Category: Arizona Cardinals

Game Comments: Cardinals at Bears 9/20/15

18a41f773646a08830001dbf8db59e39Defense

  1. The Bears once again, had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback. Palmer took a few hits but generally speaking he looked comfortable in the pocket. This has become a major issue. Palmer was very accurate and looked good.
  2. Other than that, I thought the Bears defensive line held their own at the line of scrimmage today. Rushing yards were hard to come by as Arizona only had 30 at half. They ran the ball better after that with the Bears down by a ton of points. The outside linebackers and defensive ends began having a very hard time setting the edge in the second half.
  3. The Cardinals finally took advantage of Adrian Amos at safety as he struggled in coverage. This is something that many were surprised that the Packers didn’t do last week.
  4. In truth the entire Bears defensive backfield was exposed this game. The Cardinals have a lot of speed at wide receiver and the Bears struggled to keep up. Notably, Kyle Fuller struggled again. This was the major difference in the game.
  5. Boy, Jared Allen looks uncomfortable in coverage. I keep waiting for someone to take advantage of him by sending the running back out into patterns more.
  6. Bryce Callahan, not Terrance Mitchell, replaced Demontre Hurst as the sixth defensive back in the dime package. Mitchell should be a better cover corner in single coverage on the outside and playing the dime corner may not be his strength. Mitchell saw time at corner late in the game as the Bears are apparently searching for answers there.
  7. Brandon Dunn held his own today after being promoted from the practice squad. He wasn’t getting a lot of penetration but he occupied his blockers and wasn’t getting blown off the line of scrimmage.
  8. It was interesting to see Jared Allen getting his hands up for a tip and an interception just before half. You have to wonder if he wasn’t watching the Cardinals do it from the sideline before making the adjustment himself. The Bears got a field goal off of it.
  9. How deos Shea McClellin end up trying to cover Larry Fitzgerald on a Cardinals touchdown early in the third quarter? That may have been a broken coverage on the flea flicker but it was just one example of some of the puzzling coverage mismatches in this game.

Offense

  1. Bears came out playing a lot of double tight end, something which made a lot of sense given that injured wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was inactive with an injury. They used both Zack Miller and Martellus Bennett split out wide (along with Matt Forte) instead and did so reasonably effectively.
  2. The Bears did a good job of mixing it up and executing both on the run and the pass this game against a very good Arizona defense.
  3. More than usual, this game was going to be about the line of scrimmage offensively with the Bears trying to run the ball against a tough Arizona defensive front. The Bears held their own but the Cardinals are so fast to the ball that the Bears had a tough time of it. There was too much penetration against the run but Cutler got some nice protection. The protection for Clausen was less impressive as the Cardinals knew that the Bears had to throw from behind. Kyle Long held his own this week but he still gave up a sack in the fourth quarter.
  4. Speaking of the Cardinals being fast to the ball, I was surprised that the Bears didn’t do a better job of taking advantage of their aggression. They were clearly ready to defend the screen pass but some counter runs and reverses might have worked well.
  5. Having said that, the Bears game plan was not without misdirection. Interesting use of the read option by the Bears as Cutler faked the handoff to Jeremy Langford in the first quarter and took the ball himself to the outside for a first down. One of the many very clever and new ways that the Bears took advantage of Cutler’s mobility. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that.
  6. Nice job by Cutler finding Josh Bellamy on the broken coverage for the first Bears touchdown.
  7. Cutler looked much, much better now that the Packers left town. He was much more accurate with some very strong throws. Unfortunately, the interception before half time on a poor throw behind Martellus Bennett marred the effort. Cutler was injured as he landed on his shoulder trying to make the tackle on what turned out to be a pick six. The Bears said that it was a hamstring injury.
  8. The Bears did a good job of giving Langford more carries this game. Not that I like seeing Forte on the sideline but the rest is good for him.
  9. It was interesting to watch the Arizona Cardinals adjust as the game goes on. They were having trouble getting to the quarterback so they simply started counting in their heads and then jumping and putting their hands up to bat passes down. It was very effective.
  10. Jimmy Clausen looked hesitant and had trouble getting rid of the ball. HIs accuracy was poor. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that the Bears went down by so many points that the whole stadium knew that they had to pass. Clausen looked like a back up who was unprepared after being throw into the game and asked to do his job.

