Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams: 5 Keys to Success
by Andrew602 on Nov 20, 2009 11:08 AM MST
in 2009 Season
6 comments
When the Arizona Cardinals take the field at the Edward Jones Dome to face the division rival St. Louis Rams, a 6-3 record and the possibility of going 3-1 in the division will be on the line. After nearly blowing another home game to the lowly Seattle Seahawks last week, the Cardinals know that they can't take any opponent for granted, no matter how bad their season has been. So far this year, the Cardinals haven't fell asleep on the road, starting 4-0. Let's take a look at the keys to the game.
1. Slow Steven Jackson: We all know that the Rams best player is running back Steven Jackson. He's currently third in the NFL with 915 rushing yards and has played even better the last few weeks. The one area the Cardinals have struggled at the last 3 weeks has been defending the run. They allowed a whopping 270 rushing yards to the Panthers, and 140 yards to the Seahawks - however, both games were at home. One important stat to take notice of, is that Jackson has only 2 rushing touchdowns on the year. He may get his usual yardage, but if the Cardinals can keep him out of the end zone they'll have a better chance of winning the game.
6 comments | 0 recs |
A Breakout Game for Beanie Wells is on the Horizon
by Andrew602 on Nov 20, 2009 3:00 AM MST
in News
13 comments
With Sunday's game approaching, rookie running back Beanie Wells has yet to have a "breakout game" if you will. Last week he scored two touchdowns, but was limited to 85 yards. The good news is that Wells did this against an 11th ranked Seahawk rush defense, and the upcoming Rams are presently yielding 142.3 rushing yards per game, which accounts for 28th in the league.
Handing off the ball to Beanie and Tim Hightower(I still have love for him) will be one key to the Cardinals winning the game on Sunday. In their past two games, which have both been victories, Ken Whisenhunt has shown a tendency to open the game with Hightower, and close it with Wells. Should the Cardinals take the same approach on Sunday, Wells may get even more opportunities against a vulnerable defense. The Rams have allowed 13 rushing touchdowns this season, which is 29th in the league, and give up a 4.5 YPA average which is 24th in the league.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams: Know Thy Enemy Edition
by Pyromnc on Nov 19, 2009 10:30 AM MST
in News
7 comments
For the St. Louis Rams, they have had a very rough past few seasons. They have managed to win just 6 games out of their last 41, currently making them one of the worst teams in the NFL. Part of this is because of the youth movement that has been brought upon their roster. No longer are the days of Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, and Marshall Faulk tearing up the field. Those jobs now belong to running back Steven Jackson and wide receiver Donnie Avery. Avery, a second year player, still has a lot to prove at his position but Jackson is just starting to hit his prime.
Jackson was drafted in the first round six years ago to come in and start the process of replacing Marshall Faulk, who was at the end of his career. In Faulk's final season he would mentor Jackson and try to mold him into a quality running back in the NFL. Faulk did that job very well as Jackson turned into one of the more prolific running backs in the NFL. Since becoming the starter he has had four straight seasons of 1,000 rushing yards and 250 receiving yards and is well on his way to making that five straight barring some sort of injury. Even though he has had a nice career thus far, it has been a different story against the Arizona Cardinals.
7 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams: Injury Report
by Hawkwind on Nov 19, 2009 7:20 AM MST
in 2009 Season
9 comments
As the season wears on the Arizona Cardinals injury report seems to get longer and longer and this week is no exception. In all there were 13 players listed on the report with four DNP's, eight limited particpations and a single player who was listed but participated fully. Duece Lutui is officially on the report because he missed practice but it wasn't injury related so we can assume that he'll be back at practice today. Joining him on the DNP list are Bryant McFadden (ankle), Chike Okeafor (back) and Michael Adams (hamstring). On the limited side were Steve Breaston (knee), Karlos Dansby (shoulder), Mike Gandy (pelvis), Gerald Hayes (back), Kenny Iwebema (knee), Sean Morey (head), Ben Patrick (knee) and Adrian Wilson (groin). Reggie Wells continues to be on the report with a broken thumb but he's yet to miss any practice or game time because of the injury.
9 comments | 0 recs |
Who Would You Take From the St. Louis Rams?
by Andrew602 on Nov 19, 2009 3:00 AM MST
in 2009 Season
15 comments
Seriously guys. In preparation for our meeting on Sunday, I thought I'd get the conversation going with a popular topic, in which we select the player(s) that we would want from the team we're playing that week. This week just happens to be the struggling 1-8 Rams, who are experiencing yet another losing season. There are some bright spots however, in players among their current roster. As the headline states, who would you take from the Rams? It can be a young or older player, a starter or a back up, etc. You can also take their current contract status into consideration, as if we were actually signing the player. Also look at who may be leaving our team after this season. Here are some of my picks.
Steven Jackson: Jackson would likely be the pick for any team, and that's because he's not only the best player on the Rams, but possibly one of the best players in the league. Before you say we already have Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower, listen to this. He's currently 3rd in the league with 915 rushing yards, and is averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Add in his 231 receiving yards, and Jackson alone counts for 42% of the St. Louis offense. That boy can play some football. He can play left, he can play right, don't make no difference. He can block, tackle, score the touch down, snap the ball, and kick the extra point. Hell, the boy will fill up the Gatorade cooler, walk the dog, and paint your back porch. I'm telling ya, the boy can plain outplay football. OOHH! And he can pass! (Okay, I took that last part from the movie Friday Night Lights, but it's true.)
