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Cardinals answer their critics, crush the Bills 41-17

Well, that’s more like it.

In what was an inspired effort by the Arizona Cardinals they once again showed the talent and skills they have in an absolute crushing of a very good Buffalo Bills team that rolled into Arizona 4-0. Clearly the loss of Trent Edwards on the third play of the game had an impact on Buffalo, but J.P. Losman is a former number one pick and has started 30 plus games in the NFL so it’s not like they had some rookie back there. In fact, he had a perfect passer rating for the first half so you can’t drop this loss on J.P.

No, this was a game that the Cardinals just came out and decided they weren’t going to be the same old Cardinals and allow the disastrous road trip back East signal the start to another 6-10 season. From the opening bell with Adrian Wilson leveling Edwards, to Gabe Watson crushing J.P. Losman in the 4th quarter, the leaders on the Cardinals defense decided they were going to make a statement. That was clearly the best defensive effort the Arizona Cardinals have put up during the Whisenhunt era with swarming pursuit, intense hitting and only one big mistake in coverage that cost them seven points. The entire defense play a superb game today.

On the offensive side of the ball Kurt Warner was in complete control and commanded an error free offense the entire day. He spread the ball around to nine different receivers, Edge and Hightower were both effective running and J.J. Arrington even had a few key plays. The biggest difference however was the play of the offensive line, with Kurt not taking a sack the entire day and generally having a ton of protection even while the Bill’s blitzed repeatedly. There is no question I was ripping into Levi Brown last week but this week he showed up and played as well as I’ve seen him play since he was drafted. He kept Kurt pressure free, but also had some key blocks on running plays that were crucial on 3rd down or short yardage plays. He played like it mattered out there today and it was great to see, particularly after last weeks debacle against the Jets.

The big question going in was how would the passing game handle the loss of Anquan Boldin and the answer is with a short range, possession, spread the field passing attack. Steve Breaston has evolved into a good NFL recieiver and we got to see the debut of Early Doucet, who had 6 catches for over 60 yards. I want Q back for Dallas but it was nice to see some of the guys step up and make plays today and getting Doucett on the field and into the mix is only going to make this offense even tougher to handle.

The thing that really stood out to me over the entire game was how hard the Cardinals were playing on both sides of the ball. Ali Highsmith just about killed Leodis McKelvin on a kick off, Dansby leveled Marshawn Lynch on two different running plays, Darnell Dockett was reborn with Gabe Watson rotating back in a NT to take pressure off him and Travis Laboy was a monster. Where was this energy and intensity last week?

With the losses of the Seahawks and 49′ers today, the Cardinals sit alone atop the NFC West with the Dallas Cowboys coming into town in what is going to be a huge game. The Cardinals passed a big, big test today and best of all came out of it nearly injury free. Next week will be the next hurdle in their progression to being one of the top teams in the NFC and tickets are going for premium prices for what is going to be a great match up. Good job by the Cardinals today to prove it’s not “the same old Cardinals” anymore and answer their critics with a tough, hard hitting effort that showed they really want to become part of the NFL elite.

Adrian Wilson a Key Statistic

I’ve always loved stats, they can tell you so much about a player and team sometimes, other times they are meaningless. I’ll let you make that judgment with some of these stats I’m throwing at you. One stat I was curious to find out myself was how much does Adrian Wilson matter to this defense? Apparently the good people at the NFL could not get me this stat so I had to go dig it up myself…

• In the last two season Adrian Wilson has played 12 games and sat out 8. That’s not good for a guy asking for a lot of money. But what is good is the production of the defense when he is on the field. When Wilson is playing the defense allows 20.2 points a game. When he is not playing the defense allows 32.5 points a game. For those of you that are mathematically challenged that’s 12.3 points a game different. So clearly if Wilson doesn’t play this defense is far worse off. This stat is one that Wilson’s agent might want to show the Cardinals. At the same time if I was Adrian’s agent I would want to hide the fact that he can’t stay healthy.

• Last game Steve Breaston set the Cardinals single game record with 324 total yards. 122 of those were receiving and 202 were on the return game. The previous record holder was Ollie Matson with 284 from 1954. Congratulations Steve

• Anquan Boldin has the franchise record for most 100 yard receiving games after last week with 23. He passed Jackie Smith who had 22. Larry Fitzgerald is keeping pace with 16 100 yard games.

• For only the second time in franchise history the Cardinals had 3 receivers reach the 100 yard mark in a game (Boldin,Fitzgerald,Breaston). The other trio was Bobby Joe Conrad, Dave Williams, and Jackie Smith in 1968.

• Larry Fitzgerald needs 41 yards receiving this week to be the 7th fastest player in NFL history to reach 5,000 yards (65 games).

• Since the midway point of 2007, Kurt Warner leads the league in touchdown passes with 29. Brett Favre is second with 27 and Tony Romo 3rd with 25.

