The Niners’ first game this year is September 7th at Candlestick. Barring any preseason injuries, we should see all the big names for both teams. With a bitter rivalry firmly in place, the atmosphere will be great and the players, coaches, and fans will be raring to go.
Starting quarterback Alex Smith, will look to have a big game. After last season, he will want to get going early and often. Now that the 49ers have a competent offensive coordinator, we should see more than 200 yards passing, which was Smith's total from last year's game.
On passing plays, I’m sure Alex will be glad to have “hot routes” this year to protect him from the blitz. Last season, Alex had to rely on the line and running backs to pick up the blitz. This led to multiple unnecessary sacks and fumbles. This year should be different. Look for Alex to get rid of the ball quickly when he sees the blitz and to take shots down field when he has protection.
The Bird's defensive coach, Clancy Pendergast, will be sending multiple blitz plays out of his 3-4 defense to try and get to Alex. With our Offensive Coach, Mike Martz, calling in plays, Alex’s personnel packages and play calls will be well situated to handle what comes at him. Coach Martz’s offense is about reacting to, or reading, the defense and adjusting to them. For blitzing defenses this can present the problem of being exposed. Our receivers should see plenty of chances to break one tackle and then have no defenders around him.
Catching the majority of passes from Smith will be Bryant Johnson, our 2008 first round draft pick that was needed to bolster our sub-par receiving corps. Only he comes with three full seasons of NFL experience. Not to mention he has been practicing against the starting corners for Arizona during that time. He will want to show his former coaches and teammates what they lost. Look for him to have a big game.
As far as the 49ers' running game is concerned, look for the Cardinals’ safety Adrian Wilson to lock down Frank Gore as he has done in the past. Wilson is going to be “in the box”, and every time Gore is handed the rock, no offense to Gore, Wilson is going to be on him. Gore will still get plenty of passes underneath after Wilson drops into coverage, though.
On the defensive side of the ball, I am looking forward to seeing Manny Lawson return. Last year’s season opener against Arizona was a nice game for him. He was consistently making plays in the backfield. This year, teamed with Justin Smith, he will make the Cardinals’ tackles, Levi Brown and Mike Gandy, earn their paychecks. Between Lawson and Smith, the 49ers will see 3 or more sacks and at least 4 tackles for a loss.
Our pass defense should be fine against the Cardinals. We have an improved defensive line in front of our secondary and, as long as Leinert is throwing the ball, the defensive backs should have a nice game. The Cards “starting” QB Matt Leinert doesn’t do well against the Niners. His first pass of last season was intercepted by Walt Harris which led to an immediate Frank Gore touchdown. After that, Leinert’s day never got better as he was picked again late in the game and only had 100 yards total through the air.
One of the sub-plots in this contest is that, although Leinart’s season ended in week 5 against the Rams, the beginning of the end came in week 1 when he took a ferocious hit from Patrick Willis. In a completely legal play, Willis found Leinert rolling out to the right. Leinert, being a lefty, was forced to try and throw the ball back across his body in an awkward motion. This was not a good decision. As Leinert's shoulder went through the throwing motion, it met with the Humble Hammer’s shoulder and helmet, which happened to be traveling much faster and in the other direction. The collision was violent. His clavicle may have officially been broken in St. Louis by Will Witherspoon, but I feel one is the result of the other. Either way, Matt will be trying not to think of that hit when he sees Willis this year.
In the end, I feel that the Niners' passing game will be big as Alex Smith busts out for his first 300-yard game. Gore will get bottled up by Wilson on the ground but will be able to catch six passes and get 75 yards out of those. His final tally is 130 all-purpose yards with one visit to the endzone.
The Duke sees limited action because of Bryant’s 10 receptions, Bruce’s seven and, of course, Gore’s six. Smith hushes all Shaun Hill fans by completing 30 of 39 passes in a display of accuracy and mobility during the 34-6 victory. Ok, time to put the crystal ball away.
