Greg Toler was pretty impressive. Had a nice tackle in the backfield for a loss and he had some tough passes to break up broken up.

As for the defense starting off bad with the timeouts, I’ll give them that in the first few preseason games but hopefully this isn’t a problem coming into week 4 of the preseason.

He made some nice catches with the chances he had.

I was impressed with Leinarts second drive, I think he got the ball further during that one than all of the other QBs did in one drive. Palko looked great, Herman had a great tackle,

Pierre needs to be cut as soon as possible. He blew every chance he had, I was begging to have them put Leinart or Palko in while they kept giving him chances. I know hes your buddy Whiz, but he is not good enough.

I think it’s actually the one in the picture above but basically he got to Leinart right as he was throwing but instead of letting up or just tackling him he sorta drove him back and then picked up on the back of Leinart’s thighs and body slammed him. Maybe it wasn’t that bad but it seemed excessive especially for the preseason.

Did great on returning kicks. Looked a little timid and unsure of his hands on fielding punts though. He clearly has excellant speed and vision but needs to get a little stronger. There were some arm bars that misdirected him. Once he gets stronger and more confident he will be able to run through them I think. I know for sure that on either his 1st or 2nd return had he not gotten held up just a little bit by someones arm he would have taken it to the house.

I just got done with my second review of the tape.
I focused on RG/RT (starters and backups) on offense and the RE/DT’s on defense. More on that in a sec…

I’ve got nothing to add in regard to Campbell except he’s going to be a great asset when it comes to limiting the outside running game, his lateral ability is just intense. He’s great at blowing up zone blocking stretch plays because of his uncanny ability to get ‘skinny’ and slide between the blocks.

A quick word about defensive scheme. The 3-safety-set returns. Rolle and Wilson swap shallow coverage (adding to the mystery of a potentially blitzing Wilson) Fransico had deep responsibility on the plays I saw. Most people probably call this a nickel package with Rolle in the slot, and that’s as accurate, but for some reason, I just see it as it’s own formation.

The Cards also had a 2-lineman set. 2 DT’s (in this case Dockett and Campbell) line up in the A and B gap, while 2 LB’s are lined up in the 9 in a two-point stance (in this case Okeafor and Berry). This formation has got zone-blitz potential up the wazoo. It was also featured later with Brown and another ‘tweener, but this time with their hands down, masking a 4 line set. The trick is here, Brown ends up fake-rushing in before peeling off outside. We’ll see what the long term is for this formation. It probably showed up last year, but I don’t remember seeing it, off the top of my head.
Of course, my memory is shot.

Gabe Watson got a couple plays in with the backups and dominated, really and truly. He looked winded early and I was worried about him against the starters, but he got warm there. He’s what you want in a NT. He commands double teams. Branch on the otherhand, is doubled right out of the zone.

Kenny Iwebema’s better than Branch at this point, and he’s clearly lost a little something since having chest surgery. He’ll get back to where he was though.

In the meantime, the depth on the D-line worries me.
On Levi’s coverage sack, Warner got to hold the ball for between 3 1/2- 4 seconds. That’s not really what I think of when I hear “coverage sack” but I couldn’t see the receivers either and I do trust Gruden’s judgement.
Either way though, I know that Brown wants that play back.

Another play I know Levi wants back is a disguised blitz. You’ll remember this play as Hightower’s short draw for a first down. The LB on his side (I think Woodley again) faked the inside blitz but bounced outside at the snap.
We can look at this two ways.
1) Because Brown knew it was a draw, he stayed inside to help seal the middle. If he did, he didn’t have much of an impact on the man he was doubling, Hightower met contact at the hole and had to bully his way forward.
2) Brown missed the outside move. This is a problem because the draw took some time to develop and the LB almost got to the QB and RB in the backfield.

Again, no matter what happened, I do think that Brown is going to work on this.