• In last weeks game Kurt Warner reached 25,000 career passing yards making him the second fastest player to do so in NFL history. It took Warner 97 games while it took Dan Marino just 92.

• Neil Rackers onside kick streak was snapped at 5 successful recoveries when Ralph Brown caught the ball just on the other side of the 40 yard line. Rackers is 9 of 17 in his career on onside attempts. If the team cant play defense, then maybe they should think about onside kicks everytime? It works in Madden football?

• Edgerrin James had two touchdowns for the first time as an Arizona Cardinals

• James two point conversion run was the first successful two point conversion the Cardinals have had since December 4th 2005.

• The Cardinals have started the game on defense all four weeks this season. Maybe they should think about trying to start with the ball and building some momentum?

• The Cardinals offense has the lowest 3-n-out percentage in the NFL at 9.3 percent. I hope that stat doesn’t jinx them.

• Warner’s 40 completions last week were a franchise record. His 472 yards were a franchise record for a non-overtime game.

Cardinals Podcast on Recent Jets Embarrassment

 This is another edition of Voice of the Cardinals with myself and Mark. We discuss the 56-35 blow out loss including many of the controversies that came from this upsetting loss. Was Eric Smith’s helmet to helmet hit on Anquan Boldin dirty? What happened to the defense?Was Levi Brown to blame more than Kurt Warner for the turnovers?These are some of the questions we will answer. If you have any questions or comments you’d like us to answer on other shows, let us know.   

 

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Cardinals lose in shameful fashion, 56-35

In what I will admit is the most disgusting and depressing loss in my 20 year history as a Cardinals fan, I have so many thoughts and observations that it’s going to take awhile to get them all on paper.

When is this franchise ever going to get it’s act together and be able win an important game instead of being utterly humiliated and abused by a bunch of over rated punks like the NY Jets?

1. Where are all the Levi Brown apologists today? This guy was a ridiculous reach with the 5th pick last year as we by passed Adrian Petersen, because once again this franchise drafted for need instead of talent at the top of the draft. Brown was utterly humiliated and abused by the Jets today, leading to at least 4 turnovers on fumbles caused by the 5 sacks he directly allowed. There had to be at least 6 additional hurries and hits on Warner, coupled with two false start penalties he was flagged with as well. I have no doubt he works hard and is a decent guy, but at what point in time is he going to start taking some serious heat for the average to below average play he exhibits, all while being one of the highest paid offensive linemen in the NFL. It’s not like he doesn’t have one of the best position coaches in the game with Russ Grimm so there is zero excuse for a performance like this from a guy who was picked number 5 in the entire draft.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, taking Brown over Petersen will be considered a landmark decision on a par with passing on Brian Urlacher and taking Thomas Jones because the team “needed” a running back, thus depriving the franchise of a future hall of famer at another position. I hate talking draft this early but we need to draft some offensive tackles next year to give this over paid slug with poor lateral movement some serious competition so he can watch a few games from the bench when he stinks it up like this. I know it’s a team game but Levi Brown bears a huge amount of the responsibility for this loss and I’d like to see him open his mouth for once and admit he isn’t getting the job done instead of ducking reporters. I’d also like to see the passive, knee pad wearing local press and media start to call out some individual players and coaches for performances like we witnessed today.

2. The Cardinals defense is over rated, over paid and was overwhelmed today. This franchise went out and drafted defense and spent money in free agency on defense as well. All while we heard that Adrian Wilson wants a new contract, Dockett skipped OTA’s to lobby for a new contract and we gave Karlos Dansby franchise tag money. Wilson watched with a hamstring injury, Dockett was largely invisible thanks once again to having no one at NT to relieve the double teams he’s getting and Dansby did a few muscle flexes on meaningless plays while his defense gave up 56 points. Antrel Rolle had a very poor day at safety as Farve baited him on several plays and lit up the secondary deep, and DRC had a rookie level game as well. I said early on Chike Okefor is grossly overpaid at $5.5 million per year, and this game, despite an interception did nothing to dispel those thoughts. The Cardinals got zero pressure on Farve, were humiliated on play after play on ball fakes and misdirection and  generally played like a group that was out coached, out manned and out worked by the Jets. That this franchise has poured draft picks and money into this group for a performance like this week and last against the Redskins is disgraceful. You can bet if Bill Parcells ran this team someone on that defense is getting cut on Monday and deservedly so.

3. The league’s offensive coordinators have caught up with Clancy Pendergast and he’s being badly out coached. Last week I watched a goal line defense against the Redskins where Clinton Portis basically walked into the end zone when a badly over shifted gimmick defense was called instead of just staying in a base goal line package. Today I saw coverage break downs, zero pressure, offensive plays called in key moments specifically to expose Cardinals defensive tendencies. It was so easy for the Jets that if they hadn’t given in to some boredom in the 3rd quarter they probably could have scored 70 today. I don’t care about them being put in bad field position by turnovers, you don’t give up huge play after huge play unless the other team has your number. I realize this is a team that is designed to play well with a lead and bring pressure, but to pack it in like they did today when they were behind was humiliating as a fan to endure. Enough with the gimmick defenses and start playing basic base football where our players beat your players. A lot of people forget that Clancy is a hold over from the Denny Green staff and was pushed onto Ken Whisenhunt as a condition of taking the job, and quite frankly this guy hasn’t performed when his defense is continuously exposed like this. We supposedly have a stack of Pro-Bowl worthy defensive players, how about we stop exposing them on goofy defensive schemes and just let them play straight up football. I think the Cowboys might score 60 on us when they visit AZ in a couple of weeks unless this gets fixed and fast.