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about 1 month ago
nice! 34-6 victory is in sight. game of the year will be when we play the dallas cowgirls and stir up the hatred once again by wippin their azz.
about 1 month ago
Mike Nolan should have a pre-game talk with Patrick Willis and instruct him that -- under no circumstances -- should he knock the fragile Matt Leinart (2 season-ending injuries in his last 5 sacks!) out of the game with a big hit.
Last season versus the 49ers, Leinart threw 14 for 28 (50%)... 102 passing yards, 2 interceptions, 1 TD, 3.6 YPA, and a 40 passer rating!
Later in the season, with Kurt Warner at the helm, Warner went 34 for 48 (71%), 484 yards, 10.1 YPA, 2 TD's, 2 int's, and a 99.7 passer rating.
The best formula for a 49er win is to keep Matty upright and Warner on the bench!!
about 1 month ago
I agree about Warner. I was going to put something in the article about how he kills us and threw for almost 500 yards in one game last year.
That's one more advantage of having Coach Martz on the squad. Not many people know Kurt's game better than Martz. If Warner does play you can bet Martz's input will be listened to by Coach Nolan and Coach Manusky.
about 1 month ago
This is just stupid. First of all, calling Whisenhunt a "defensive-minded coach" is as wrong as it can get. He was an OC and called plays for much of last season. And, it's been a long time since a Martz ran offense has done well against a Pendergast defense. Look it up.
about 1 month ago
This is laughable. The last time a Martz "O" went up against a Pendergast "D" (last season). The score was 31 -21 Cards and Lions had -16 rushing. The lowest since the 1940's. It's not the crystal ball you have to put aside; it's the crack pipe
about 1 month ago
John:
Changed Whisenhunt to Pendergast - no big deal - sorry for the error.
about 1 month ago
Crazy, Did the Lions have a running back who was considered one of the best in the league? No. They had a back who was lousy and a defense that was just as sorry.
Not gonna be the same this year, watch.
Niners 34 Cards 6
about 1 month ago
William, feel free to go to NFL.com and check every stat on the Cards and 49ers. If you can find anything on past performance (as in last season) to allow you to believe the 49ers can beat the Cards by 4 TDS, you, my friend, are delusional.
Your back had very good second game against the Cards, and is, without doubt, the only real quality skill player on your "0". Think it over: Your two best wideouts are guys cut by the Cards and Rams. Doesn't tell you something?
By the way... the Cards didn't stand pat in the off-season.
Not to say you can't win. All you'll need is a screw up on a fumble recovery or a missed FG, like last season.
about 1 month ago
To Crazy:
With a horrible OC calling the plays and an offensive line that was shuffled around and Frank Gore coming back from a pre-season injury that had all kinds of rust in his game we managed to beat the Cards.
I won't go on a record by saying we will beat the Cards in a 34-6 fashion but wouldn't you think that our chances have been magnified only due to the fact that we don't have pinocchio (our previous OC) calling the plays and with a line that has more veterans and now has more weapons?
about 1 month ago
Actually Martz imo is his own biggest strength and weakness. He'll make the right call 5 times in a row and score 3 td's. Then he'll make 5-10 wrong calls in a row and put the offense in a higher percentage position to turn the ball over, or go three and out. He was given credit for Detroit's fast start last season...making one of their players '10 win guarantee' a potential reality when they started something like 4-1, 5-1. NFL coordinator's said, oh martz is doing his thing again with Detroit, defenses adjusted, Martz started making his bonehead playcalls again and he then go the credit for their fast fall from 4-1 or 5-1 to not being in the playoffs. Rightfully so detroit went in another direction.
Martz can be very good, but he can also be very, very bad, especially if the dc has studied up on martz and is aware of his little tricks. Any given sunday he can be the reason you win, but also any given sunday he can be the reason you lose.
As for Bryant Johnson, he's pretty good. I think we have potentially better options than BJ at 3 and 4 than he ever was at 3. Breaston and Doucet may very quickly ease our loss of BJ. I wouldn't expect the world out of BJ, and you probably aren't. He's good, pretty solid, but I also remember games he completely disappeared. In games boldin or fitz wouldn't play, you'd think ok, here is your chance to shine. He rarely ever did, and many of those games where he had opportunity, he disappeared. I would never feel comfortable with him as any more than a 3rd wr, and in an elite receiving corps, a 4th wr. Using him as a 2nd will be interesting. He could prove me wrong, but I wouldn't expect big things out of him. But that said he'll definitely be a player you guys need in your receiving corps, and you are better with him, than without him. Of course he'll be jacked up for the game, but that doesn't always translate into production, especially when given a much bigger and daunting task than he has ever had to do in Arizona, and help lead a receiving corps which aside from Issac Bruce, isn't very talented. Bruce could be your best receiver by far this season, or might lose an additional step and be very average. That said, overall with BJ and Bruce, you have to think your receiving corps are a notch and half better than last years, but still a bit aways from being a good receiving corps. Of course young guys might change that, but we'll see. Also BJ didn't always practice against our top corners, or more specifically had our top corners around him during practice less often than you guys may think. Given that Boldin and Fitz were ahead of him, he was going against a 3rd cb in man, and going against most likely safeties in the zone. That and you add that what once was our top corner is now going to be our FS, and we drafted DRC, BJ not playing as the 3rd receiver will be going against guys he probably didn't see as often or at all while practicing against the Cards. He also makes inopportune drops on relatively easy catches on important plays.
As for Smith, we'll see. The deer in the headlights look was pretty evident. Being a cardinals fan, and having the privilege of watching Josh McCown on a perpetual deer hunt over a few seasons, so far Smith has similar deer headlight qualities.
My thought process is that a deer in the headlights type QB will have a hard time trying to go to the hot routes. The speed of the game has shown it to be a bit to quick for smith (so far), so even though hot routes are designed to help a qb in trouble, the qb has to have the ability to then ditch his play, remember the differences in routes between the hot routes, and the original routes on that playcall, all while watching out for the blitzer or multiple blitzers and deliver the ball to those people.
That's where I think Smith will have troubles. I don't feel he has the aptitude to do that well. Sure he might throw what seems a perfect pass in the above scenario, but not realize that perfect pass is being setup by a cb, saftey, lb.
Our pass rush should be even better this year, more talent, more driven players, people back from injuries, and I believe I read more blitz packages not used last year.
I think the hot routes are going to lead to a lot of int when he does throw it, and alot of fumbles/sacks when he can't. Hot routes are designed to catch the defense at their weakness, but if not done right, like many times they aren't throughout the league, a lot of big defensive plays happen. If he can overcome these challenges, I doubt he does this year. Looking at Martz' track record it seems like he has this year and next year to figure it out or Martz is toast. Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, but first game is a bit much to ask, but not impossible.
The Niners best shot is to take what we give you, and I hope we don't perpetually have our cb's 5-10 yards off your wr's when the ball is hiked, otherwise you might just be able to dink and dunk your way down the field on 5-10 yard out routes, and rb's coming out of the backfield doing the same thing.
Our OL is getting better. It's getting better, it's getting older, it's getting more cohesive, it's learning from one of the best OL teachers and coaches (practice and gametime), and should move up a notch in quality, and if you look at last seasons stats, they were pretty good overall.
As for leinart, still too early, but being fragile while having an average NFL QB arm hurt his chances. Luckily Warner can come in at any time, or start from game 1 and lead the team very well and score quite a bit of points. If you weren't aware, even though leinart started the season, even though warner got hurt during the season and had what many of us call 'robo' arm with his torn elbow ligaments in his non throwing elbow, missing time for that too, still manage to throw 27 td's last season. Leinart is still leinart, and we'll see what he does. At the very least he's a vastly overpaid, but good quality backup.
I'd also watch out for our TE's. Our TE corps is vastly underrated, and this might be the year people take notice of them. Nobody spectacular, but 3 guys that could probably start for many NFL teams comprise a unit that is deep in case of injuries, and versatile in that all 3 don't do the same things, etc.
