Grading the Offense: Cardinals vs Seahawks

by Andrew602 on Nov 16, 2009 12:16 PM MST

After falling behind 14-0 early in the game, the Cardinals found themselves in a similar position they've been in before at home. This time around, the offense was able to pull itself together and win with a balanced attack. They remained patient and composed and in the end, they put up 31 points and ended the Seahawks hope of an upset. Overall you could say that everyone did their job on offense, and only few mistakes were committed. Let's breakdown the offense after yesterday's performance.

Kurt Warner: Warner started slow, but eventually came through and continued his success through the air. He put the ball where it needed to be, and kept it away from the Seahawks. Warner has struggled at home up until this point, and getting back to winning in front of the home crowd was very important. He also put together another 300 yard game, and added two touchdowns to put his career total at 200. Next week the Cardinals are on the road, a place where Warner has been lights out this season.

Running Backs: Beanie Wells had by far, his best game as a Cardinal and it seems we've only seen a preview of his game. Wells was given the majority of the carries yesterday and used them to the utmost. He ran hard and gave the Cardinals a balanced attack for a second week in a row. Wells also had two key touchdowns, at times when the Cardinals desperately needed a score. Tim Hightower once again provided the dirty work, blocking for Warner the times he was in the game, and also catching and running the ball.

Wide Receivers: Today may have been the most complete game from the receivers that we've seen in a while. Warner distributed the ball fairly evenly to each of them, with Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston scoring and Anquan Boldin receiving over 100 yards. Each receiver possesses their own unique skill set, and with each of them healthy and on the field at the same time, no defense can stop them.

Offensive line: Aside from some penalties, this may have been the best game we've seen from the offensive line. First and foremost, they protected Warner. When he gets time in the pocket he can pick a defense apart, and by holding the Seahawks to zero sacks they did just that. They also opened generous holes for Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower, which led to the Cardinals winning the game. Mike Gandy's penalty killed the potential touchdown before halftime and luckily it didn't have an effect on the game.

My Offensive Grade: A

Another "A" performance for the offense and the Cardinals have now scored 72 points in their last two games. They also became a more balanced offense and this may be what we get from them for the remainder of the season. What are your thoughts on the offense?

Poll

How would you grade the Arizona Cardinals offense?

A

159 votes

B

138 votes

C

6 votes

D

0 votes

303 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 17 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Didn't get to watch, but that sounds like an A to me :)

by tw3kr on Nov 16, 2009 12:24 PM MST reply actions

Add in no turnovers.

Warner threw no picks and except for a botched snap exchange no one even fumbled. That’s gotta be an A.

by Drullin'OverDaCards on Nov 16, 2009 1:25 PM MST reply actions

Warner had an INT over-turned by a coach's challenge; Hightower couldn't score from the 1 yard line on 4th and Goal

How does that warrant an “A”?

We all leave footprints in the sands of time, just watch out for the discarded fish hooks!

by Hawkwind on Nov 16, 2009 4:58 PM MST up reply actions

I may be over grading due to beanie

I thought he deserved an A even with the penalty.

The INT that wasn’t an INT – I can’t see how you can count that as a negative except it cost the challenge. Althought as I sit here and think about it Warner did throw a couple of real bad passes.

Hightower failing to score was a bad personnel call in my opinion as I thought Beanie should have that carry. Are we grading the execution of the offense or the play calling?

Warner (for whatever reason) was willing to make the throws and let the receivers make plays on the ball, something he had not been willing to do at home before this season.

I won’t argue with A- or B+ (which obviously were not options in the poll) but I think B is too low.

I think we can agree it was by far the best offensive showing in the nest this year.

by Drullin'OverDaCards on Nov 16, 2009 5:11 PM MST up reply actions

It was a bad throw alright.

But a bad call by the officials was corrected by the challenge – we should have kicked the FG on 4th down.
The one thing that would bring the A down to a B for me would be the last drive, 3 minutes left up by 11 we need to be able to run the clock down. There was no need to be stressing and needing A-Dubs Int to ice things.

by CardsIrish on Nov 16, 2009 5:13 PM MST up reply actions

+1 That last minute stress seemed unneeded...

I’m thinking the Game maker goes to Wilson this week for sealing up this win with the late red zone INT.

Section 102, Row 18

by CardsFan08 on Nov 16, 2009 6:21 PM MST up reply actions

Sounds about right.

Wilson made an amazing play in a big situation.

by Pyromnc on Nov 17, 2009 6:37 AM MST up reply actions

completely agree on the last drive thing

One thing that still worries me about this team is that we can’t impose our will on anyone. Remember the clock killing drive in Carolina last January the ice the game away? Where is that “go for the throat mentality” this year. During that drive they lined up Elton Brown as the tight end and ate of the clock with a jumbo package. It worked beautifully but why haven’t they used it since?

Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

by Bezekira on Nov 17, 2009 6:55 AM MST up reply actions

I agree about running out the clock but...

Whiz has shown he is not going to pull the finger of the trigger. When he should possibly be running out the clock he passes. This really is nothing new from Whiz this season.

by Pyromnc on Nov 17, 2009 6:58 AM MST up reply actions

Well as others have stated, the INT was NEVER an interception

Other then penalties, the offense was mistake-free, which we rarely see. You can’t expect the Cardinals to score on every drive, otherwise they’d be the best team in the league. I think scoring 31 points and scoring in situations where we needed a touchdown warrants an A. Plus the offense was pretty well balanced.

What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds

by Andrew602 on Nov 17, 2009 10:24 AM MST up reply actions

I gave it a B because of some of the Penalties and problems with 3rd down at the start.

Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.

No band-wagoner fans allowed, pick a team and stick with em, throughout the good and the bad.

by JoeCB1991 on Nov 16, 2009 1:30 PM MST reply actions

Also gave them a B

The numbers looked good by the end, but for the first quarter and a half the offense looked terrible. If there was an A-minus option I might have went with that, it just seemed that a third of a game of mostly terrible offense has to take something away from the final grade

by manphibian on Nov 16, 2009 1:39 PM MST reply actions

I see your point

Just given how bad they’ve been at home I figure this kind of performance warrants an A.

What? I didn't break it, I was just testing its durability, and then I placed it in the woods becuase it's made out of wood and I just thought he should be with his family.
Revenge of the Birds

by Andrew602 on Nov 16, 2009 3:05 PM MST up reply actions

Scoreboard

It wasn’t the most graceful or balance from start to finish, but they didn’t make mistakes early and came around after another great halftime adjustment by Whiz and his gang. Obviously I was concerned with things were sputtering and they were down by 14 early, but they showed how champions play and didn’t panic. Most days if a team scores 31 points that transfers to a win.

“A” from me.

Now the penalties…that’s a different story.

by CaliforniaCardFan on Nov 16, 2009 9:32 PM MST reply actions