15 comments | 0 recs
Where the Arizona Cardinals Stand in the NFC Pro Bowl Balloting
by Hawkwind on Nov 18, 2009 1:23 PM MST
in 2009 Season
8 comments
The NFL has released it's first update on the fan voting for the Pro Bowl and the Arizona Cardinals have quite a few guys in the top five at their respective positions. As we all know the fans don't get the final say but it's nice way to judge the popularity and/or of players on a national level. We've started a segment here campaigning for some deserving Cardinals (check out Dockett's, Warner's and Fitz's story) and we've got more to come but for now we all need to go vote, early and often.
- Larry Fitzgerald: Only four players in the entire league have received more votes than Fitz (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson and Brett Favre) and it's a safe bet he'll be a starter again this year.
- Adrian Wilson: Wilson is the leading vote getter among NFC strong safeties and has almost twice as many votes as the next best, Roman Harper. Again, I think it's safe to assume he'll be starting his second consecutive PB.
8 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona Cardinals Power Rankings Round Up: Week 10
by Andrew602 on Nov 18, 2009 11:27 AM MST
in Power Rankings
6 comments
After another win on the season, the Cardinals improved their record to 6-3. With a win this week against the Rams, they could be looking at a top 5 spot in most power rankings. Last week they averaged a 10.9. This week their average power ranking is 8.4 - a slight improvement but the doubters are still out there.
ESPN - 7th
Halfway to a 10-6 record thanks to four victories in four games away from University of Phoenix Stadium.
Yahoo - 7th
Is Beanie Wells becoming a big-time back – and, if so, how scary could this offense be come January?
NFL - 8th
6 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona Cardinals Fly Around the NFC West and Is It Too Early to Talk Playoffs?
by Hawkwind on Nov 18, 2009 11:15 AM MST
in News
11 comments
The NFC West went 2-2 over week 10 with wins by the Cardinals and 49ers. The Cardinals are the only team over the .500 mark (6-3) with San Fran currently sitting at 4-5 in second place and the Seahawks (3-6) and Rams (1-8) round out the division. The Niners and Hawks both travel to NFC North opponents this week (Packers and Vikings respectively) while the Cards and Rams will meet for the first time this season.
San Francisco 49ers: The Niners are coming off an uninspiring Thursday night win over the Bears that saw them turn five Jay Cutler picks into just ten points, but a win is a win and it ended a four game losing streak. While a 4-5 record might not inspire a great deal of confidence, the Niners fans aren't giving up on the playoffs just yet. As crazy at that may sound with games remaining against the Packers, Cardinals and Eagles, all of whom are ahead of them in the playoff picture, you could say that they still control their own destiny. Even tougher for the Niners fans to watch right now is the resurgance of the Carolina Panthers, who've won four of their last six after starting 0-3, and with three upcoming games against teams with a combined 9-18 record, that first round pick could get pushed down much further than Niners' fans were hoping. One interesting segment over at Niners' Nation worth checking out is an 'approval rating' on both Mike Singletary and Jimmy Raye (OC). Interestingly enough nearly 90% "approve" of the job being done by Singletary but Raye's "approval" rating is just under 40%.
After the jump we'll look at the Seahawks and Rams, and take a quick look at a premature NFC playoff picture.....
11 comments | 0 recs |
Arizona Cardinal of the Week: Week 10
by Andrew602 on Nov 18, 2009 8:29 AM MST
in Cardinal of the Week
13 comments
The Arizona Cardinals started Sunday's game sporting a 1-3 record at home, a place where they heavily relied on a home field advantage the last two seasons. They all knew how important a win at home would be, for the team and the fans. Two Seahawk scores later and the Cardinals were already down 14-0 in the first half. At that point, most would have figured the Cardinals already had lost. Instead, they battled back and overcame their division rival to win with the final score 31-20. Here's the list of nominees for Cardinal of the week.
Beanie Wells: After an impressive performance against the Chicago Bears the week before, there were set expectations for the rookie heading into this game. Beanie surpassed them, and is showing why the Cardinals drafted him at 31st overall. Wells also performed well under pressure, scoring two touchdowns that essentially gave the Cardinals the win.
13 comments | 0 recs |
Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. Seattle Seahawks
by Hawkwind on Nov 17, 2009 10:30 AM MST
in 2009 Season
12 comments
In what's becoming a bit of a trend, the Arizona Cardinals defense had some up and down moments throughout their game against the Seattle Seahawks. On the upside, they allowed just only 20 points but on the downside they gave up 472 yards of total offense to a unit that was averaging less than 340 yards per game. The defense also harrassed and sacked Matt Hasselbeck four times but allowed relatively unknown Justin Forsett to rush for over 120 yards. All in all thought the bottom line is that their effort was good enough to win and they made some very important plays when they needed to perserve the lead.
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