Also I wouldn't say Gore is one of the best in the leauge. He's a quality player, who had a down season according to the expectations he created before. Kevin Jones, T.J. Duckett, and Tatum Bell (but I think jones was on IR that game), the lack of a rushing game isn't neccesiarly on them, as they are pretty good players that comprised a pretty good unit.
It's just Martz didn't use them as much as he should have...in favor of throwing the ball around more. (good or bad that's what he does) That's Martz, and he'll do it in SF too.
I wouldn't expect 2006 numbers from Gore, I think he'll be lucky to have 2007 numbers....and I say that knowing that 2007 numbers with far less carries and a higher ypc average would be a much better 2008 than 2007 is the best you can expect, because you guys are going to be throwing the ball all over. Martz will use him more as a reciever out of the backfield, which plays to one of gore's strengths, so expect better receiving numbers from him, and less rushing numbers. I wouldn't doubt if healthy, and IF the offense is at least middle ground in the NFL he doesn't catch 53 passes, but more like 75-85 passes.
I also wouldn't say that Martz as opposed to your previous OC is not a Pinocchio, but he may very well be a goat. There's a lot of uncertainty with Martz, and I'd have to say that in SF he has less talent then he had in Det, or Stl. We'll see though, maybe that rookie wr steps up and makes SF 'even' with the overall quality of offensive tools that DET had last season. Maybe not.
The key is, is your WR core. IS an aging bruce, a slightly overrated BJ, and a rookie wr make up the core of a good unit? Probably not. (An average unit, yes)
It maybe appear light years ahead of last year, and it just might be light years ahead, but you also have to remember that many people feel the niners wr core of the past few years was THE worst, or one of the worst 3-5 cores each of those years. So you may see a huge improvement, and only get up to say 20th best wr core. Your guys' wr core might have been that poor. It'll be interesting to see how much your wr core improves to. As of now I'll stand by around 20th best. Numbers might skew the rankings, and a couple of big offensive games might pad the stats, but may not be indicative of a good core. 16 games of consistent production at a high level will be what it takes to be considered a top 10 unit, and if not 16 games, 14-15 games. I can see Martz leading 6 great offensive games for the WR's (but not a win every time), and potentially 6 more where it appears the wr's disappear and half of those six might be losses directly attributed to the playcalling of Martz, and 4 average output games. I could be completely wrong, but from watching Martz over the years, that's what my head/gut tell me.
34-6 is a bit much. I think there is 10x more likelihood of AZ 34, SF 6 than the other way around, but I won't say that will be the score. Maybe it's close, maybe it's not, maybe the niners even win, but a 34-6 thrashing is basically saying you'd give a cardinals fan 28 points in a bet? Niners aren't NE, and the Cards aren't Miami. Anything is possible, but that surely isn't probable. But ofc as a fan you can dream, and on any given sunday anything can happen. I'll predict a win for the Cards, and hope that I'm right.
Good luck on the season, any win against the Seahags will be a plus :)
CardsFan88
about 1 month ago
CardsFan,
Thanks for the comments. Now a couple of comments for you.
I think it is hard to judge Martz on the Lions overall performance last year. You have to remember how horrible their defense was. And if your defense can't stop anybody and you get behind then have to throw the ball every time.
Next, as far as Smith's aptitude is concerned, you're talking about a guys who earned his 4-year degree in 2 years and had 3.71 GPA. Aptitude isn't a problem for Smith.
Finally, Gore is one of the top back's in the league. Without a doubt.
Again, thanks for the comments.
about 1 month ago
Thank You.
I wasn't meaning IQ aptitude. For aptitude I was meaning the aptitude of reading an NFL defense, going through his progressions and noticing a blitzer or two, and then having the ability to shift to the hot routes, read the defense coverage based on those altered routes, and being able to do all of that in roughly three to five seconds.
From what I've seen, finding the appropriate receiver while being blitzed without the hot routes seemed a bit difficult for Alex Smith. Age and playing time could correct this, but also he may never be able to put it all together in that sense.
