played at least 3/4 of the game from a two touchdown deficit. For the game they attempted just 12 rushes, although they did average 5.8 yards per carry. Forte led the way with 33 yards on five carries while (the other) Adrian Peterson and Jay Cutler added another 40 yards on the ground with their five combined carries. Their running game simply never had a chance to get on track and was limited to draw plays out of shotgun for most of the game, a scenerio the Cardinals are quite familar with.

Pass Defense: Normally when a team gets behind early they are forced to air it out for the rest of the game and that was certainly the case for the Bears. Cutler set season highs in completions (29), attempts (47), yards (369) and touchdowns (3) and posted a very respectable 98.6 QB rating. Most of his completions were a result of their short passing game where YAC receivers like Devin Hester and Johny Knox could excel, although two of his most successful deep balls were to tight end Greg Olsen. The Cardinals registered four sacks but more importantly they continously pressured and knocked down Cutler. Pressure from guys like Darnell Dockett, Calais Campbell, Chike Okeafor and Clark Haggans were a big reason why the Bears were limited to short passes for most of the day.

Honor Roll:

Karlos Dansby and Ali Highsmith: Thanks to a back injury that prevented Gerald Hayes from suiting up, Highsmith got his first start as a pro and the defense didn't seem to miss a beat. There were times that he got pushed around but his energy and athleticism also made him an asset once the Bears turned pass-happy. Dansby did what he normally does, leading the team in tackles despite the Bears lack of a running game.

Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell: There may be better 3-4 defensive ends in this league but the way DD and CC are playing right now, I don't know that I'd trade them for any other pair. Dockett was his normal disruptive force and his second sack of the season. Campbell, regardless of what the boxscore says, recorded at least half a sack, if not a full sack (the sack that was awarded to Okeafor). One thing that really stands out about Campbell though is that he never gives up on a play. At least once a game it seems like he'll make a tackle ten yards down field while a back tries to wiggle through the secondary.

Matt Ware: We haven't talked much about Ware this season but if you me, that's a good thing. Ware has stepped into Aaron Francisco's role and has been a moster upgrade. He's not a great cover safety but he does alot of things well and so far the Cardinals are using him in a way that allows him to succeed. He registered his first career pick late in the fourth quarter.

Will Davis: Welcome to the NFL rook! Davis recorded his first career sack and don't look now but he's starting to get a couple of snaps a week with the defensive unit. He's already proving that he has the athletic ability to play in this league and his relentless motor and ability to get off blocks led to his fourth quarter sack on Cutler.

Overall Defensive Grade: C+

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Overall the Cardinals defensive effort can classified as good with plenty of room for improvement. One thing that will stick with me for a while is how dejected Jay Cutler looked after he continually got hit by the Arizona Cardinals. Very rarely do you visibly see a player quit, especially a quarterback, but he was very close on Sunday. As the game wore on he got up slower and slower as the hits kept coming and quaterbacks in the future will recognize that on tape. The Cardinals feel like they're building something special here and there were glimpses of that on Sunday. What's you're grade for the defense?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

A

20 votes

B

119 votes

C

61 votes

D

4 votes

F

2 votes

206 votes | Poll has closed