The Jets Blew The Doors Of The Arizona Cardinals But It Wasn't All Bad Was It?

by cgolden on Sep 30, 2008 3:22 PM MDT in News Comment 9 comments

Now that we're a full 48 hours removed from the debacle that was the Arizona Cardinals vs. the New York Jets, I feel like I can put on my rose colored glasses and look at the few things that went right on Sunday. Some of these might be nit picking but hey when you lose by 21 points you have to look hard to find the positives.

Run Defense: Lost in the confusion of allowing nearly half a hundred points by the defense (remember the offense gave up a pick six), was another impressive showing by the run defense. While some would argue that the Jets simply didn't need to run because the passing game was unstoppable, they did make an honest to establish a running game with 26 attempts. The Cardinals front seven held their own though and allowed just 3.4 yards per carry for a total of 89 yards and those numbers are inflated by a reverse that went for 17 yards. The defense did especially well against Thomas Jones considering that they held him to 46 yards on 18 carries (2.56 ypc).

Fitz and Q: We've come to expect big games from them, especially when Warner throws for as many yards as he did but it's still worth mentioning that they combined for 18 receptions and 241 yards. When these guys are playing their game and the offense is wide open, they're simply unstoppable.

Steve Breaston: After seeing glimpses of how much Breaston had improved from his rookie season, we finally saw him put an entire game together. He ended the game with 324 total yards, thanks to eight kickoff returns, two punt returns and nine receptions. His 38 yard kick off return and 37 yard reception were the biggest plays of the day for the Cardinals. Breaston's still not a great kick returner but if he can average 24 yards a return like he did on Sunday, he'll keep JJ on the inactive list.

UPDATE: Breaston's 324 total yards set a new Cardinals record for total yards in a single game. The previous mark of 284 was set by Ollie Matson in 1954.

Chike Okeafor: This was by far Okeafor's best game of the year and even though the defense got torched, he made an impact on the game. He finished the game with six tackles, a sack and an interception. His interception and 39 yard return set up the offense at the Jets' 16 yard line when the score was 0-0. The offense couldn't take advantage but that shouldn't take away from Chike's contributions.

Roderick Hood: I'm going to throw his name into the ring to see if you guys thought the same thing. I don't have any stats to back up my argument that he had a good game but I don't remember him getting beat deep and I don't remember him making a single bad play. He finished the game with zero tackles and three passes defended but other than that, there's no way to really grade a cornerbacks' game. Agree?

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Some of that may be grasping at straws but there were some positive things that the Cardinals did on Sunday? Thoughts? What else would you include or do some of these guys not belong?

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I think it's time we see DRC and Hood the 1-2!

Hood did have a pretty solid game and I also didn’t think DRC played to bad either considering what I saw. He’s always in the area of a playing and working after the snap hustle to the ball. I also like his physicality for such a skinny guy, the dude can hit. Let him learn trial by fire because at this point I definitely think anybody is better than Green. He’s is a sub par Nickel Corner at best and really should be benched this week.

I’ve been on the Breaston wagon all year but his performance Sunday was overshadowed by the pile of turd we laid in New York. He’s only going to get better and I think my predictions preseason on his stats are going to turn out to be pretty right on.

by boogatt66 on Sep 30, 2008 3:45 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Green

Yea he’s been awful this year and it may be time to let DRC take over the starting role. Maybe we can hide Green in the nickel corner better.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Oct 1, 2008 5:31 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I also want to see a little more out of Doucet...

in lieu of Urban. He really ticked me off on the play Warner dumped off to him and it was a little reminiscent to infamous Johnson drops. Let’s put him in a bit and see what he’s got.

by boogatt66 on Sep 30, 2008 3:50 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Early

Yea, I’ve been wondering if his inability to be active on game days is a result of how much the coaching staff likes Urban or how disappointed they are in Doucet.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Oct 1, 2008 5:33 AM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

New Strategy

So, you’re saying that we should give up a zillion touchdowns each game to emphasize the considerable kick-return skills of Steve Breaston? And we should revel in the combined yardage of our wideouts when Warner was forced to throw on every down because our defense couldn’t have contained you, me and nine other guys? Well, Mr. Golden, you may not have inherited Brett Favre’s ability to throw six touchdown passes against an Alphonse and Gaston Cardinal secondary, but you seem to have somehow assumed Mr. Favre’s past affinity for prescription drug abuse. YIKES!!!!

Lets take a different approach and focus upon the manner in which the Cardinals cupboard has been restocked under the present regime. Last week, our first round pick of 2007 was reviled by people far more astute than this author for having had an absolutely horrible game. There will be just two things keeping our second round pick in 2007 from enshrinement one day in Canton: The knife and the fork. And our third round pick, well, let’s just say he has moved on to explore other opportunities.

This year, our first and second round picks are learning to be role players with a bunch of defensive mutts torched by a quarterback on the descending arc of a fine career. You once beat me down by saying that defensive secondary positions took a long time to learn. Well, the Redskins have a rookie DB who was the two hundred forty-something player taken in the draft. He has three interceptions and many other shut-down plays so far. He has them because he is actually – gasp – on the field. By the way, our third round pick in 2008 threatens to single-handedly redefine techniques for the care and treatment of hamstring injuries. Any soreness on the back of the upper leg will be one day known as a “Doucet”.

We can all recite instances of the manner in which Dennis Green mismanaged game situations to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Rod Graves was only too happy to throw him under the bus when Green was sent packing. While Whisenhunt may have proved himself more adept at reacting to the ebb and flow of the action, I am starting to believe that our current whiz-kids will distinguish themselves as horribly poor evaluators of talent. Oh, and it isn’t as if the Cardinals just needed some minor tweaking after, say, six or seven straight play-off appearances.

We have a much tougher schedule this year than in 2007. Progress simply must be defined as imroved results against better competition. Do you really think it will happen? Maybe we should lobby the schedule makers to let us play the Rams eight times in 2009.

by SanAntone on Sep 30, 2008 8:11 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs