Ahhh....I love the smell of playoff football. At least I think that's what I smell (I'm not exactly an expert on the subject. There is one thing I know though, this game is huge (classic understatement). The Arizona Cardinals are very capable of winning this game but they can't come out of the tunnel like a deer in the headlights and they can't play timid. This is a game that they have to take control of early and they have to keep the right foot planted squarely on the gas. As always.....GO CARDINALS!!!

The Atlanta Falcons went through unprecedented turmoil last season, including seeing their starting quarterback/face of the franchise go to prison and their head coach leave mid-season, and they ended up as one of the worst teams in the NFL during 2007. This season was supposed to be similar with a rookie quarterback, a rookie head coach and a newly signed running back who would be a starter for the first time in his career. Instead of struggling though the Atlanta Falcons flew to an 11-5 record and are in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. When the Falcons travel west to face the Arizona Cardinals, the burden will be on the offense to put some points on board and most of that burden will fall on three players, triplets if you will: Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Roddy White. 

Matt Ryan has been everything that the Falcons could have hoped for and more this season. He's passed for over 3,400 yards, completed over 60% of his passes and only turned the ball over 12 times (11 Ints and one fumble) all season. He's taken every single snap for the Falcons this season while passing for 250 yards or more five times and has had five games in which his yards per attempt has been 10 yards or more. His biggest contribution to this team though has been his quick decision making and ability to protect the football. The trio of Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and Byron Leftwhich combined to throw 15 interception and be sacked 47 times last season but Ryan's lowered those numbers to 11 and 17, respectively. Here's a quick scouting report on Ryan from Dave the Falconer, of The Falcoholic:

Matt Ryan is no mere rookie quarterback. He remains calm through most situations, rolls out well to avoid the pass rush and throws darts all over the field. It's his pocket presence that has really made Ryan a successful rookie. Against the Cardinals, he's likely to lean on Roddy White and Michael Jenkins heavily as he's done much of the year. Ryan's greatest weaknesses are his sometimes questionable decision making, especially on passes into coverage, and his tendency to overthrow some of his passes. If he's on his game, he'll do very little of either.

Traditionally defenses try to confuse rookie quarterbacks with unique looks and exotic blitzes but does that same philosophy work with Matt Ryan? In games that he's struggled (1st meeting with TB and CAR, PHI, MIN and STL), which include three of the team's five losses, he combined to complete 49.1% of his passes for 889 yards, four touchdowns, six interceptions and he was sacked 11 times. So what was the difference? Well whether or not it made a difference, four of those games were on the road. Outside of that, it's obvious that most of his sacks came in these games and they included more than half of his interceptions. Conclusion? The Arizona Cardinals need to put pressure on Matt Ryan. Clancy Pendergast is considered, in some circles, as a good young defensive mind and the Cardinals need him to devise a game plan that can put some pressure on Matt Ryan to disrupt him timing and make him uneasy in the pocket.

Fast Fact: The Atlanta Falcons are 5-5 when Ryan is sacked at least once, but 6-0 when he isn't.

Bonus Fast Fact: The Falcons offense averaged 31 points per game when Ryan wasn't sacked but just 20.3 ppg when he was sacked at least once.

Check out the rest of the triplets after the jump......

Continue reading this post »

Dave the Falconer, from our Falcon's blog (The Falcoholic), put together a fantastic scouting report on his beloved team. He covers the running game, passing game and overall defense with the kind of detail that a truly obsessive fan could provide. I also provided him with a scouting report on the Cardinals running game and defense (check it out right here) so enjoy and let us know what you think.

Continue reading this post »

The Arizona Cardinals' injury situation is pretty good but there is still one concern as they prepare for Saturday's game with the Falcons. Travis Laboy, who was held out of practice on Wednesday, was limited in practice yesterday. He's missed the last two games with a gimpy ankle and it appears obvious that won't be at full strength on Saturday, if he's able to play at all. Leonard Pope and Anquan Boldin are the only other players who were limited today, but both are expected to play. A good sign for the Cardinals is that Gabe Watson was able to fully participate in practice. Watson missed the game last week after he experienced some swelling in the same knee that he fractured in the off season. The Cardinals don't have to officially list the 'status' of players until later today so we'll have to wait and see how LaBoy is listed, but my guess would be questionable.