I was more going on the idea that for QB's that are good-great at read and recognition in a limited time are more likely to be good at using hot routes, those that have shown they aren't great at read and recognition while under pressure might find a hard time benefitting from the implementation of hot routes. For people maybe like Alex Smith, it might be too much, and it might lead to more errors, a new set of errors, that he hasn't dealt with before. He might even progress in other areas a great degree, but a potential new set of errors might at the end of the season look like numberwise and record wise that he 'spun his wheels' even if he went up a notch or two in other areas.
That was also one of things about Josh McCown, he had the dear in the headlights look, yet he had a wonderlic of 30, and although I can't find his IQ or college GPA, I remember reading about it, and he was considered very smart/brilliant..I think if memory serves correct 150 IQ..it's just book smarts don't always mean I can read and recognize the defense, it's blitz, the hot routes, the defense as is versus those hot routes all in 3-5 seconds. You can be one or the other, or both, but being one doesn't mean being the other.
But Josh McCown isn't Alex Smith, so Smith very well may end up being a good NFL qb, and lead you guys to playoff wins, etc. But at this point I see similarities between McCown and Smith, and Martz' hot routes might make things worse.
Overall it'll be interesting to watch and we're only a few months away :)
about 1 month ago
Wow... An intelligent and respectful discussion on the web. Who knew it could be possible? Thank you William and CardsFan88!
about 1 month ago
The one thing I see missing from all this prognostication is the willingness of people to think that someone other than Alex Smith might be the starting QB for SF. Smith has a 3 year track record and if you're the hiring manager, you've GOT to be thinking there's a better choice out there somewhere. Shaun Hill may be a career backup, but a lot of guys have been career backups who have done quite well later in their careers. Your own Kurt Warner is a prime example as was Rich Gannon.
Every time he's stepped on the field, Shaun Hill has shown that he's a gamer. He had the same supporting cast around him that Alex Smith and Trent Dilfer did all year, and all he did was win both games he started. The Niners released Darrel Jackson at the end of the year, but if he'd had every game be as productive as the two games he played with Shaun Hill, he'd have been in the Pro Bowl.
Smith is a bust. He takes waaaaay too long to figure out what to do and then telegraphs his intentions. And he doesn't exactly have a rocket arm either. What you see is what you get and after 3 years, we should have a pretty good idea of what he brings to the game.
I don't know what it is about the Cardinals, but every year you read about how they're improved and yet they seem to never reach beyond mediocrity. I've never understood it. Y'all have two of the best wideouts in the game and Kurt Warner. Your backs are fine and your D knows how to play the game as well. So why is it you haven't been in a conference title game in decades (if ever?)? Ya gotta win SOMETIME!
I predict a close game and that either team is capable of winning, though our chances are greatly reduced if Alex Smith starts.
about 1 month ago
Russ,
Thanks for the comments. I feel that it is always more constructive to have respectful conversation. It easier to say "Oh put away the crack, your dumb, insult, insult, blah blah" than it is to look at something from another person's point of view.
As for your comments about Shaun Hill- who know's he may be the guy for us. As of right now, Alex Smith is penciled in as the starter (lightly penciled in) and is much better in practice than Hill or O'Sullivan.
I've always been pulling for Smith because of all the adversity he has faced as a Pro.
I like to use Payton Manning as an example. As most know he was also a #1 overall pick in the draft.
That's were the similarities stop between the two.
Payton has had the same offensive coordinator, Tom Moore, for all 10 of his seasons.
Alex Smith has had 4 different OC's in 4 years.
Payton had a Hall of Fame receiver on the team when he got there (and all 10 seasons) - Harrison.
Alex's best receiver so far has been Antonio Bryant, who got suspended during his only season with the Niners.
Payton has a great line with guys like Jeff Saturday and Terrick Glenn.
