I'm not going to spend much time on this blog today for two reasons; 1) I'm only going to say what I've said for 19 games in a row and 2) I'm going to vomit if I talk about this much longer. The Cardinals lost to easily the worst team in football. Yes, the Vikings and Jaguars are bad, but this Seattle team is a special kind of bad. At least the Vikings and Jags have a semblence of a running game. But this Seattle team was a special kind of useless, averaging 47 yards rushing per game. And yes, that puts them dead last. Oh but wait, here come those Cards. They give up 122 yards on 30 carries and make them look like a real NFL team. On top of that they make Tarvaris Jackson look like a D rated QB, and not the F- that he really is. They make the Seattle D look like world beaters. They deserved to lose and are a bottom five team in the NFL. Again. And Ken Whisenhunt should be firmly planted on the hot seat.
Kevin Kolb played 2 different halves. The first half he was as usual. He was very accurate and lead his team well. They ran some no huddle and had moderate success. However, his pass to Fitz in the 2nd quarter was unquestionably stupid. I know its Fitz, but he got lucky that wasn't picked off. The second half he was... well lets just say my two year old had to leave the room because Daddy was yelling at the T.V., slapping the couch, and screaming into a pillow. I don't know what happened out there today, but either the Seattle secondary played the half of their lives, the Cardinals receivers couldn't get open, or Kolb was blinded by the half shadowed field and couldn't find them. He would have made Kurt Warner cringe at how long he held the ball to find a receiver. All to often he avoided the pocket and made errant throws. He was just plain bad. He missed Doucet once and, as the announcers pointed out, no one was within 15 yards of him. He's going to try to shoulder the blame for this one, and for sure he owns a good chunk of it, but I'm done blaming the players for this train wreck.
Chester looked old. He's done. I'd cut him now and pick up a younger player out there. Alfonso Smith hit holes hard. He has great speed. He looks like a poor man's Chris Johnson. He showed O.K. hands and picked up the blitzes pretty well. As for Beanie, who was hurt... again, it's time to close the curtain on this one. He's too unreliable health wise and fumble wise.
WRs couldn't get open all day. At some point it is either personel or scheme. I'd say a little of both. The TEs were used somewhat downfield, but nothing amazing. Kolb and Fitz still have great chemistry.
The line was both good and bad. Levi Brown needs a TE pinned to his side to help. He's useless in pass protection. Although Kolb didn't help by not stepping up into the hole which has got to be frustrating for a lineman. However they did make holes for Smith and showed promise although once again the run was hardly used. Not a bad job today. Plus, with as long as Kolb held the ball int he 2nd half they were blocking the snot out of Seattle.
D line looked great again. Calais had the 2.5 sacks and Dockett was disruptive. I thought they exploded off the line better in the 2nd half as they did a much better job of blowing up the run plays. Campbell was everywhere.
I asked my friend to count this time, just to prove that I wasn't crazy, how many times LB's overran their gaps. He counted 7 in the first half, which is essentially what I got. And its the whole corps that looks bad. In the 2nd, though, they looked much better. Stewart Bradley shouldn't be playing though against the run yet. He looks lost. He's fine in coverage. In fact they should move him to safety and put A.W. at LB.
Jefferson looks better and better every week. He's really hanging with the WRs. Peterson looks O.K., but someone needs to tell me why they hang back 10 yards off of the WRs. I mean, the point of this D is to put pressure on the QB. So the logically counter attack would be to make quick throws. So don't you want the CBs bumping at the line and disrupting the play? I guess they aren't good enough yet, but they gave up a lot of first downs because they gave up so much space. I didn't see much of Rhodes today. A.W. wasn't totally terrible. That Rice catch was a freak catch. A.W. made a monster edge setter in the 1st. He needs to be closer to the line. (Is there an echo?)
Special teams was a sour topic today. Feely missed two big kicks but both were into swirling winds. I don't blame him for today. A.J. looked solid on kickoffs. He should take one to the house this year.
I know I beat this stat to death, but I think its important. The Cards threw the ball 60% of the time today, and that's misleading because Kolb scrambled 3 times (so actually its 64%) And they lost again, essentially bringing their total to 0-13 when throwing 60% or more. I'll say it again. This team has to run the ball to be consistant. They controlled the game when they ran the ball. And since they don't have Kolb up to the level of a Brady or Manning or Rodgers they need to take the pressure off him by running.
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