2010-11 Standout Player
by fansincejakenrob on Feb 6, 2010 10:18 AM MST
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Looking ahead to next season, I ask the question who needs to play big in order for the Cards to have a 3rd straight winning season?
Berry and Warner are gone, were losing more than a few players this offseason.
Karlos is likely gone.
O-line needs a makeover.
But who do we need to be lights out all year, to achieve at least 9-7, and why should they be counted on the most?
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Revenge of the Birds' (ROTB) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of ROTB's editors.
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Leinart
is the one replacing a legend, the spotlight will be brightest on him. However, continued improvement from Hightower and Wells will make filling Warner’s shoes more manageable.
Leinart
Its proven that good QB play can cover up most holes and fortunately none of those holes are on offense.The running backs and receiving core will be fine. If Leinart can make good decisions and get rid of the ball quickly then the offense will be fine (Lets just hope that’s not to much to ask) I believe the offensive line will be fine maybe some depth in the draft but Whiz knows what he wants and has proven he knows how to win. The DB’s will have a lot of pressure on them if the rest of the defense cant pressure the other team. If Dansby leaves then are LB will be young and have a lot to prove but If Leinart can put points on the board it would take a lot pressure off the defense.
Remember no matter where you go in life...there you are!
by McCards010 on Feb 6, 2010 11:51 AM MST reply actions
Looking for Wells to have a break out season.
Leinart doesn’t need to be superman or Kurt Warner. He will be most scrutinized because he’s the QB and replacing a legend. He has a lot of motivation going into this year with his contract situation. If he falters he might not get another shot as a Cardinal.
Can’t pick any particular position / player on D. They need to step up across the board.
Leinart needs to play well.
He has shown that he can over the last season [Titans game], now he just needs to keep it at that level.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
I'm gonna say we have the offensive pieces in place
Leinart is doomed to at least an average season no matter how poorly he performs. Even with some inconsistencies at OT, we have gotten pretty good play from our O-line overall (look at the rest of the league) and even if our new starter(s) struggle, we saw we have the personnel already in place to use chip blocks, etc. effectively to slow down rushers off the edge.
What we really need is the LB corp. to step up. I don’t think it’s realistic to expect our new offense to be able to keep up with the kind of scores our D likes to let accumulate. As everybody’s saying, whether or not Leinart is successful, he’s not Warner.
Its all about the line
Leinart will look good if they can play good. Word is Grimm was grooming our two draft pics for the O line last year…heavily influencing their progression. I think you will see a much younger, youthful line with good upside.
Linebackers will be fine btw. Cody Brown is a stud, Will Davis was really coming on at the end of season, Stevie Baggs could be very dynamic and the draft board is filled with LB’s that will play tough…add Porter and maybe greatness…lol here’s to dreaming!
by Punisher3190 on Feb 7, 2010 12:07 PM MST reply actions 1 recs
+1
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
When you look into next season, there’s no question that its needs to be a combination of more consistency from the offensive line, and better selection of run plays. Too often in games last year we abandoned our run game, despite the fact that both Hightower and Wells averaged over 4 yards a carry. Even Warner struggled in games where we ran the ball less e.g. San Franciso losees. I cant tell you how many times one play our runningbacks had huge gains, then the next play no hole and a loss of yards. Leinart best friend this year will be a balanced run attack, not forcing the offense into third and long situations
Welcome to ROTB Buggy
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
It sounds repetetive, but...
when you break it all down. Leinart’s going to be the one who will really have to step it up this coming season and prove himself. I’m not saying he needs to be “lights out” another Warner, I’m just saying he needs to play safe/smart(er) then he has. Atleast till he gets a handle/feel of the starting role. The rest IMO will fall into place with Whiz and staff handling weaknesses/ contracts/ drafts/ etc… Plus it’s already been said that Leinarts at the end of his contract and he has something to prove whether he goes else where or not. If he fails miserably who would end up wanting him elsewhere? I’ll get chastised for this, but I still have faith in our QB!
The staple of the 3-4 is the LB core.
With our pass rush being so weak, we couldn’t mask any of our deficiencies in the passing game. McFly looked better in Pittsburgh because they can rush the passer. When you give a QB 4-6 seconds to get the pass off, you’re asking for trouble. Once we shore this up, the DBs should fall in line. The o-line has been pretty decent and the running game should continue to take off. Matt will be fine.
Life's too short. Be a fan. Orlando Magic, Arizona Cardinals,Tampa Bay Rays and of course "the U"! What a winning combo.
by hevchv on Feb 8, 2010 8:47 AM MST reply actions 3 recs
+1
Besides Matt. I am still wary of him.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Feb 9, 2010 12:10 PM MST up reply actions
standout player/Lienart
We forget that Whiz and Grimm are “Up the Middle” kind of coaches. They like to beat up the other team. Now I know that this is now a passing league and big play and big points are the direction but Whiz really wants to be more of a “chess” player and will use the run to do that. If Lienart gets rid of the arch in his throw and can laser one to the WR, then Lienart will be the man. But until then it will be Wells an Hightower running to the bank!
