2009 Arizona Cardinals Thread (1 Viewer)

[FFCardsFan]

I figured it was about time we get one going for the Redbirds.

After a slow start to the season with a 1-2 record, the Cards have bounced back to win three in a row. And with that third win against the Giants, the Cards are walking high.

Beanie finally got a chance to make some plays last week and he didnt waste anyones time. If he can get a solid number of carries, he will be able to put up some solid numbers.

Home vs. Carolina this week, the secondary is pretty beat up. Rolle hurt the arch of his foot and is limping around practice, and DRC is recovering from a sprained ankle and is '85%'.

Boldin and Breaston have both been limited in practice so far this week. And the way Boldin was hobbling all game vs NY, I wont be surprised if we see him come out real early of this weeks game if we can get a decent lead early.

I see Kurt and crew striking early in this game and taking the the Williams-J.Stew combo out of the game, and forcing Delhomme to drop back. Which this year has been an ugly site. I liked Carolina coming into this year, but all they do is turn the ball over. They outgained the Bills by a few hundred yards last week, but just couldnt keep possession of the ball and only managed 9 points. Against the Bills????

I'll be interested to see if the Cards have any type of let down after the big win last week. While I feel pretty confident going into the game, especially at home, it really would not surprise me if Carolina made a game out of it. It seems that S. Smith always has a good game against us. In week 8 last year, he had 100+ yards and 2 td's, but had only 40 yards in the playoff matchup but still scored a td.

Prediction:

Cardinals 34

Panthers 17

 

[NeverEnough]

How do you see their D doing this week?

 

[FFCardsFan]

Well to be honest, I am starting them in the one and only league I have them. It is hard not to start them with confidence right now. Starting since the playoffs last year, absolutely noone has had any success running on them. I believe its been 12 straight games for them in not allowing a 100 yard rusher. While the LB's are not amazing pass defenders, and tend to let backs and TE's get open somtimes, they get the job done and are real good against the run. Not trying to be too biased here, but middle linebacker Gerald Hayes has to be one of the most under-rated LB's in the league. His job every week is to man up with the other teams running back and while he shouldnt get all the credit, he should get more than he does.

Another person that is over looked on the defense is safety Matt Ware. By all means he is not a stud, and probably wouldnt even see the field on most teams, but he is decent at coverage which allows Adrian Wilson to play up in the box. Ware was hurt in the first couple games of the season which really hurt the defense because it really bottled up Wilson in coverage more than they would have liked. The Cards like to play with 3 safetys and have Ware and Rolle in coverage while Wilson roams free. When Wilson is in the box, he is 5 times the player he is when he has to drop back into coverage.

But to answer your question, the way Carolina has been turning the ball over, and the swagger that the D has right now, I would be surprised if the D didnt come up with a few big plays this weekend.

 

[FFCardsFan]

Wow, ugly game for the Redbirds. After giving up an opening 8 minute drive for a TD to the panthers to start the game, things never got better. We answered back fast to tie it up and I figured the defense would then settle down and start to take over, but Williams and Stewart were just running wild. And this is exactly why people don't like to put the Cardinals in the top tier of teams. They go out one week and play a great game and beat the Giants in the Meadowlands, and them come back and lose to the struggling Panthers at home and give up 250+ yards rushing. Cmon. With SF losing, this game could have put the Cards on a clear path to take the division, and while I still think they will take it, they are keeping it interesting.

Very dissapointing. Warner just never looked in sync and the defense was just out manned. The Cards are 3-0 on the road and 1-3 at home. Just doesnt make sense after what they did last year. It'll be very interesting to see how they come out against the Bears in Chicago next week. If they can some how sneak past da Bears, then they have Seattle at home and at St. Louis ( 2 games I really think they will win, but who knows). The rest of their games on the road are all very winnable. At Chicago, at STL, at Tenn, at, SF, and at Det.

Should be interesting to see how this team comes out next week.

 

[LHUCKS]

Not good...tough to dismiss this one as a fluke.

 

[Judge Smails]

Horrific display. They did this to me last year. Look like an emerging defense, then when you play 'em, they SUCK. Not elite - at all. Anybody making Jake look good - well................

 

[FFCardsFan]

Not good...tough to dismiss this one as a fluke.

yeah not a fluke at all. like i said in my original post, it wouldnt surprise me if Carolina came out and made a game out of it. now obviously i didnt expect the offense to turn the ball over six times and the defense to look lost, but you gotta move on. i think only 2 of the int's were completely kurt's fault but at this point it doesnt matter. like i said before, it will be extremely interesting to see what team comes out next week vs cutler and co. it's so frustrating though, to finally think that this team has turned the corner after a big win last week and then they come out and lay an egg like this.

 

[D'OHtis]

D did a 180 today & got ran over [vs. thrown all over]. They looked like piss the two games I went to [GB preseason & Indy]

They've got to start getting Beanie 15-20 carries/game. They're 1-3 when Warner throws 40+ times this year. Even more troubling is how he's played at home all year. 60% PCT 6 TD 9 INT (1-3 record). Compared to 70% 17 TD 5 INT last year (6-2 record)

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Only thing that may get them to the playoffs is a favorable schedule [sTLx2, @TN, @Det, Sea]. After getting spanked by a previous lifeless Panther squad, you can't count on any games as wins.

 

[FFCardsFan]

This team is impossible to understand. To play like they did last week vs Carolina at home, and then come out and utterly dominate the Bears is pretty interesting. Scoring on the first 5 drives ( 4 td's and a fg), Warner and friends had no trouble at all. Even the running game had 170 total yards rushing and had a number of runs around 8+ yards. Not saying that they are a better team without Boldin, because that is obviously not true, but it seems that many of the games that he misses, the offense does not take a step back at all. I honestly believe that Steve Breaston can and will become a very solid #2 wr on this team down the road.

It would have been nice to see Lienart come in and put the game away, but on his couple pass attempts, he didnt look that good. Granted, he didnt get a chance to find his groove or anything, but he had Larry down the middle of the field on the INT when he under-threw it pretty bad... It was extremely refreshing to see the line give Warner time and open up some pretty big gaps for the runningbacks.

This team has a very good chance to string together a couple of wins these next few weeks if they can just show some consistancy. Seattle at home, at St. Louis and then at Tennessee are the next 3 games. I honestly wouldnt mind seeing Boldin sit again to make sure that he is completely healthy for the stretch run, but I know that wont happen.

4-0 on the road.

 

[LHUCKS]

Weirdest team ever...and WTF was Wiz thinking putting in Leinart with a full quarter to play...weird.