The offense, and more specifically the passing offense, has been the breadwinner of the Arizona Cardinals this season and this Saturday should be no different. It's probably safe, and fair, to assume that the running game isn't going to explode for 150 yards and the defense isn't going to pitch a shutout. Knowing that leads us to the next obvious assumption, the Cardinals chances of advancing rest squarely on the right shoulder of #13. His ability or inability to move the offense, protect the football and keep the ball away from Matt Ryan and Michael Turner will be a huge factor in determining whether the Cardinals are making travel arrangements to either New York or Carolina or trying to get a good tee time at their local course. So what does Kurt Warner and the offense as a whole have to do take pressure off the defense and help ensure a Cardinal victory?

1. Get off to a quick start: I can not stress the importance of this enough. The Cardinals offense needs to get ball first and they need to score first. If the Cardinals can put points on the board first, the effects will be felt by the Cardinals' defense and the Falcons' offense. For starters, the Arizona defense isn't greatness, we all know that, but they are a significantly better unit when they're playing with a lead. It would take pressure off of our defense and put pressure squarely on Matt Ryan and an offense that is built to play with a lead or in a tight game. So how do they jump out to any early lead? Be Aggressive. We saw the offense start slow last week and they didn't get on a roll until Warner started taking shots down the field. He'll have a full arsenal this week with Boldin returning and it's time to open it up and let this offense fly.

Fast Fact: Atlanta is 11-1 when they score first but 0-4 when they do not.

2. Control John Abraham: It seems simple, shut down their best pass rusher and keep KW upright, but I can't help but think about how they handled (or didn't handle) Jared Allen. We talked about it leading up to the Vikings game that Mike Gandy would need help with Allen but the Cardinals' gameplan seemed to center around leaving Gandy alone on an island. Allen ended the game with two sacks and if they don't give Gandy some help this week, John Abraham will have the same type of game. Allen and Abraham are pretty similar players both in size and style of play, although Allen is obviously more accomplished. Abraham is the primary pass rusher for the Falcons with 16.5 of their 34 sacks and he likes to get his sacks in bunches. Eleven of his sacks came in four games this season. The Cardinals will have to commit to helping Gandy on passing downs with either a back or a tight end.

Fast Fact: Atlanta is 9-1 when Abraham gets at least half a sack.

3. Protect the football: We know that Kurt Warner and company can put points on the board and they should be able to put up a 'winnable' number of points against the Falcons defense. Atlanta's secondary shouldn't be able slow down the passing game very much but one thing that every Cardinal fan should be worried about is, can Kurt Warner protect the football for four quarters. The Falcons aren't the most prolific team in terms of creating turnovers with just 10 interceptions (27th) and eight recovered fumbles (20th) but their offense also doesn't turn the ball over very much. KW will have to make smart decisions in order to keep Atlanta from getting a short field and putting unecessary pressure on the defense.

Fast Fact: Atlanta is 4-0 when creating multiple turnovers and 1-3 when not creating a turnover.

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

All of that may seem very simple and obvious but if the Cardinals can play smart, fundamentally sound football for four quarters they should beat the Atlanta Falcons. There isn't a huge talent gap between these two teams and as Hawk said earlier in a comment, "the game will simply come down to who makes the fewest mistakes." Any other keys? Can the Cardinals accomplish these three goals?

You know the old saying that you learn something new everyday? Well today I learned that the Arizona Cardinals were able to start negotiating with Karlos Dansby and his agent on Monday of this week (12/29). As we know, once a player is franchised, they can't be resigned or extended until after the season, but the one word that is often left out of that statement is that it's the end of the 'regular season' not the end of the team's season.

Dansby had the best season of his career in 2008, leading the Cardinals in tackles and tied for second on the team in sacks, forced fumbles (2) and interceptions. We all know that Dansby saw his buddy Calvin Pace (how will he feel watching AZ in the playoffs this year?) get paid last season and it's expected that Dansby is looking for a similar contract (6 years for $42 million with $22 million in guarantees). We'll get much more into the Dansby situation once the Cardinals finish their season by winning the Super Bowl but for now, pay him or let him walk?

I know the Arizona Cardinals aren't in their off season mode yet but the post season awards are starting to pop up (props to Matt Ryan) and it's only fair the Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie should get consideration as the defensive rookie of the year. Rodgers was supposed to have a steep learning curve to the NFL level and as recently as week six we were talking about him struggling, but he's turned it on as a starter. DRC finished his rookie year by starting the final 9 games after picking up a couple of spot starts early in the season when teams started the game in spread formations. DRC finished the season by leading all rookies with 23 pass breakups and tied for the league with four interceptions. He also ranked in 13th among rookies with 42 tackles and was the only rookie to block a field goal. To help his case, three of his interceptions came in the closing minutes of games to seal a victory for the Cardinals, including the 99 yard 'pick-six' that finished off the Rams.

