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Grading The Offense: Arizona Cardinals vs Tennessee Titans

To say the Cardinals offense put up a dominant effort this past Sunday would be an understatement. In fact, they sputtered through the first half and relied on a 99 yard kick-off return for a touchdown by LaRod Stephens-Howling in the second half. A lot of the inefficiency on offense can largely be blamed on the fact that Matt Leinart was abruptly inserted into the starting role on offense as a game-time decision. The Cardinals offense did however, do just enough to put the game within reach.

Matt Leinart - Leinart didn't have a spectacular game and when you look at his numbers(21/31 220 yards) they don't blow anyone away. Leinart was noticeably rusty in the first few drives of the game, but gradually became more comfortable with the play-calling and the receivers. He managed to not turn the ball over at any time and was only sacked once in the game. The only draw-back to his performance was the obvious discomfort in the first half, but also was his failure to pull the trigger at times throughout the game. There were plenty of times the Cardinals need 7-9 yards and Leinart threw the dump-off pass. Possibly with a full week of practice, Leinart would have been able to lead this team to a victory.

Star-divide

Running backs - After having monstrous games the last three weeks, there was a drop-off in production on Sunday. The Cardinals were given less opportunities on the field widely because of the Titans time of possession(more in 1st half), and because they trailed most of the game. The one positive note was the play of TIm Hightower. He hit each lane strong, and fell forward each time. Hightower's persistence to pound his way into the end zone gave the Cardinals the lead late in the game as well. Beanie Wells couldn't seem to get passed the second level of Titans defenders, and also had a fumble on day for two consecutive weeks now. Ironically, Wells hands proved to be trust-worthy when he caught a 21 yard beauty down the sideline later in the game.

Wide Receivers - There's not much to say about the wide receivers after Sunday. No one was very productive and they didn't get as much looks as they're used to. With Leinart playing full time for the first time since 2007, it's understandable that the wide receivers weren't very large factors in the game.

Offensive line - The offensive line play great for the most part, only allowing 1 sack to a quarterback that they haven't protected in quite some time. The rushing lanes weren't spectacular but the Cardinals didn't call upon them to run-block as much as usual. One of the more dependable lineman - Reggie Wells - was flagged for a holding call late in the 4th quarter when the Cardinals were attempting to run out the clock. Penalties like this have hampered the Cardinals on offense and continue to be a problem.

My Offensive Grade: C

Although the offense didn't turn the ball over and played smart football most of the game, 10 points on the day is simply not enough. If there is any consideration that Kurt Warner won't play on Sunday, Matt Leinart will need to be prepared to get more reps in practice, and more importantly, Jared Allen. What did you grade the Cardinals offense and why?

Poll
How would you grade the Cardinals offensive effort on Sunday?
A
2 votes
B
40 votes
C
94 votes
D
38 votes
F
9 votes

183 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 6 comments |

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B

I gave them a B Andrew b/c of the extenuating circumstances. Leinart w/o significant snaps all week, I thought handled it extremely well after he got warmed up, for the 2nd half. The Titans defense is playing much better after all, and I was impressed with Hightower. Boldin made a couple of highlight reel catches. With Leinart under center, we weren’t supposed to win, and we almost did.

http://undrafteds.com/

by Undrafteds on Nov 30, 2009 2:58 PM MST reply actions  

+1

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 30, 2009 3:12 PM MST up reply actions  

Warner

Why is it that Rothlisburger is taking tons of heat for gobbling up 50% of the practice time, then not playing, while Warner took 75% and did not play. I love Kurt, but he knew all week that things weren’t “perfect” and should have been more of a team player and given up some reps; we might have won if he did.

by AzTank on Nov 30, 2009 7:14 PM MST reply actions  

Because all ESPN cares about is big market teams.

The Steelers are, and we aren’t.

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 30, 2009 10:21 PM MST up reply actions  

It happens all the time in the League

Starter takes all practice reps and back-up plays. More often than not it is a coaches decision to strategically hide who the starter will be forcing the opponent to prepare for two QB’s. If you want to put heat on someone then look at the Coach.

As for my grade. D as the offense produced 10 points. The OL did not play well. Leinart was under some duress during the game. Reggie Wells got tossed around in this game. Leinart didn’t throw the ball well when he had time. Beanie Wells was average. Hightower did play well when he got touches. The WR’s caught what they could given Leinart’s ball placement on pass attempts.

by Cardsfan81 on Dec 1, 2009 9:34 AM MST up reply actions  

to sum it up...

I was slightly let down by the team as a whole and felt they could have put forth a better showing than they did. However, we did have some nice plays/ playing (LSH). We almost pulled this one off, “almost”. The titans unfortunately wanted the W more than we did by the end of the game. If Warner had played, it would have been a whole different story and no matter what anyone says, Leinart showed some good play the second half of the game when he started to get comfortable.

by Ghettoboxx on Dec 1, 2009 7:21 AM MST reply actions  

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