Week 3 Metrics - Arizona Cardinals vs Seattle Seahawks

Sunday saw a tough loss fore the Cardinals in a game they had plenty of chances to win. The offense started off well in the first half and even excelled when they moved to the no huddle offense, leading to the only touchdown pass of the day, but were unable to score a point in the second half, and while Seattle did play well on defense, there were big problems on the offensive side of the ball for Arizona. Defensively on the other hand the Cardinals played really well. Pressure was pretty consistent even if we were not getting to the QB for hits and sacks, the coverage was exponentially better than the first two weeks of the season and they were good in the ground game keeping Lynch under 4 YPC. They have nothing to be ashamed off they played a great game, but keep in mind it was against the Seattle offense.

Hit the jump to see the numbers and some notes;

-          Levi Brown and Brandon Keith both continue to struggle in pass protection; both gave up five combined pressures with Keith being responsible for two key sacks. For the first time this season the interior line struggled. Colledge gave up three combined pressures including a sack in which he blocked inside instead of out and Sendlein allowed the same number. Rex Hadnot continues to impress.

-          Todd Heap continues to struggle with his blocking, he may not have given up too many bad plays over the first two weeks, but he was getting beaten. This week he was the weak link on a few running plays and also allowed a pressure on Kolb.

-          Todd Heap was our most targeted receiver, it should never be anyone other than Fitzgerald, Kolb was not confident in that second half, and he threw a lot of checkdowns and missed some open receivers that cost this team offensive continuity.

-          Kevin Kolb really struggled in the second half, particularly on 3^rd downs. He was holding onto the ball too long, not stepping into the pocket when it was clean and was inaccurate with his throws, missing Heap short on one key play that could have gained 20+ yards.

-          Larry Fitzgerald was dealing in the first half; however he was thrown at just three times in the 2^nd half, two of which were not even remotely catchable. We went away from what was working in the first half and it hurt us big time.

-          Calais Campbell was a menace for the entire game, but I think we all already knew that, he had consistent pressure on the QB and was taking advantage of the weak links of the Hawks OL, he was in the backfield on running plays and the only time he was kept out of the play was with at least two blockers on him. Monster game.

-          Clark Haggans continued a solid start to the season, four combined pressures and a good impact in the ground game. Any concerns I had over Haggans have been erased.

-          Joey Porter on the other hand was invisible for 95% of the game. He got to the QB once and did nothing else rushing the passer for the rest of the game, he got washed out and was a liability in the ground game at times too. He needs to grab some pine as quickly as possible, but I doubt that happens. I asked Bertrand Berry his thoughts on the possibility of Schofield getting more time over Porter, his reply; @kenthodder The NFL is not always about ability my friend sometimes you just have to look at the numbers aka salary! Make more = play more!

-          Schofield did not get a huge number of snaps, but what he did with them he did well; he got pressure on the QB when he was on the field. I would love to see him start, but from what Bertrand has said, I would not be holding my breath.

-          Daryl Washington had a good comeback game, he was very active in the ground game and while he was not asked to blitz a lot, he looked good when asked.

-          AJ Jefferson was picked on for the first time this season, and he was not embarrassed. He was in a whole lot of man up with Sidney Rice and despite allowing 8 receptions he gave up just 63 yards. A good showing from the first year starter.

-          Patrick Peterson on the other side almost had the day off. Tarvaris Jackson has shown an aversion to throwing to Mike Williams and Peterson drew his number. It was a good matchup and Williams was rarely thrown at on Sunday. Peterson did well with what he had to do, but it is not a true indication of his abilities…yet. Let see him get tested and win some 1 v 1 battles.