His competition includes some note able players:

Jerod Mayo: Mayo started every game for the Patriots and finished with 128 tackles and a forced fumble. Outside of that though he didn't register a sack, a pick and he only broke up four passes. His best game was a 20 tackle game against the Jets that included 16 solo tackles.

Chris Horton: If we were talking about best value in the entire draft, Horton would win by a unanimous decision. He was the 249th player selected in the draft (only 252 were picked) and he went on to play in 14 games with 10 starts at strong safety for the Redskins. He finished with 76 tackles, a sack and three interceptions. He twice recorded ten tackles or more but his best game was the second week of the season when he recorded a fumble recovery and two interceptions including one in the final minutes to seal a victory over the Saints.

Curtis Lofton: Lofton's season is much line Mayo's but with not as many tackles. He finished the season with 94 tackles, a sack and three passes defended. He played in all 16 games with 15 starts for the Falcons. He didn't have a truly great game but he recorded at least six tackles is 11 games this season.

Aqib Talib: Talib played in 15 games, just two starts, but that didn't stop him from tieing DRC for the lead in picks among rookies with four. He only recorded 23 tackles though and he only defended 13 passes. He didn't have a really breakout game either considering that his picks were spread out among four games and he never recorded more than three tackles in a single game.

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

We'll look at DRC's season in more depth when the season is actually over but for now, this kid deserves his props. He's been the best play-making, game-changing defensive rookie in the NFL this season and especially over the second half of the season. Agree? Are there any other worthy candidates that I missed?

In a move that should effect quite a few Arizona Cardinals next year (hehe, see how I tied that in), the NFL has decided to move the date and the location of the 2010 Pro Bowl. Instead of being in Hawaii the week after the big game, the PB will be in the 'dead week' between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl in the host city of Miami. It'll be the first time the PB hasn't been in Hawaii since 1980, although the move isn't a permanent one, yet. So far it's being billed as a one year 'test' to guage interest and as you'd expect, players who are playing in the Super Bowl will be excused from the game. Do you like the move? Does it make you any more or less interested in the game?

We all know what this Saturday will mean for the Arizona Cardinals franchise, it's fans and the community, but what do we know about the Atlanta Falcons? The two teams played at the end of last season and in fact they've faced each other three times in past four seasons but that doesn't mean that either team will look familiar. The Falcons of 2008 don't resemble the team finished 4-12 last season while going through three quarterbacks and two head coaches. A new head coach, a rookie QB and a big free agent running back turned the Falcons from a laughing stock into playoff contenders seemingly overnight. So what can the Arizona Cardinals expect to see on Saturday?

Atlanta Offense: Overall the Falcons are pretty balanced. They're led by the running game and Michael Turner. Turner's 1,699 yards this season were the most by a Falcon runner since Jamal Anderson's 1,846 in 1998 and his 17 touchdowns set a new franchise record. Backing up Turner is the speed demon known as Jerious Norwood who's also had a good season with nearly 500 yards on less than 100 carries. When the Falcons pass, Matt Ryan has been as good a rookie quarterback as anyone could have expected. His 3,440 yards ranked 6th all-time on the Falcons' franchise record book and his 87.7 QB rating also puts him in the top 10. Ryan hasn't been prolific this season but he has led a couple of fourth quarter comebacks and he led a 55 yard drive in overtime to beat Tampa Bay. When Ryan throws the ball, he normally finds Rowdy Roddy White and his 1,382 yards set a new franchise record (noticing a pattern here). White is Ryan's primary target most of the time considering that no other receiver had over 800 yards and third on the receiving list is Norwood with 338 yards. The Falcon offensive line is very good considering that they've got the #2 ranked rushing attack and Ryan has only been sacked 17 times.

Atlanta Defense: The Falcons run a 4-3 defense and you've probably never heard of most of them. The defensive line and pass rush is led by John Abraham and his 16.5 sacks set another franchise record. The middle of the defensive line is anchored by Jonathan Babineaux (6'2 284) and massive Grady Jackson (6'2 345). Babineaux is a decent pass rush threat from the defensive tackle spot but Jackson is a two down player who can get worn down towards the end of games at his age (35). The linebackers are an interesting group headlined by long time Falcon, Keith Brooking. He's been a Falcon since 1998, hasn't missed a game in eight seasons and has had at least 100 tackles in each of those eight years. Next to Brooking in rookie Curtis Lofton, a rookie from Oklahoma. Lofton isn't the best athlete on the field but he's simply a football player who knows how to get the job done. In the Falcon secondary, the corners are young and athletic but undersized. Chris Houston (24 yrs old) is the bigger of the two corners at 5'11 and he's finishing up his second season. Brent Grimes (25 yrs old) is opposite of Houston and his 5'10 185 pound frame should make him a favorable matchup against either Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin. At safety the Falcons have long time veteran Lawyer Milloy (although his status for the game is in question) and Erik Coleman. Milloy is hard hitting, sure tackler and the Falcons missed his presence last week when the Rams ran for 202 yards.