Miscellaneous

  1. Thom Brennaman was the consumate professional play-by-play man, as usual. I like Charles Davis when he’s doing the draft but I like him a lot less as a color man. He’s not as good as many of the best when it comes to pointing out the technical details of the game to the viewer. I’d call him adequate. Tony Siragusa was practically useless on the sideline.
  2. Things got off to a rough start on special teams once again for the return game as David Johnson returned the opening kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown. There was a horrible line drie kickoff after the Bears first touchdown. Robbie Gould has been struggling with those. Other than that, I’d say it was a nondescript performance.
  3. Both sides once again had too many penalties, especially of the pre-snap kind. Teh Cardinals committed 8 penalties for 58 yards while the Bears committed 14 for 170 which tied a franchise record. The Bears’ numbers were inflated by a couple of very long pass interference penalties as the game was tightly called in the defensive backfield. There was an inexcusable 12 men on the field penalty against the Bears in the second half. Vlad Ducasse was once again a particular problem with a false start and a holding penalty. I feel compelled to remind everyone that there’s a reason why the Bears were so hesitant to move Long to right tackle.
  4. Drops were not a problem on either side.
  5. Turnovers killed both teams today. Jay Cutler threw a pick six right before half Then the Cardinals followed up with a fumble and an interception, each resulting in only 6 Bears points. The Bears had to take better advantage of those opportunities. Jimmy Clausen picked up where Cutler left off, throwing a bad interception to Patrick Peterson, who had Marquess Wilson well covered.
  6. I’d like to thank Bruce Arians for using all of those timeouts before half to save time for a final drive, only to fumble the punt and give the Bears a field goal. I admire aggressiveness but your team better be of the type to take advantage of it or it can kill you.
  7. Once again, the Bears settled far too often for field goals in this game. They aren’t going to be able to continue to do that, especially with their defense being as bad as it is.
  8. How bad have things gotten when you find yourself desperately rooting for your team to keep the points given up under 50? And consider it to be a minor victory when they don’t.
  9. I can’t emphasize enough how bad the Bears defensive backfield is right now. The lack of pressure on the quarterback is exacerbating the problem. These sorts of games where the Bears give up huge numbers of points are going to be fairly common unless something is done. In the mean time, the team has to play nearly perfect football in every other way to make up for it. That means particularly that they can’t afford the turnovers or the penalties that we saw in this game.

 

Sundays Can’t Be Blue Mondays

Patrick Finley at the Chicago Sun-Times asks 10 questions going into the Bears game against the Cardinals Sunday:

“5. Why do the Bears have a more strenuous Saturday practice than most?

“‘Really, it’s just science behind it,’ coach John Fox said. ‘People used to shut it down on Saturdays. They’re saying now, getting a sweat or getting a lather on the day before you compete is actually a positive thing. It helps you sleep. It helps calm the nerves some.'”

I’m a huge believer in this even though I’m going to guess that at least some of the players don’t like it.

Most players undoubtedly want to rest as much as possible before a game and every time you hit the field, even if its just to work up a sweat, is an opportunity to get hurt.

Nevertheless, I’m quite sure this will result in better performance on Sunday and I wouldn’t be in the least surprised to see it catch on around the league. Anyone will tell you that Mondays stink. The reason most commonly given is that you are coming back to work after an enjoyable two day long vacation. And, hey, I admit that you need to rest.

But its more than that. Mondays are the days when we have to restart our engines. That takes time and, assuming you are like most people, you aren’t going to be working optimally for most of the day. The same thing undoubtedly goes for football players. Much better to keep that engine idling and ready to go right up until game time.

Mondays...

The Bears had a bad habit of coming out looking flat last year. And few things are more irritating than to hear a coach come out after the game to say that he “doesn’t understand it. They practiced really well this week.” Yeah, sure they did. But it didn’t carry over because all momentum was halted right before the game when it was needed the most. I don’t think that we’re going to be seeing this team come out unprepared to play mentally nearly as often this year.