A good word on Brown: He’s an exceptional down field blocker. In a screen or a rush play where he gets to find a LB or god forbid a member of the secondary, that person is going to eat it. You may think ‘sure, he’s got size advantage’ but when a lot of linemen get to the second level they aren’t fast enough to do more then get in the way. Brown takes them out. He may not have elite footspeed falling back, but he’s got a tremendous forward gear. I really wish there were more outside plays to take advantage of that.

Deuce had an really solid game. He’s taking the competition to heart. He had no real noticeably bad plays. Good for him.

Let’s talk about the backups.
A quick reminder though, what these guys are facing in terms of talent may be a half-step back. No one who made it to the NFL flat sucks. So they’re playing physical beats, only slightly less capable then the starters.
It’s recognition, reaction, and playcalling that make for a starter.
These were some fairly vanilla defenses Keith and Johnson faced, so they’re ability to this point may be slightly overated.

For a rookie, Johnson looked real good at RT, with only one or two blemishes. When he gets tired, he cheats inside, twice bouncing off the quad of Keith as he backpedals. A guy that size is gonna leave a hell of a bruise on Keith. His other problem came, no surprise from pure outside rushes.
That said, the draftnicks who questioned his punch? I gotta disagree. When he pops up into his man, they stand, no choice in the matter and for a guy his size he does have above-average mobility.

Now let’s talk about Keith.
I’m his biggest supporter. We went to the same school around the same time (UNI) so I got to see him play and you had to love how he and Rinehart owned the line in college. I was thrilled to see him become a Cardinal. So my view is always going to be a little tainted.

But I believe in being as objective as possible, and simply recognize my limitations.
All said, Keith had a rough game and probably lost a little traction in his battle to start.
He wound up on the ground 4 times. Because of the angle, it was tough to tell why (shot at the knees, tangled feet, or bad balance?). One particular play, it appears he just got washed out in a very good swim.

But he continues to be a great pass protector and he often anchors his point. When he makes contact the guy he’s locked on doesn’t move.
He’s got very active hands, but they appear to really lose some mustard the longer he’s on the field.

Keith’s gotta have a dynamite next couple games if he wants to get there. I still wonder if maybe he is better off being a tackle. I’d really like to see him moved to RT, and have Brown get a shot at LT one day.

Rather than repeat it, I’ll just add a few points -

What I liked about Palko is that (a) he came in and immediately made things happen and (b) he did so with his feet, escape-instincts, decisiveness and a surprising gun (many of those throws had to be zinged – and they were). I’m not sure I’d put him in the same league as Leinart (who was more than OK after he shook off the rust) but I’m just hoping that Wiz will continue to not do the conventional thing (i.e. cut Palko and keep St. Pierre), because Tyler can do things Matt and Kurt can’t do and, therefore, give us a change of pace. Besides, St. Pierre looked really jittery in both his decision-making and execution.

I think the key to Adams succeeding here has more to do with Billy Davis than it does Michael – i.e. when he’s in there, it is crucial that the scheme we run avoids matching up Michael with tall Sweed-like receivers. At least give him some help over the top if he gets caught in a zone or man mismatch.

I thought Stephens-Howling was stronger and tougher than expected as an inside runner and – comparing him to Wright (whom admittedly wasn’t given many touches) – he looks like he has the explosion and wiggle to better fill JJ Arrington’s shoes than does Wright. I’m almost tempted to say that the #3 job is now Stephen-Howling’s to lose and it will be up to Wright to step up and win back the position.

Regarding “who won” – when you consider representing the top 30 – 40 -players on the 80-man roste of either team, the final score was really 3 – 3. That said – I hate losing.

He broke up a couple of passes wirth nice breaks on the ball near the end of the game.

And also – I did think Urban was a bit lazy in coming back for the ball that Burnett picked off. What’s with that?

Biggest bummer was the way our inside run defense sagged in the 4Q.

It seemed like we had no one in there willing to take on Redman.

I’m not sure this was because their offensive scrubs were better than our defensive scrubs or whether some our interior guys simply ran out of gas or “wanna.”

I was impressed watching him in camp and after seeing the game he played last nite if I was WHIZ BSP would be history and Matty and Palko would be competing for the back-up spot…that leap was amazing and he seemed to have some zing to his passes….