Alex has had mix-matched line of sub par guys (w/the exception of L. Allen who, by the time he got to SF, was way past his prime)
So, to call Smith a bust is premature... Give him this season.....and I know we said that last year too...then Norv Turner went to SD and left us with a rookie OC who screwed up everything.
about 1 month ago
We've been building talent for awhile now. But talent hasn't equated success. Some has been injuries, some of it youth, some has been coaching, some has been bad luck the way the ball bounces, some I believe has been referees botching a call one way or the other. But all those details can't completely derail a good team, it will however bring down a mediocre team and make sure it isn't one of the lucky mediocre teams that makes the playoffs. Had a few less injuries, a bad call not made here or there, a ball bouncing the right way, and we could easily of been 10-6. That said, good teams have those things happen and can say they were 11-5 and could have been 13-3, so it can be relative.
It also seems that if the cardinals have what appears to be a schedule against some pretty poor teams, each of the last few years it seems many of the improved teams seem to play against us. It might appear that three 5-11 are playing against us, but looking back those teams that could've been thought of by many as easy wins, turned out to be tough games against teams that ended the year at 8-8, 10-6, 12-4, rather than their expected 5-11.
That said, every year we are building talent, and forming a winning philosophy from the ground up. Guys talented enough to start on previous years are our backups or special team players. I really feel we have more depth than in previous years at multiple positions, and each year it's getting better.
When will it finally culminate into a winning record, a conference title, etc? Hard to say, but I think this year we'll be even closer to attaining a good record. Sometime that breakthrough will happen, provided we don't lose our players to FA, catastrophic career ending injuries, complete whiff on 09 draft picks. If not in 2008, in 2009 we'll be ready to make some noise, and a year after that should be our 'window' to take it to the next level.
It helps though that we have been resigning our good young players years earlier than we had previously, meaning we aren't continually having our best players leave in their 4-6th years for greener pastures. The cheap label has been slowly coming off since the buddy ryan era when we spent the most I believe than any other team in a one or two year window on FA's, but still lagged in cheapness in other areas. That cheapness appears to be gone, and thus whatever pressure it applied to our players to leave...simply isn't there anymore.
For a long time we tried to fix our OL, and never could. Spent high draft picks and signed big FA deals, but it never took. Without that our RB's didn't have much of a chance, and made it easy for defenses to play against a one dimensional team. So however we appeared to be good in certain areas was thwarted by lacking a critical component or two a good team had, that we didn't, components that can be easily overlooked, and if overlooked can have drastic consequences.
I feel we finally have our coach, and not only that, but probably the best staff we've had in a long time.
This very well may be the year we breakout, but because we've been scrutinized and hyped, I'll be a bit reserved. We could go 10-6 or 6-10. Our younger players are a year older, a year hungrier, and have a year in the system. I think the Qb carousel may come back and bite us if we don't make the right selection of who will start come 1st game of the season.
And yes, personally I feel better with Smith back there than Hill. Hill seems to have the intangibles that work better against the way the Cards play than does Smith imo. I'm not high on hill, but his type of Qb's generally seem to torch us by using a good combo of legs/arm to drive down the field.
Two huge DT's that can stuff the run and are pretty talented
Darnell Dockett, who can be dt/de on any given play, but with our bigger guys in there can be a good DE for us
Warner is still a good QB, but fragile, and is very turnover prone at times, especially if you can 'get' to him.
Leinart is a ???? (He's shown flashes, and his game has always been cerebral talent more than physical talent)
Boldin/Fitz obviously, but with the new force out rule, teams with smaller wr's that would always go to the corner and try to get a flag or a force out might have tougher times scoring td's. In fact it might outclass an entire group of receivers relegating guys that used to be valuable in doing the above into being effectively a notch or two below what they previously were. Meanwhile bigger, more physcial wr's that catch the ball away from the sidelines might increase in importance, and if so, having Boldin/Fitz doesn't mean we'll improve, it means the potential drop-off that might be seen by the league because of the change, might not negatively impact the Cards all too much. It really depends on how refs call it. Will they just say incomplete, or will there be 3x as many PI calls? If you add in the physical nature of Early Doucet from LSU, some of which are saying is a poor man's Boldin, and the Cards are sitting pretty in terms of physical receivers.