Cardinals Darren Fells Will Be Player to Keep and Eye on Sunday

The Cardinals have a great deal of speed at wide receiver with Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown. That’s going to be bad enough against a Bears defensive backfield that lacks overall speed. But Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune emphasizes another threat that the Bears defense will have to deal with:

“Cardinals tight end Darren Fells never played college football, but you wouldn’t know that from his Week 1 stat line: four catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“The 6-7, 281-pounder played basketball at California-Irvine and professionally in Belgium, Finland and Argentina. He spent the majority of 2013 on the Cardinals’ practice squad and since has developed into a threat.

“‘The biggest thing for a basketball player is: will he stick his face in the fan? Is he going to block anybody?’ coach Bruce Arians said. ‘Once he bought into how to block … he has become a really reliable player.'”

Darren-FellsFells will be a serious threat to a Bears linebacking corp that frequently looked lost in coverage last Sunday against the Packers. Bears fans will be looking for that to improve both this week and over the course of the season.

Bears Offense Under Pressure from a Blitzing Cardinals Defense

Rich Campbell at the Chicago Tribune reviews a few keys to Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. One thing that you expect to get from them is a lot of blitzing:

“The Cardinals blitz about 40 percent of the time, running back Matt Forte said. That’s a relatively high rate. Their frequent stunts and picks up front will test an offensive line operating with Kyle Long in only his second game at right tackle.”

“‘How you get people out of doing that is picking up the blitz and hitting plays on them,’ Forte said. ‘We have to not be afraid of, ‘Oh, they’re going to blitz,’ but, ‘OK, if they blitz, we have to hit them where it hurts.””

Campbell emphasizes the adjustments that have to be made along the offensive line. But at least as important will be quarterback Jay Cutler‘s ability to read the blitz in concert with his receivers to burn the defense. Both Cutler and the receivers have struggled with this in the past and frequent miscommunications have occurred. In particular, Cutler has a bad habit of missing free blitzers coming off the edge, especially from his left. Performance in situations where the Cardinals bring more men than can be blocked will be a key to Cutler’s success.

This will be another opportunity for the Bears coaching staff to show themselves to be superior to others the Bears have had here over the past two decades. The players certainly looked better prepared last week than we’ve seen around here in a while, especially offensively. Whether they can take the next step against a dynamic defense like the Cardinals is going to be a good question. I look forward to finding the answer.

There Are “Injuries” and Then There Are “Injuries”

brain-injuryAdam Jahns at the Chicago Sun-Times is off base with this comparison between quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Carson Palmer:

“But [Arizona head coach Bruce] Arians is the perfect coach for him at the perfect time. The No. 1 pick in 2003, Palmer just happened to connect with Arians in his 30s, a decade into his career.”

“The point is, it’s never too late for a quarterback to find that right fit, especially at a time when college schemes have impeded their development and most NFL teams desperately need them.

“It’s an interesting notion to consider as Bears quarterback Jay Cutler prepares for his second start under coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

“Can Fox and Gase finally be the right guys for Cutler?”

This doesn’t fly with me. Palmer was always a pretty good quarterback whose career was simply derailed by injury. He happened to hit upon both Arians and a pretty good Arizona surrounding cast at the same time to revive his career. Cutler’s only injury is in his brain, which simply isn’t wired in a way that’s likely to generate wins.

 

I’m much more inclined to agree with Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune, who was spot on this morning when he said that “…Jay Cutler is in Year 10 and has won one playoff game. If you don’t believe the quarterback you have can win the Super Bowl for you, you’re spinning your wheels until you get one.”

In a Rush to See the Bears Do It to the Passer

Steve Rosenbloom at the Chicago Tribune is excessively tough on the Bears in his Tuesday column. But one thing that he had spot on was the disturbing lack of pass rush Sunday:

“This is, what, Tuesday, and the Bears still haven’t touched Aaron Rodgers.

“Waiting. Wait. Ing.”

” I couldn’t find Pernell McPhee. Same goes for Jared Allen and Lamarr Houston.”

He’s right. The outside linebackers did a good job on Sunday against the run. But they get paid to rush the passer and they get paid a lot. Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers was not only barely touched on Sunday, they barely got close.

The Packers offensive line is good when its healthy. But they’re not that good.

The Bears aren’t going to beat many teams without a pass rush. The Arizona line isn’t exactly a strength of their team and and their quarterback Cason Palmer is a statue that won’t be running around the way Rogers did.  So there will be an opportunity to improve this coming Sunday. If the Bears don’t, it will be very disturbing. Buckle up.

