Grading The Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs Minnesota Vikings
by Andrew602 on Dec 7, 2009 4:10 PM MST
14 comments
Facing an offense featuring Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Visanthe Shiancoe is not easy task, but the Cardinals defense rose to the challenge and out played the Vikings offense Sunday night. The defensive line was stellar, limiting the best running back in the league and pressuring Brett Favre behind a very good offensive line. The secondary limited the Vikings quick receivers and intercepted two of Favre's passes. Let's take a look at each part of the defense.
Defensive line: The defensive line of the Arizona Cardinals was relentless on Sunday, often pressuring Brett Favre and forcing early throws. They added 3 sacks to their team total and Favre and offense was never in sync because of that. Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell continue to dominate at their respective positions and Dockett is not far from heading to another pro bowl. The best part of the game was the fact that the Cardinals front three were able to consistently pressure Favre and slow the run without having to bring added pressure from the linebackers. If the Cardinals can continue this success and mix up their defensive schemes, they'll be one of the toughest teams to beat come playoff time.
Linebackers: The Arizona Cardinals linebackers all played through injury yet you couldn't tell looking at their performance. A huge step forward for this unit was stopping Adrian Peterson, also known as "All Day". Peterson carried the ball 13 times and only recorded 19 rushing yards. One of his carries went for 11 yards which means Peterson had 12 carries that went for 8 yards(ouch!). The biggest surprise came from Karlos Dansby, who dropped into coverage as a safety several times throughout the game. One of those times payed off, as Dansby intercepted a desperation throw by Favre.
Defensive backs: The Cardinals secondary redeemed themselves after the 99 yard game winner in Tennessee. They blanketed some of the quickest receivers in the game and kept Favre from finding his favorite target Sidney Rice(7,72) as much as he would've liked. Perhaps the most improved aspect was their ability to stop a Vikings comeback. In the second half of the game, the Vikings were forced to abandon the run and pass the ball more. The Cardinals secondary didn't let up, stepping up on 3rd downs and also forcing two picks out of Brett. The secondary also beefed up on run support, often swarming the line of scrimmage after every hand off.
My defensive grade: A
Final Thoughts: The last touchdown of the game was more of a garbage time play, but either way, the Cardinals defense dominated Vikings in every which way. They were fearless against the run, and forced Brett Favre to make more mistakes then he had all year. What grade did you give the defense and why?
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A as well
Besides the initial drive and the final drive the vikings did absolutely nothing on offense. The run defense was absolutely amazing.
A is the only way
It was a beautiful game. And a complete one. We have seen AZ dominate for three quarters, they did that about 3 or 4 times this season. After the opening Minn drive, it was all AZ
http://undrafteds.com/
The stats speak for themselves.
All Day did nothing, Favre almost matched the amount of Picks he has thrown over the first 11 games, got a couple of sacks on Favre, and held them to 10 points if you take away the garbage time TD when Favre really should have been taken out since the game was already over.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
No band-wagoner fans allowed, pick a team and stick with em, throughout the good and the bad.
I give tremendous credit to Bill Davis for this performance
The game plan he designed was simply brilliant. He threw something at a 19 year veteran that he’d never seen before and that’s obviously a tough thing to do. As always the players often determine whether or not a game plan is successful or not but Davis did an awfully good job of putting them in an excellent position to succeed.
Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
by Bezekira on Dec 8, 2009 7:23 AM MST reply actions 1 recs
Ohhhh That Defensive Line!
That’s where it all starts! The defensive line provided pressure without the need to constantly blitz. At the same time, they stuffed the run without having to sell out to the run. By doing so, they allowed our linebackers to relax back into coverage rather than the usual where they have to make their first step towards the line in case of a run. With the additional, and disguised help from the linebackers, our secondary was able to blanket the extremely talented Vikings receivers. I finally saw a game where not one person was playing lax and needed help. Front to back, they all stepped up and played team defense. Make it a regular thing and we’ll be hanging some more banners soon.
Who gave it a D?
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
No band-wagoner fans allowed, pick a team and stick with em, throughout the good and the bad.
If it had been available
I’d have gone A+. I don’t think anyone could have predicted that our “D” would have outplayed the most balanced offense in the league that badly. We’re even getting positive contributions from Alan Branch nowadays.
Fuckin' Branch
He has been playing well this year. WTG for not being the complete bust we were thinking you were.
A man from Dallas who bleeds red, not silver and blue.
Double take
I don’t know about you but I had to do a double-take when he stuffed that shuffle pass to Chester Taylor when the Vikings were driving after we went up 14-7. Huge play that kept Minnesota from tying it up at that point. I still don’t get the call on their part, but a great job by Branch nonetheless.
Oh yeah, I re-wound that play a good half-dozen times
First to figure out where the heck he came from, then to figure out if it was actually him!
AAA++
They dominated the Vikings for 60 minutes (minus the TD to Harvin, but that doesn’t really count as that was more of a result of the D play calling to be ‘vanilla,’ if you will). I give credit to Bill Davis for playing to the strengths of the players and creating camouflaged, and very effective, schemes. This is the DC we need, thanks Whiz for shit canning Pendergast. lol Now does Davis look crazy for saying he “thinks this can be the best defense in the league?”
Billy Davis
Billy Davis is very quitely building a very nice resume. He is not being mentioned on the National stage as a up and coming DC but he should be. His scheme along with the players performance took it to the Vikings offensive skill position players and while I will stop short of saying they quit; they surely did not want to win this game as badly as the Cards defenders wanted to stop them. The Cards defense played with tremendous confidence and recongnition of the Vikings play calling and formations.
Other observations.
1. A-Dub played his best game of the season. His coverage was blanket on Shiancoe.
I have been critical of Wilson. I must now acknowledge his performance. Great……
2. Dockett may have punched his ticket to the Pro-bowl. He knifed the gaps very well.
3. Branch showed why the defensive staff likes him in this game.
4. Cambpell was awsome. He can be special. His size is problematic for those
trying to block him.
5. Adams was paticularly good and very diciplined in this game (he played over Harvin).
6. McFadden was extremely physical and the Vikings WR’s Berrian and Rice did not
match the intensity of McFadden or DRC. McFadden’s best game as a Cardinal.
7. Danby’s best game this season IMO. His range was very instrumental in terms of the
confusion Favre experienced reading coverage.
If Wilson catches any one of the picks that hit him in the hands then this is a blowout.
The Vikings fascination with their new toy Percy Harvin ( at the expense of Peterson ) contributed to their demise. Overall, the defense played fast and furious. Complete domination of the Viking offense both physically and in the mental aspects of the game.
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