We have Steve Breaston, an absolute beast on KR/PR. He can bring it to the house on any play, and word is his receiving skills are coming around. Having a 4.2 40 guy to competently be the stretch the field guy for Bodlin/Fitz could have a dramatic impact on our offense. BJ left for you guys, but it might be a win-win scenario for both our teams. I really, really like this kid's speed, and I'll go out on a limb and say that considering he didn't whiff on a single punt or kick return, his hands could be adequate enough to be a competent 3rd WR. If you've seen the Chicago guy Devin Hester running kicks back, in a couple of years, you might be saying the same about this guy. Here's a youtube link to him during his time at michigan. When I saw that clip I was licking my chops.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXReJ_6RTThw&ei=3GZlSIPPDKGiepjIjcIP&usg=AFQjCNFgvW0jAJIZmIIiHF_YzitF--yuLA&sig2=1gxm1JDWm-IU2U1cF8tzMw
Last year, he did in the NFL some similar things to what he did at Michigan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxo0fISiPHg
That's also another reason we haven't been good, ST. Horrible, Horrible, ST. You need to be good at all 3, and whatever we had built in previous seasons, ST was a huge letdown. It was still a problem last year, but was better, hopefully the trend continues upwards.
Of course we have Edge, but hadn't had much else behind him in recent years. Maybe our rookie Hightower can be our Marion Barber, or a poor man's version, maybe not, still too early to tell, but I'm looking forward to seeing him in action.
Our rookie LT is solid, not great, but solid, another year should help
Eric Green seems to be an adequate CB, but we missed on Antrel Rolle. However Rolle really seemed to be a natural fit at FS, and had his best game as a Cardinal in that rolle lol. Cards fans are excited that being a FS will allow him to play to his strengths more. It seemed before his weaknesses hurt him at cb. He's a pretty good tackler, not great, but decent enough to be a good FS, but it appears when he's not backpeddling and trying to keep close to a receiver, but looking down field and coming as help, or covering a lesser 3rd receiver after he makes the break on his route might be just the changes that change him from being a below average cb for going against other teams top receivers to being a good free safety against anyone.
We got DCR as our 1st round pick, and he might be (albeit maybe a year or two away) from being our best shut down corner since Aneas Williams. Regardless of trying to match that he should be heads and tails over any other CB we've had since Aneas, and thus an improvement to our secondary. It'll be fun to watch him. Maybe he makes a few mistakes, maybe he gets bulldozed at the line of scrimmage, but maybe not. His strength was pretty good for his size on the bench press, and it'll be interesting to see if teams can successfully run his way with your wr locking him up on blocks, etc.
We've also lost quite a few close games, hopefully close losses turn into close wins. If so just a small turnaround like that might mean 2-3 extra wins this year (and we still lose a couple of close ones).
Of course we have Adrian Wilson. He's a flat out stud. When he went down for the last few games of the season, we were really hurting. Is recognized as a good safety, but has probably played like a top 3 safety in the league over the past couple of years.
We have Karlos Dansby, and Gerald Hayes, as our 2 good lb's. Dansby is a beast, when healthy, and I hope that he can be signed long term (he's franchised this year). LB was a weak spot last year. Hopefully with Haggans, and maybe our undersized rookie FA dynamo MLB from LSU could come in and make it, but too early to say those things.
Last year was our first forray into 3-4 defense. We did pretty well, but now with many feeling comfortable in the system, the complexity of the plays/schemes will increase. Some of our de's will be olb's. So as a response even after losing Calvin Pace, we signed 2 veterans, took 3 guys in the draft with some talent, and restructured Bertrand Berry's contract to keep him on the team. With him and Okefor back, and all the new, hungry, talented, high-motor players comprising our de/olb's, that'll be the spot on defense to watch in preseason, it'll be brutally competitive. (other defense guys I'm looking at DCR and our LSU MLB..I keep forgetting his name because I encoded it somehow with something else and I keep remembering his name wrong lol, and of course watching Rolle's transition to FS). Whoever our last couple of cuts are from de/olb positions should be picked up by other NFL teams.