I think they will still try to throw the ball with him.
50/50 run/pass ratio is what I’m expecting.
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand band-wagoner fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
I disagree with almost everyone! haha
We aren’t going to have a standout season because of Leinart. Yes, obviously he is a large cog in the offense. No matter who takes the snaps, they’re going to have to play decently. However, since none of us are expecting Matty to come out and play like Warner, we should probably stop having the mentality that we need to dominate offesnively to win.
Teams like Baltimore and the Jets this year, and in previous years, have proven that you don’t need a dominating offensive performance to win. You need defense.
If our defense could hold teams to 3 points per game, how hard would it be for our offense to throw up one TD to win? I’d be ecstatic with a 7-3 win every week. We saw in Tennessee last year exactly what happens when our defense can’t stop a team from going 99 yards to win. That’s the deciding factor here.
Personally, my picks weren’t on the polls. I think it is going to come down to the defensive line. Guys like Calais and Dockett need to have better seasons this year. If we could get pressure only rushing 3 guys, imagine how much better our coverage would be? If our defense consistently got the bigger push and had the opponent’s offensive line moving backwards, imagine how much more pressure we could apply against both a passing and rushing game.
LB’s are a big part too but I think it needs to be our D-Line. If they step up, it allows more freedom for our LB’s which, in turn, will yield a stronger performance from our secondary. If they can hold teams to few points, our offense can easily provide us with wins and the pressure will be taken off of Leinart.
D-line?
Interesting but I don’t think you can expect a 3 man line to put much pressure on a QB. In a 3-4 you need LB’s that can do it all. The better they are at doing all the necessaries the better our D will perform.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Feb 9, 2010 12:12 PM MST up reply actions
If Dockett and Campbell actually have better seasons, it'll be historic
Do you realize that 3-4 DE’s aren’t supposed to be pass rushers? The fact that they both had seven sacks is amazing. No other 3-4 team in the league can say that their defensive ends came close to matching that total.
Oh and three man pass rushes are a myth. If we can get pressure with four we’ll be doing very well.
Be careful....to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
not to pile on
but LB’s make the 3-4 go, not the DL.
Agree to disagree lol
I see it as the opposite being true. Sure, in a 3-4 it’s going to be LB’s that come away with the big stats. But, how do you think that happens? I see the D-Line absorbing blocks and drawing double coverage. If you have 2 DE’s and a Nose that can all be single covered, how difficult is it for the offensive line to pick up the blitzing LB? Pretty simple. Now, if the offensive line is forced to double cover Dockett because he’s a beast, and double up on Calais for the same reason, we’ll have single blocking on our nose and our blitzing will be free.
I see it as the D line that makes it work. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask our D-Line to put pressure on the QB either. It works both ways. Offenses are going to be worried about our blitzing LB which should free up a one-on-one matchup for Dockett or Campbell. It’s going to be a direct relationship all the way. I’m not asking for 12 sacks out of Dockett, I’m asking for the intangibles. During a run play you drive your blocker back into the running back, or push him into the lane so the RB is forced to change direction. There’s plenty of things the DLine can do in a 3-4 to make our LB’s more effective. It’s my belief that it starts with them and trickles backwards. If they play poorly, our LB’s won’t have great games, and our secondary will suffer. If the DLine is playing beastly, our LB’s will be getting sacks and making tackles quickly shutting down the run, which will allow shorter coverage times for our secondary.
Very true
Must have misunderstood you. Seemed that you wanted our 3/4 guys to be putting up 4/3 numbers.
I coach D line and I couldn’t agree with you more. A beastly D line makes the LB’s job a whole lot easier. I think we have the D line to do it too. I just think we need the athletic LB’s to make the plays.
They are who we thought they were!
by Jesse Reynolds on Feb 10, 2010 3:31 PM MST up reply actions
The average 3-4 NT is expected to be double teamed.
True 3-4 NTs are few and far between. We are not asking him to be a playmaker. We are asking him to use his size and strength to force the double team, plain and simple. If that happens, the LBs will have the advantage and be able to make plays. If they are then matched up, then we should have a free DB to make things happen. Obviously it is a total team effort and it starts from the DL, but we’re not asking anyone to do anything extra until we get to the LBs. But this conversation is more for a true 3-4 team. We are still running a partial hybrid which would inturn make the DL more important.
Life's too short. Be a fan. Orlando Magic, Arizona Cardinals,Tampa Bay Rays and of course "the U"! What a winning combo.
3/4 defenses
are alway rushing a LB in addition to the DL, few plays actually see a 3man rush.
3/4 are just like 4/3 except one rusher is LB not DL.
Besides are defense is already in shambles.
Our Offense has only lost KW for the most part.
Its our offense that is gonna control out W department, and our defense thats gonna control our L department.
by fansincejakenrob on Feb 10, 2010 12:47 PM MST up reply actions
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