4. Kurt Warner calls a better game then Todd Haley at this point in their respective careers. The stubborn insistence early in the game of Todd Haley to run left with Edge on play after play, or maybe toss in a draw, with most passes being short range or check down throws, has made this team exceptionally predictable in the first and second quarter of each game this year. When this offense takes off is when it goes no huddle and you have Warner running the show and using the weapons we have in the passing game. I realize the boys from Pittsburgh pine for the days when they had Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker but it’s time they got a grip on the fact we have Edge, who is solid but has zero burst at this point in his career, and a solid but not explosive rookie in Tim Hightower. Bill Walsh knew to use the pass to set up the run later in the game and I can’t quite fathom why the Cardinals insist on limiting the offense until they are either behind or under achieving. Sure he had fumbles today, but other then the first one where he could have wrapped up, the rest were a direct result of Levi Brown being abused by the Jet’s edge rushers. I’m not concerned about his ball security as much as I am his health with Brown providing pass protection. He’s still our best option at QB and the second half showed that clearly.

5. This franchise needs an owner who knows how to motivate and lead the troops, or at least make some over paid guys who under perform fear for their jobs. I realize Mr. Bidwill is a very shy, private guy and a decent man, but his son needs to make it clear in that locker room and the coaches offices that a performance like that is going to cost players and coaches their jobs if it’s not fixed. That was a disgrace for the franchise, a total humiliation and butt kicking and someone needs to be held accountable. This team has spent the money, brought in the coaches, paid the staff and laid out big contracts for it’s stars. This off season we had too many players who have accomplished damn little talking about Pro-Bowls, new contracts and winning their division. Someone needs to lose their job on Monday or at least go to the bench and the owner needs to back it up and make it happen. I still get the feeling the Bidwills are delighted with a full stadium, new revenue and a 8-8 season.

6. Eric Smith of the Jets should be suspended for at least one game and fined heavily. In what was clearly a dirty shot by a mediocre player who had 5 touchdown’s dropped on his defense and was shredded all day by Warner and the Cardinals receivers, Smith decided he was going to send a message to Boldin on the second to last play of the game after having about 20 passes go over his head during the game. I’d say it reminded me of Jack Tatum but Tatum was at least a Pro-Bowl quality player with a long standing grudge against Daryl Stingly when he tried to cripple him. Smith is a run of the mill safety having a bad day who obviously compensates for his lack of talent by laying cheap shots with his helmets on a warrior like Boldin. It was a disgusting play by a punk and I can only attribute the lack of a flag on the play to the shock the officials felt at seeing Boldin’s neck just about snapped. The league should sit him down and clean out his pay check or he’s just going to do the same thing to another player later on and that guy won’t get up and be able to walk, which thankfully, Boldin is able to do.

As a follow up the NFL just announced that Smith would be suspended for one game and fined $50,000. So much for the ” it was a clean hit” argument. 

7. Mangini is just as much of a punk as his players and his deciding to go for 2 points with two minutes left in the game was a typically classless move by the little squealer who ratted out the Patriots on camera gate only when he realized he couldn’t out coach Belichick. The football gods will exact their retribution for a move like that, tossing a two point conversion on the Cardinals with a three touchdown lead and two minutes to go. Clearly he didn’t like that the Cardinals, who to their credit, didn’t lie down in the second half and just let the Jet’s have a victory parade for the second half. No wonder Belichick can’t stand this little punk. I hope the Patriots and Bills drop 50 on the Jets when they play them this year.

Yeah this is a big time vent, but so be it. I’m not a journalist, I’m a Cardinals fan and I’m sick of watching teams with NFL level talent continuously take the pipe every time they have a chance to step up into the NFL big time. I’m sick of the local Arizona media kissing up to the players and coaches to retain access to the locker room instead of calling some of these guys out. Hey guys, wake up! This team is loaded with talent and they weren’t ready to play and win. I feel like Warner tried desperately to lead this team, Boldin and Fitzgerald battled the entire game, players like Aaron Francisco and Gerald Hayes once again played tough and hard, but there is clearly still a linger stench of losing that too many players don’t mind smelling each week and those guys need to go.

Oh, and how about we give some of Levi Browns money to Anquan Boldin? At least I know it matters to Q and he cares. Lets pay the man and stop paying some of these stiffs who should be on the bench watching players who really care give it a serious effort.