So yeah overall the talent appears mostly there, the coaching appears there, we have the stadium and crowd support, so I'm very excited that if not this year, next year should be when we really turn the corner and become a good team. But until then, they are just an 8-8 team with potential. But as a cards fan 8-8 is almost a dream season, like a LA clippers 41-41 season lol.
I probably forgot a number of players in this write up, but I did the write up to show that for the life of me, watching the 1988-2006 cardinal teams, none of them, not even the 1998 playoff team that beat the cowboys in their house that year in the playoffs, could legitimately match up to last years team, and now this years team in terms of talent imo. That bodes very well. So we should be close, but again it also showed me how far down we have been in various cycle's (after buddy ryan, after mcginnis, etc).
But we have to do it for it to happen, and it all starts with game one versus you guys. I want our guys to win, and if Leinart looks bad in preseason, we need Warner to start from game 1. I'll be rooting for Smith to be your QB, but I think at least against us, Hill is a better play and hope he doesn't win the starting job by week 1.
about 1 month ago
Ok. Good analysis. It's really the same old stuff. The one major thing that your leaving out is that it's the ARIZONA CARDINALS- WHERE CAREERS GO TO DIE. I am sorry bro, but the Cards are LOSERS. Always have been always will be.
So we can sit there all day and talk about Boldwin, Fitz, Edge, Warner, Leinert, Dansby, Wilson, on and on. There are definitely some ballers there. No doubt. The untangible here is that something about the birds make them suck.
Just look at last years games against the Niners. The Niners gave them every chance to win. They Birds just couldn't do it.
Until the Birds win a Superbowl they will always be losers.
Not trying to attack anyone here, some teams in the NFL have a long history of being terrible, Arizona is at or near the top of list.
from about 1 month ago
"Always have been always will be."
What a ludicrous premise, and one that could have been equally used to describe the 49ers of the 70's and early 80's; the pre-Walsh era. Your one Super Bowl post-Walsh era was with a Walsh team after he prematurely retired. What have you done since to maintain the legacy?
Pre-destiny is simply not an argument for anyone with an IQ above room temperature.
Let’s look at the Cards in their first year under Coach Wisenhunt and compare it to the 49ers.
Cards: Total points: 404 (25.2) 7th. – in NFL
49ers: Total points: 219 (13.7) 32nd. – in NFL
Sacks allowed:
Cards: 24 – 8th. in NFL
49ers: 55 – tied for last in NFL
Cards: Total points allowed: 399 (24.9) 6th. – in NFL
49ers: Total points allowed: 364 (22.8) 13th. – in NFL
Sacks:
Cards: 36 – 13th. in NFL
49ers: 31 – 21st. in NFL
Interceptions:
Cards: 18 – 10th. in NFL
49ers: 12 – 29th. in NFL
The Cards response in the off-season was the notable additions of Laboy and Haggans to their “D” in free agency, more than adequately replacing the departed Calvin Pace, plus Dominque Rogers Cromartie and Calais Campbell in the draft. Add to this the return to health of Okeafor, Berry, Wilson, and Green.
The Cards return all starters on “O” with the addition of Early Doucet from the draft to replace Bryant Johnson.
How the 49 “0” suddenly generates over 4 touchdowns in game one, and holds the Cards to 3 points, is a great mystery to me.
about 1 month ago
Born and Raised in Arizona, I used to be a Arizona Cardinals fan, but not anymore , they have been a disappointment to me and the fans. They will never be a playoff contender team and most of all they will never win a title. Heck, I have better luck betting my money against them than playing the lottery.
So, I believe The Cardinals, will end up with another disappointing season, especially with Matt as starting quaterback. And Kurt Warner did'nt get the respect he deserves, he played very hard to try to get his team to the playoffs and the coach bench him this year. If I were you Kurt, I would convince your coach in getting traded to a better team, because in Arizona you will never get a chance to get back to the superbowl again. So, my predictions for the showdown between the niners vs. cards is ....niners 35 cards 14 Go NINERS!
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