This has to be one of the dumber arguments I've heard excusing this team from their incomepetence. And yet, numerous times I've heard local guys say that the Cards blew it when they didn't land a good 2nd WR. Really? That's the problem?
First off, Early Doucet looked like a budding star under Kurt Warner. I remember we started to call him Q Part II. Let's ignore the frequent injuries for a sec. So what happened? Is he all the sudden not good anymore? To say that he's bad now just further shows the disrespect for how great Kurt Warner was. Doucet is a good enough WR. He could be great, but in this offense no one is going to be. Not even Fitz. And if you don't believe me look at his numbers this year. They're half of his potential. Andre Roberts is just like every other 3rd WR out there. He's kinda quick and can work the open field, but he needs help from his QB and other WR's.
Now let's look at some other teams. Are you really going to tell me that Mike Wallace has a great deal of help in Pitt? Are Brown and Sanders really that much better? Hines Ward is one of my favorite players of all time, but he certainly isn't getting Mike open. Well, except for the wicked screens he sets. No one is saying boo about those dudes because the QB play is so good.
Can you name the number two WR in New England? Deion Branch is hardly creating space for Wes Welker. Welker is a product of Brady reading the D and exposing holes in their coverage. Wes and Brady are completely on the same page. And we can mention their TEs. Do you really think if Gronkowski and Hernandez were hear in AZ that we'd be better?
Detroit's number two is Nate Burleson. Do you really think he's the reason Calvin Johnson is so dominant? Please.
Is Malcolm Flloyd, (a guy the Cards took a look at), really making a difference for the Chargers? What is Braylon Edwards doing in S.F.? Yeah, that's right, nothing.
The reason the Cards WRs aren't catching balls is simply because they are in an offense that doesn't play to their player's strengths. And its not even the WRs that have the issues. I've seen them open on numerous occasions and Kolb just either won't look at them or completely miss-throws it. The truth of the matter is Kolb stinks in this offense. He can't make the reads quick enough. He hesitates for fear of making a mistake. His confidence is crap. Maybe one day he can get this, but right now they're breaking him down. They should be building him up.
In 2004, Big Ben threw for only 2600 yards and 17 TD's with a 66% completion percentage. Meanwhile, they controlled the game on the ground running for 154 yards per game. That accounts for 65% of the plays that season. They took the pressure completely off of him for the whole season. But what happened when the pressure came on? He had all the confidence to go out and succeed. That's how you build a QB, especially a young one. Tom Brady took over an offense that realied heavy on the run too. His numbers in 2001 were almost identical to Big Ben's: 2800 yards and 18TDs with a 64% completion percentage. They ran about 50% of the time. Its not rocket science. You move the ball on the ground and let him get comfortable in the offense. Then when he starts to show his talent you let the leash out.
So this leads us back to the real problem: who is calling all the pass plays that Kolb can't excecute? And don't say Mike Miller. He's just running the same offense Whiz tortured us with last year. This falls completely in Whiz's lap. He refuses to accept that his success with this offense was ONLY because of one Kurt Warner. He's said so himself inderectly many times. He is destroying this team and this good young QB. And, sadly, he's flushing his career down the toilet.
Go Cards!
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