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

The Cardinals will certainly have their hands full with the Atlanta Falcons, both offensively and defensively. The Falcons are a balanced team with an interesting mix of proven, established veterans and young rookie or first year starters. It'll certainly take a solid, all around effort from the Cardinals to send the Falcons home with a loss. All that being said, we talked the past couple of weeks about who we wanted the Cardinals to face in the first round and the Falcons were seen as a favorable match-up. Do you still feel the same way? What worries you the most about these Falcons?

Disclaimer: This is nothing more than a rumor and it's a rumor that most likely holds zero truth. With that being said, I could see it happening so I'll throw it out there.

According to Pro Football Weekly, some sources in the Cardinals organization are pretty sure that Matt Leinart would be tempted to ask for a trade if Kurt Warner is signed to a new contract this off season. That in itself isn't overly surprising, if you ask me. Leinart is a competitor and I'm sure he wouldn't welcome the idea of sitting on the bench for another season or two. The somewhat surpsing is the quote from a "team insider" that says:

"But there's no way they would trade him. The team's late-season swoon has opened some eyes, with some people thinking Kurt might be really starting to show his age."

I'm not sure if Kurt's late season should be considered a 'late season swoon' or just him struggling against quality opponents, but it's something to consider. I'm sure we'll beat the quarterback situation to death once we actually get to the off season so I'll leave it at that and go back to focusing on the Atlanta Falcons.

Playoffs?!? You wanna talk about Playoffs?!?

First, congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons and all of their fans. I'm sure that no one had the Falcons and Cardinals matched up the playoffs back in training camp, but here we are.

So with that being said, here I am, RedBirds to the SB from Revenge of the Birds, to answer all of your questions concerning the Arizona Cardinals. I'm not football expert but I'll give it to you straight so fire away. Wondering about Warner's ability to turn the ball over? Wondering if Fitz and Boldin really are the best thing since sliced bread? You can learn all that and more, right here.

I'm sure some other ROTBers will migrate over and join in some convo so let's all get the playoff juices flowing.

The Arizona Cardinals closed the 2008 regular season, the same way that they
started the season, defeating a NFC West rival. They finished the season with a winning record for the first time in a decade and a perfect 6-0 against the NFC West. The Cardinals will host a home playoff, for the first time in more than half a century this Saturday when the Atlanta Falcons come to town. As for this game though, simply put the Cardinals did what they had to do to win. It wasn't a dominating win or an overly pretty game but it was effective. This game was supposed to provide a momentum boost to the slumping Cardinals and certain phases of the game did look energized. The running game and offense as a whole looked much better than they have in recent weeks and scored 34 points, they're seventh game scoring at least 30. The defense was a mixed bag. At times they looked like world beaters and at times they looked like a unit that couldn't get out of it's own way.

Continue reading this post »

The Cardinals need a solid performance before heading to the playoffs and in their way stand the hated Seahawks. We'll see how much the starters play but the offense and defense need to build some confidence.

The Arizona Cardinals signed Victor Hobson to bolster the depth at outside linebacker and special teams. Hobson is a six year veteran who spent five years with the Jets but he's been cut by the Patriots and Bengals this season. Hobson's best season, 2006, included 100 tackles, 6 sacks and an interception. He's only 28 years old so he could figure in the Cardinals plans in the future, which would make sense considering that he's signed through 2009. To make room for Hobson, the Cards cut veteran tight end Jerame Tuman.

The Cardinals also filled out their practice squad by signing Dennis Keyes. Keyes spent training camp and most of the preseason with the Cardinals. His highlight during the preseason was an 84 yard interception return for a TD against the Chiefs.

In case anyone had already tuned to the more relevant game, Matt Leinart got some extended playing time against the Patriots and he wasn't terrible. Granted, the Patriots probably had some second string guys in there and they weren't as aggressive as they had been when the outcome was still in the air, but for what it was, he looked decent.

He played four series that produced four first downs and a long TD pass to Fitzgerald. He was also credited with two turnovers, and another fumble that was recovered by Hightower, but his intereception did bounce off the hands of Jerheme Urban.