Bears May Try to Use the Cardinals Aggressiveness Against Them

Kent Somers at the Arizona Republic tells us what the Bears next opponent, the Arizona Cardinals did and didn’t do well against the Saints on Sunday:

“The Saints used the Cardinals’ aggressiveness against them. Quarterback Drew Brees continually hit running backs with screens and swing passes whenever the Cardinals would blitz. The Cardinals worked on those plays throughout camp, but in the game, defenders were too anxious to attack Brees.

“They neglected to decipher that there was a reason they were running free – they weren’t being blocked. “

I would expect the Bears to pick up on this and copy this game plan with one or two variations. For instance, though the Bears will certainly throw the screen passes, we know that the they would also like to run the ball against a Cardinals team that is rough and tough up front. Perhaps this means that we’ll see more counter plays from the Bears where, as above, they can take advantage of the Cardinals aggressiveness.

Something to keep an eye on.

Quick Comments from Selected Late Sunday NFL Games

Some quick observations on some of the games that I caught late in the day after the Bears game was over.

Broncos – Ravens:

There was a huge question about Peyton Manning‘s arm before their game against the Ravens this weak. Manning has been struggling with his arm strength all preseason and has put up some ugly game tape. Pre-game reports that he’d been putting more zip on the ball after starting to wear a glove on his throwing hand, something he didn’t do in the preseason. However, I’m inclined to attribute more of it to the huge windup he’s developed in an effort to get more behind his throws. He was also much more inaccurate than he has been in the past.

Manning actually didn’t do too badly. But that long release may haunt him all season, as it did on a Jimmy Smith pick six on Manning’s first throw of the second half.

On the other side Denver constantly harassed Joe Flacco with a ferocious pass rush. Both Denver and Baltimore struggled to protect their quarterbacks and I’m now officially concerned about both of these offensive lines.

Finally, Terrell Suggs‘s torn achilles will keep him out for the year. That’s bad news for my Ravens Super Bowl pick.

Titans – Buccaneers:

The Jameis Winston–Marcus Mariota match up looked very much like you’d expect it it.

Mariota looked far more pro-ready, being in command of the offense the entire game against that nice, standard cover-two defense. He threw four touchdowns in the first half alone.

Winston was far more up and down, mostly down, as he was in the preseason. Winston has quit a way to go before he’s going to be a competent NFL quarterback and its going to be a long season for the Bucs.

Another thing to keep an eye on is that Buccaneer running game, which looked very effective. If Winston develops at all, he’s going to get a lot of help from some wonderful running by Doug Martin.

The Bears play the Buccaneers on December 27.

Chargers – Lions:

Preseason reports had people wondering if Chargers first round running back Melvin Gordon was headed towards bust territory. I wouldn’t say that Gordon looked bad so much as he looked disappointingly nondescript. But as expected, the Lions Ameer Abdulla was the guy to watch in this game. His tendency to accelerate through his cuts and continue to gain momentum is rapidly putting him into an upper class of running backs.

There should be concern about that Lions defense without Ndamukong Suh. The Chargers dissected them in the second half both in the running game and with the pass. They made it look far too easy for any Lions fan comfort. Or for the comfort of the Bears, who are going to be visiting San Diego in November.

I’m not entirely sure what was wrong with Matthew Stafford but he looked awful in this game. You might generously say that he wasn’t on the same page with his receivers but his accuracy was very suspect. This is a situation to keep an eye on in the competitive NFC North.

Cardinals – Saints:

The Bears next opponent is the Arizona Cardinals. My initial impression watching them beat up on the New Orleans Saints is that this is a rough, tough team up front on both sides of the ball. If the Bears run on this team like they did on the Packers in the first half, more power to them. I have my doubts.

The Saints looked completely flat. I’m really surprised as offseason reports indicated that they were muscling up to become more physical. If they did, they didn’t show it. Sean Payton didn’t have this team prepared to play in this game. The Saints have to pick it up.

Cowboys – Giants

Tony Romo had ages to throw the ball in this game. That Dallas offensive line is a wall. No one got close. And they road graders blocking the run. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a better offensive line.

