Arizona Cardinals Put the Trophy on the Mantle and Start Looking Forward
by Hawkwind on Dec 9, 2008 9:02 AM MST
in News
18 comments
We normally don't start looking forward until at least Wednesday but with the Arizona Cardinals having such a big game coming up this Sunday, I can't help but shift the focus to the Minnesota Vikings. The implications of this game are obvious, it's a fight for the #3 seed. The Vikes currently hold the #3 spot but a Cardinals win would vault them into the third slot, give them the head to head tie-breaker, and be another conference victory (an important tie-breaker). The Vikings are a hot team though, in the midst of a three game winning streak and they've won five of their last six. Minnesota isn't without their own share of drama though and they'll be a couple big story lines to follow over the next five days.
Who's the Starting QB?: The Vikings started the season with youngster Tarvaris Jackson as the starter but he only last two games before being replaced by a more conservative veteran, Gus Frerotte. Frerotte hasn't been the "Trent Dilfer-clone" that they were looking for though considering that he's turned the ball over 16 times in 11 games and he was injured in last week's game with the Lions. Jackson came in and preformed admirably, but head coach Brad Childress has already said that Frerotte will start if he's healthy. That's a big "if" though considering that we're talking a 37 year old with a back injury. The back can be a very tricky injury and especially for an older player, this could be more than a six day turnaround.
Will the "Williams Wall" Play?: I'm not even going to try and pretend that I'm smart enough to understand all of the legal jargon floating around about Pat and Kevin Williams, but we should get plenty of details in the upcoming days. Last week the net was flooded with "will they or won't they get suspended" talk but it seems to have died down over the weekend. Goodell said last night that he thought the suspensions would hold up so he doesn't seem ready to back down. It sounds like just a matter of time before it gets stirred up again. The Vikings are built around the Williams 'twins' so losing them would be a tough pill to swallow.
AP vs. the Team that Passed on Him: I'm not as big of a believer in this as some because I think you need to have a good offensive line before you can have the kind of success that Adrian Peterson has enjoyed, but I know some people are still reeling from the pick of Levi Brown. Which group are you in?
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We're still five days away from gameday but with such a big game looming, I couldn't help but look foward. What other story lines should we keep an eye on this week? Any news out there that I missed?
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I think AP is the kind of runner that...
doesn’t need an O-line to excel. We should have got him when we had the chance. We also passed on Joe Thomas which turned out to be one of the best OT’s in the league. We could have traded up for him instead of settling on Brown and he came in and arguably did just as much for his position as AP at the RB position.
Can we have someone with a proper understanding (Hawk???) breakdown potential playoff bracket with hypotheticals on what we could and what we most likely will see in the playoffs? I am talking an actual tangible bracket that I can see instead of just verbally
explaining it.
Who would win in a fight, Whisenhunt or a Hurricane?
Hold on, hold on, what if the Hurricanes name was Whisenhunt?
Daaaaaaaaaa Cards, Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards!!!
by boogatt66 on Dec 9, 2008 10:07 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
I wanted Joe Thomas too
But with only 5 picks to begin with that draft, it would have been hard to give one up in a trade. Its hard to say what AP would do at the pro level with the Cardinals OL. Hindsight’s 20-20, but at the time I was pleased with the OL pick. Looking back though, Brown has been an underacheiver and Peterson has been better in his first two years than anyone could have imagined.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Dec 9, 2008 10:57 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Yea, they were in a tough spot b/c they already didn’t have many picks and they had alot of holes. It would have been tough to trade up, although in hindsight, it would have been nice to send them our second round pick. It’s not like we’re getting anything from Branch anyways. Ahh, the beauty of the draft.
by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 9, 2008 12:03 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Although I'm not a fan of Levi, he will get the benefit of the doubt.
I will give him credit for (IMO) playing out of position. I just see him as a guard. We could probably replace him with any lineman on the roster and get the same results right now. Nothing. With that being said, we could have picked in another direction than lineman and probably still had the same results (8-8).
by hevchv on Dec 9, 2008 5:00 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Brackets
One reason it’s tough to put the NFL playoff bracket up is because if you look at their “bracket” it’s kind of inaccurate (although they do explain that at the bottom of the page). For example, in their bracket if the Cardinals beat the Bucs and the Cowboys beat the Vikings, the Cardinals would play the Panthers, not the Giants.
by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 9, 2008 11:47 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Nice catch
I’m hoping that somehow the Cowboys get beat out of that seed. Though I wouldn’t like to see Philly get it and have to see them again.
by CardsFan08 on Dec 9, 2008 12:47 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
I think the short week, the nation watching on Thanksgiving and just playing on the road really effected the outcome of that game. Philly here in the first round of the playoffs is more winnable then the Cowboys.
by Andrew602 on Dec 9, 2008 1:05 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Agree would rather play Philly
But as I just posted in the other thread, I think Atlanta beats them both out for #6.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Dec 9, 2008 1:14 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs
The Vikings are not a great team. They have talent but are built around making the run and stopping the run. Fortunately for the Cardinals, they are not a running team, so that shouldn’t be a factor. The Cards are near the top of the NFL in stopping the run also. It seems to me whenever a great RB like Thomas Jones, Clinton Portis, Marshawn Lynch, the Giants, etc, plays the Cards, he rarely has a great game…With the exception of Westbrook.
No matter who the QB, I have a feeling it will be a long day for them. I see the Cards loading up the Blitz and if Frerotte plays, it will be in the Cards favor. Turnovers are not good for opposing teams playing the Cards defense. The Cards lead the league in fumbles recoverd (see this past Sunday).
Long story short, the Cards should take care of business this Sunday.
by Andrew602 on Dec 9, 2008 10:26 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
DeAngelo Williams ring any bells???
Who would win in a fight, Whisenhunt or a Hurricane?
Hold on, hold on, what if the Hurricanes name was Whisenhunt?
Daaaaaaaaaa Cards, Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards Da Cards!!!
by boogatt66 on Dec 9, 2008 10:38 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
MNF
after watching that game last night, I don’t feel quite so bad about that panthers game.
by RedBirds to the SB on Dec 9, 2008 11:48 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
agreed
Would rather face Ferrotte than Jackson, simply because mobile quarterbacks always seem to be able to run on our defense. I don’t see Jackson playing at the level he did last week for an entire game though.
by AJ BirdWatcher on Dec 9, 2008 10:58 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah after all, it was against the Lions.
by Andrew602 on Dec 9, 2008 11:47 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs
Not nearly as good of a game as he had last night. They actually held him pretty limited in the first half until some poor tackling.
by Andrew602 on Dec 9, 2008 10:48 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
AP would have been good in the desert, but not the same player
I know we would have preferred AP, and maybe after next years draft (hopefully full of OL) he could have shown the explosive talent that he already has shown on the Vikings. But would he be a top five fantasy pick if he were in the desert, no. I think he’d have got 1000 yards rushing and a good number of TD’s, but just not at the same “build a gameplan around him” level.
by CardsFan08 on Dec 9, 2008 11:10 AM MST reply actions 0 recs
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