FanPost

Bruce Arians deserves the blame

Now that I have your attention, that's hogwash!

Well not entirely. I want to get into my take on the loss to Seattle.

I thought we lost for several reasons.

Bruce does deserve (a bit) of blame for getting conservative with the offensive playcalling. Virtually the only success we had moving the ball was on that drive late in the third where John Brown made that first amazing catch along the sidelines that was reviewed. He let Drew rip it a few times and we had a bit of success. BA was too content for too long to dink and dunk it today. Sure, I've got no problem with running it to force those safeties down; it's how we beat SEA in SEA last year. But the difference was that last year, despite all the INTs, and PIs (called and uncalled), he kept letting Palmer go for the throat. We had the same kind of defense last year, and they kept us in it and allowed us to throw it deep until the end despite INTs...BA could have done the same thing this year, and yet he didn't, and wasted a great defensive performance.

This year, it was like watching a replay of GB's week 1 loss where they were scared to throw at Sherman based on reputation alone (it was like GB read his press clippings in lieu of watching tape). Sure, we weren't that extreme in our antipathy to the deep ball (protection wasn't great either), but the Seahawks have shown the league something, and that's that you have to TEST their defense if you want a shot at winning. You cannot buy into the hype alone. I don't have access to all-22 coverage so I don't know if the shots were there, but it seems we were too content to run it for 1-2 yards a carry and then throw it right near the sticks on third down. Way predictable. Have to risk a few INTs to draw PIs (like we did early to JB). Then again, easier said then done when Drew is airmailing everything. Which leads me to my next point.

Drew was far from ready for this game. He looked too nervous, which I think explains his extreme overthrows (they were more and worse than normal). Then again, you can't have drops by Jaron Brown IN THE ENDZONE, which by the way, if he catches that and one series before, if PI is called Stanton's INT is wiped out (and rightly should have been - I don't think that INT was on him at all. The DB just bear hugged Smokey and he couldn't run to the ball - not on Drew) then the game is 7-6 Cardinals. Which I think could have totally turned the feel of the game in our favor. Watching the first half, I kept thinking about how nervous Drew looked and how leading a TD drive would be what he needed to settle down and see that he can have some success. Unfortunately, he does not have icewater in his veins like Carson, but I kept waiting for that TD and it never came. In every other game Drew has started, he's looked better to me after he scores points. I do think that part of it is on the receivers and part of it is that Drew needs more reps and time - he just looked out of sync, and frankly rattled by being in such a hostile environment. Not a good sign, but then again the flipside is that I think he will only get better with practice. The first time he was just keeping the seat warm for Carson, but now it looks like he is struggling psychologically now that he finally has "his shot". Moore and Arians need to rein him in mentally and help him relax.

Another negative was the defense giving up on the Seahawks' final drive. Part of it was fatigue, sure, but they just were getting gashed and looked listless towards the end. Yeah, the game was probably sealed since Drew and the offense couldn't do anything all day with the ball, but I DAMN SURE don't want my defense letting on that they feel like they don't have a chance and playing at about 75% effort at the end. If we have had one advantage this year, it's been our resilient mindset. That's a bad sign, and I fully expect BA and Bowles to tear into the defense for finishing out like that. Need to play like we have a chance every down until kneel-downs. This is where Dockett's presence is sorely missed.

Finally, this was not good for our shot at the 1 seed. Niners and Seahawks winning, plus the Packers and Eagles winning means we might have to go to Lambeau in January....We're still up on all those teams, but our margin for error just shrank. Only one of SEA and SF makes it into the tourney, and I think SF is it. They might both miss the playoffs, but SF's schedule is relatively favorable. They'll be competing with PHI/DAL and GB/DET the rest of the way. Ideally, we need to root for DET to win the north, GB to make it as a wildcard and both Philly and Dallas to make the playoffs, to make for two wildcards to crowd out SF and SEA in addition to the four division winners.

SILVER LININGS:

Frankly, I was a bit worried about the psychological effects of a 6-game winning streak on this team. It may have not been the worst thing in the world to lose this game on the heels of what BA said about us not having won shit yet. We're an inexperienced team, and I KNOW we all remember how this franchise fared down the stretch after clinching the division in 2008. They got soft. Hopefully, BA doesn't let these guys get soft and realize that Atlanta isn't exactly going to hand us a win on a platter this week. Watching the postgame locker-room speeches the past six weeks and seeing BA tell the vets he'd "see them on wednesday" was worrying me and getting old. We need to kick guys butts and have a great week of practice this week.

That pass rush was vicious, until the Seahawks opened up such a lead so late that all they had to do was run it. I like our chances at UOP vs this team if we can get some points early. Seattle will look like a much different team playing from behind on the road, I can guarantee you that. Stop the run and rush the passer like that with a lead and it's like sending Craig Kimbrel out there for the bottom of the ninth...

Speaking of receivers not stepping up to help Stanton, we all learned how important Larry still is to this team. I don't think he alone would have flipped the outcome, but it was just obvious his leadership and his coverage-clearing abilities were missed by the rest of the WR corps. Somers tweeted that he has accounted for 25% of our aerial yardage so far. That's not small, and he really allows guys to get open. This is good news for those of us who want Larry back for a few more years at least. Hopefully the events of this season help both Larry and the Cardinals realize that while he's not the Larry of old (and therefore doesn't deserve monster money), he is still vital to our success and cannot be easily shown the door. A great season statistically by him may have been bad, since it may have given him too much clout to force a situation where he could rightfully ask for a boatload of money and make us have to cut him. A poor season where we win without him and show that he 1.) doesn't have it anymore (which would have been BS anyways - since he'd no doubt go tear it up somewhere else next year) 2.) Is not essential to our success would have no doubt led to Larry asking for more money than Keim may have thought he was worth based on his (what-have-you-done-for-us-lately? philosophy) and forced a nasty divorce. So there's that. Hope to see you back in Cardinal Red next year, Larry. Him being essential to our success, yet not so prolific should be the perfect scenario for both parties realizing that staying together is in the best interest of both parties.

Josh Mauro. What the heck? This is why Keim should be exec of the year again. How do they repeatedly find guys off the street who come in and contribute like this? Our GM must have nine lives...he just keeps finding guys after other guys' backups' backups go down.

And finally, all is not lost - we still are the number one seed in the NFC and a two-game lead on the West. Sure, we've gotta get our butts in gear, and GB is a bigger threat to our SB hopes than SF or SEA (Cannot let the Packers get the 1 seed. I don't mind playing them here, but don't like our chances going to Lambeau with Drew). Just beat the Seahawks in December, win one or two more, and root for SF and SEA to each drop at least 1 or 2 more, keep Drew healthy, and have good crisp practices. Play with a sense of urgency. Hopefully this game drove that point home. We've got this, just play hard and smart.

<em>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.</em>