The Cowboys are a tough team. Which why I was shocked that the Giants were actually ahead at half. They were badly out played and the statistics were sick – they only had the ball for about 8 minutes of the half. But the Cowboys kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and but you have to give the Giants credit. They hung tough.

The Giants offensive line wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Cowboys but Erik Flowers looks like he’s going to turn out to be a pretty good pick at left tackle. And of course, they have Odell Beckham, who drew a safety rolled to his side all night. I was also impressed by their coverage teams on special teams. But they were out classed you figured that they were eventually going to lose – and they did.  But the Cowboys did everything they could to give it away.

Some Creativity May Be Required For Teams Seeking Tight Ends in the Draft

Feb-20-Maxx-Williams

Tom Carpenter at ESPN highlights one of the more interesting things to look for inthe upcoming draft: where Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams (above) will go. Anyone who watched the combine knows that the tight end class is pretty grim and Williams is generally considered to be the best of them.

“Why is Williams’ draft stock slipping?

“Like most young tight ends — he is just 20 years old — he struggles at times with his blocking and route running.”

“Williams also reportedly came off a bit immature and self-centered during NFL combine interviews, as he struggled to give good answers to some difficult questions.”

The Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints are all picking late in round 1 and may be tempted to take a chance on Williams.  The Bears cold also use a second tight end opposite Martellus Bennett.

There is an alternative. In the mock draft that I’m participating in the Atlanta Falcons representative took wide receiver Devin Funchess as a tight end instead of taking Williams. Funchess is 6-4 1/2, 232 lb and if he can learn to block, he could be tough to stop as a receiving tight end. Teams needing pass blocking tight ends might even resort to converting offensive tackles or linebackers.  It will be interesting to see if that’s what teams decide to do instead of taking a risk on the borderline tight end prospects that are available up and down the draft.

Adrian Peterson – The Saga Continues

Chris Wesseling at nfl.com reviews the current state of the Adrian Peterson saga in Minnesota:

“After meeting at Peterson’s home earlier this month, general manager Rick Spielman recently requested a dinner session with the star running back’s agent, Ben Dogra, at the upcoming NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Dogra declined, NFL Media’s Albert Breer reported, per a source with knowledge of the situation. Yahoo’s Charles Robinson first reported the news.

“Multiple sources close to Peterson have informed Breer that the major sticking point is Kevin Warren‘s recent promotion from general counsel to COO. Under the impression that Warren worked with the NFL to place him on the Exempt/Commissioner’s Permission List last September, Peterson still wants out of Minnesota, Breer added.”

“Robinson has reported that the Cardinals will offer a high draft pick if Peterson becomes available. Franchise icon Larry Fitzgerald deemed the prospect of adding a player of that caliber a ‘game-changer’ for Arizona.”

A few thoughts here:

  1. First, Peterson is doing himself no favors by retaining Dogra as his agent. Dogra reportedly engaged in a heated exchange with Vikings vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski at the NFL Combine during which he was said to have screamed that Peterson would never play for the Vikings again.”Super agent” or not, anyone who loses his cool in a public exchange that should be purely business shouldn’t be negotiating contracts. Dogra’s got a combative style and his grudge against Brzezinski at least is well-known. He’s not going to be the kind of guy who is going to be capable of the kind of dispassionate thinking needed to act in the best interests of his client.
  2. Second, Dogra is obviously campaigning to get Peterson traded. By telling teams that the Vikings have no intension of releasing him, he’s trying to get them to make offers rather than wait and see if they can get him for nothing. But if either the Cardinals or Dogra think anyone is going to get Peterson for “a high round pick”, they’re dreaming. Even in his 30s, Peterson almost certainly has many years left. If the Vikings accept anything less than a package that includes multiple first round picks they’re fools. And they’re not fools. Peterson is worth far more to the Vikings than anything anyone else is likely to offer.
  3. Finally, Dogra can try to get Peterson traded all he wants, Peterson’s best option will likely be to play in Minnesota. He’ll almost certainly get more money there than anywhere else. In addition, if the Vikings play hardball – and I think they eventually will when push comes to shove – Peterson’s likely options will be to play for them or lose a ton of money in salary sitting at home. Players threaten to sit out all the time but rational thinking almost always prevails and the player ends up playing. Again, assuming that Dogra actually manages to recommend what’s best for his client, that’s what Peterson will do.