Series #1 - Leinart had a really bad first series and it didn't help that the radio in his helmet was working. It looked like he was visually flustered by the issues with the radio, but he did scramble up the middle for eight yards to convert a 3rd-and-5 (just the second 3rd down conversion of the game). It was the Cardinals first, first down since early in the second quarter but he'd follow that up by fumbling the ball on the very next play resulting in a seven yard loss. The bad thing was that no one even touched him, he just lost his handle on the ball. An incomplete pass on second down would be followed by a rough sack on third down (by an untouched blitzer) that resulted in another fumble that was recovered by the Pats. Sure the blitzer got to Leinart in about half a second but he's still got to hold onto the ball. It was pretty obvious that his head was spinning like a top during this drive. Result of Drive: 1 first down, -6 yards, and a turnover. 

Series #2 - Matty looks a little more comfortable and after two quick incompletions he hits Urban on a 28 yard completion to convert a 3rd-and-long. He'd add another incompletion before thowing to Urban again but the pass hit off of his hands and ended up being interecepted. It wasn't the greatest throw in the world but it did hit Urban squarely in the hands. Result of Drive:1 first drive, 28 yards and a turnover.

Series #3 - [Disclaimer - Fox had switched to another game by this point so I'm going strictly from play by play and what I've heard/read since, so if anyone saw the remaining series and had a different opinion of them please jump in and offer up some first hand accounts.] A Hightower run on first down nets three yards and the offense goes into no-huddle. Matt completes the next three passes that include a short pass the Hightower that he takes for 15 yards, a 13 yard completion to Fitzgerald and a short sideline route to Breaston that goes for six yards. His next two throws would go incomplete though and the Cardinals would punt. Result of Drive: 2 first downs, 37 yards and a punt.

Series #4 - On the first play of the drive Matt throws a short dump off to Tim Castille that loses two yards and he follows that up with a delay of game. Facing a 2nd-and-17 Leinart goes up top and hits Larry Fitzgerald in stride down the sideline for a 78 yard touchdown. Result of Drive: Touchdown, nuff said.

Tale of the tape: Leinart leads four series that result in two turnover, seven points and 130 yards. On any other day, that wouldn't be much to talk about but it ended up being the only points scored and 70% of the offense. So, did Leinart look decent or was any success that he had just a result of the Patriots already in the lockerroom trying to defrost? Did he help or hurt his case of being a NFL starter in the future with his performance?

I was having a debate with a buddy the other day about whether Cassel was a legit NFL QB or more of a system guy who's benefited from being in a good situation, but that discussion got me thinking more and more about our very own Matt Leinart. As we all know, Leinart started ahead of Cassel during thier time together at USC, even though Cassel had a year of experience on him. Cassel, seeing that his time at QB would be limited to an injury fill in or mop up duty, played some at wide receiver, tight end and even on special teams during his four seasons at USC. So what does all this have to do with Matt Leinart?

Well if Leinart was that much better in college, could it be assumed that he could put up comparable numbers at the professional level? The simple answer I guess would be that there are too many other factors to consider. On the other hand, Leinart obviously had better physical tools when he won the job over Cassel, a player with a year of experience on him. So if he's still more physically gifted, we could stand to reason that if he's committed himself to improving on the mental side of the game and he's receiving similar coaching that he's still the better QB, or at least a comparable player.

With all that being said, Leinart and Cassel are at surprisingly similar points in their NFL career. Cassel has one more year of experience and he's played in nine more games (although Leinart does have edge in starts by 3), but their attempts are very close. Cassel's attempted 511 passes while Leinart is currently sitting at 496. The stats are, as you might expect, in Cassel's favor across the board. He's completed a much highter percentage of passes (63.2 to 56) for more yards per attempt (6.9 to 6.5). His touchdown to intereception ratio is also much better (20/13 to 13/16) and his QB rating is better (85.9 to 71.3). Now obviously most of Cassel's stats have come this season (his fourth in the league) while most of Leinart's stats came during his rookie season so it's not quite apples to apples but it's the only thing that we've got to go on. So, my question to you, which QB would you rather have starting for the Cardinals next season?

After a full day of trying to wrap my head around being able to put Arizona Cardinals and champion in the same sentence, I started to wonder how some of our previous head coaches would have handled winning the division. Denny was the only guy I could come up with a funny line about but I bet there's a Buddy Ryan joke out there some where.

We are who we thought we were!!

If you want to crown our @ss, then crown it!!

But we are who we thought we were, that why we won the damn division!!

Now that I think about it, how lucky are we that the Cardinals finally have a really good head coach? Who would've thought that Whiz would lead us to our first consecutive non-losing seasons since '83-84 and he could end up with more wins in his first two years than any coach in Cardinals history?