He showed a tremendous burst when hitting the holes and picked up rushers pretty good.

no stand out plays, but he was near the ball a lot (never out of position) and made some good tackles.

On that Kool Aid (the good):
-Michael Ray Garvin. Had to spell his name because that’s how impressive he was tonight. Anyone remember me parralelling his career path to Hester? Its o.k. He may be an even better returner. OOOOHHHH Scary. Almost makes me forget he went to FSUcks. NOT!!!
-Timmy. He must have taken our advise because he stopped dancing and went north and south with authority. He really looked good. I almost shed a tear.
-Matty. Once he settled he looked a world better.
-Tyler. I don’t care what unit he was going up against. He made all the right reads.
-Michael Ray Garvin. Did I already mention him?
-KD. He was a beast.
-CC. He was also.
-1st team D. Dominated the line of scrimmage.
-Iwebema. He looked strong against the run. Very happy with that.
-Deuce. And how could I forget about Deuce. Not one bone headed play. Wow.
-O line(interior edition). Overall, I think the 1st unit did a great jobwith both pass pro and run blocking.
-TEs. Ben and Nique both looked pretty solid to me. I even saw Pope throw a good block.

Need that Kool Aid (the bad):
-Branch. Nuf said.
-Trel. Well he didn’t get injured this time, but he sucked just as bad on punt returns.
-O Line (tackles edition). Stupid Vallejo getting hurt. I just know his pass pro would have been better than Mike “pick a side and I’ll go the other way” Gandy. I still think he is useless. Yes I’m basing my opinions on his last two games which just happen to be against the Steelers, but he should have learned this time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice and I should just be cut cause I suck. Brown. I never liked his drafting anyway. I think he moves to guard and he can be a perrenial pro bowler .
-BSP. Between his poor play and the poor blocking from the line, nevermind. Its not even worth it.
-Kurt’s Limp. After the sideline interview with Kurt, he turned and walked away. Dude looked like he was in so much pain. I felt bad for him. If he goes out, we need another QB to back up Matty. If BSP continues to suck and we still keep him as the #3, I see Tyler leaving for a #3 job himself. If this is any indication, I don’t want to see BSP’s 2nd career pass. And to think I was on his bandwagon.

What, there’s Kool Aid (the ehh):
-The rookie LBs and secondary. 1st time under the lights of their 1st NFL game. They’ll be more visible next game.
-Vincent. Not enough to tell with him.
-Pass rush. Normally we run a vanilla defense around this time. Not too vanilla with all the blitzes, but still no sacks. Football is a game of inches and we were so close to a few. I guess I’m still encouraged.
-11 on the field. O.k. Bill, you’re not new to being a D coordinator. Let’s tighten up. Only 11 on the field at a time. Unless we are celebrating a victory and everbody rushes the field.

Fran Tarkington? More like Sage Rosenfels… Don’t get me wrong, he didn’t “fumble the ball in spectacular fashion,” but oh my lord had he done something like that in-bounds, or as a starter… I would have shit myself and turned the TV off. It was fun to watch, yeah, but crazy and dangerous, too. He had a (much) better game than BSP. I do hope that he gets inserted into the competition, but am going to reserve judgment on both of them until the regular season. Or at least another game or two ;) St. Pierre has been a pre-season champ in the past, it’s obviously too early to declare him cut.

For being the hybrid guy, Castille was doing a lot of blocking. Tried to keep an eye on him, but will have to re-watch the game. Didn’t seem to be using his arms much (yay, no holding) but just kind of rammed into people with his head (boo, no technique). Was Maui’a on the field at all?

I think I was most disappointed by our reserve defense. Dixon certainly shined for the Steelers.

As for Michael Adams, I wasn’t too horrified. The big pass break-up was worth more than the flailing, stumbling failure on the sidelines.

Final thing was MRG, of course. I didn’t expect to be as enthralled as I am. Really exciting seeing him get the ball back there. Still looking forward to LSH on KR though. With Breaston waking up sore and leading our receivers, Whiz should get the message.