Bleacher Report - Articles by Kyle Corbett

Kurt Warner 2008 : One Of The Greatest Seasons By an NFL Quarterback

Kyle Corbett — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:09:23 -0400

2008 was an extremely rare football season for Arizona Cardinals fans...just about every aspect of their football team was solid.

The Cardinals? Solid? No way!

I know it sounds crazy, but it was quite evident that the Cards were a solid team in '08.

But the Super Bowl?!

I would like to meet one person (not a Cardinals fan) who picked the good old Cardinals to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLIII.

That's what I thought.

The Arizona Cardinals unforgettable 2008 season will forever be remembered as a historic Cinderella run to the Super Bowl. Their "old, out of shape, good-for-nothing" quarterback Kurt Warner had one of the most memorable seasons of not only his 11-year career, and Cardinals franchise history, but in all of NFL history.

Coming into the season, just about every NFL expert picked the Seahawks to win the NFC West title. They ended up with a record of 4-12, and were depleted by injuries all around.

They really did not have a chance at winning the division from the beginning.

The Rams...well...enough said there.

They went 2-14, and they probably have a while before they are even considered a threat to anyone.

The 49ers were actually a surprise toward the end of the season, finishing the season 7-9, but they ended up falling short of the Cards by two games.

So the all mighty Cardinals were the winners of the NFC West title, earning a playoff berth for the first time since 1999, and the number four seed in the NFC.

Mr. Warner was quite the quarterback for this Cardinals team. It didn't hurt that he had a couple of guys named Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin catching his passes either.

Let me throw some stats at you:

Warner had a 67.1 completion percentage, the best he had since 2000 and 2001, and was second in the NFL behind Chad Pennington by a mere .3 percentage points.

He was third in the league in TD's with 30, behind only Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees.

He had 4,583 yards, ranking second behind Brees again, and his rating was an astonishing 96.9, which was good for third in the league.

The guy was a stud to say the least, ranking in the top three in about every major passing category. Oh, and did I mention he was 36 years old when he was doing all this?

How many 36-year olds can say they did all this in an NFL season?

On top of a remarkable regular season, he also put together just as epic of a performance in the playoffs with the help of Pro-Bowler Larry Fitzgerald (of course).

Together, the two combined for seven of the Cardinals touchdowns in the postseason. Warner continued his dominance with 1,147 yards passing and 11 TD's, which were all tops in the postseason.

And might I add that he also had the highest rating at 112.2.

We all know how the Super Bowl ended, with the Cards coming within one play (that's probably what their fans say) of winning it all.

Nonetheless, it was the best season in Cardinals history.

The point is, Kurt Warner turned in an NFL season that is going to be very hard to repeat.

Not only did he play outstanding and earn a Pro Bowl selection, he put together amazing statistics and won an NFC championship.

Warner took a very playoff-inexperienced team not only to the playoffs, but through them to a Super Bowl.

He was their leader, and made the Cardinals a team to talk about for once.

In my opinion, Kurt Warner's 2008 season ranks as one of the top five seasons an NFL quarterback has ever had.

Anthony Smith to the Green Bay Packers: Does It Really Make Sense?

Kyle Corbett — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:56:38 -0400

As we all know, the Packers have made their first major offseason move by signing Anthony Smith from the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

I have heard some writers from other sites disagree with the signing, but it makes some logical sense to me, and here is why.

Even though the safety position was not a major need on this team, we needed something, ANYTHING to make it look like TT and McCarthy were trying to put this team in the right direction and help make an easier transition to a 3-4 defense.

Our fans were crying out about not signing anyone in free agency, and like I said before, safety was not a need, but he helps the Packers out.

Even though Smith was a backup last year and saw virtually no playing time whatsoever, he was on a Super Bowl-winning team and was on a defense that was ranked No. 1 in the league, so that's saying something.

Plus, they ran the 3-4, and while he did not play, he has knowledge of it and could help make it easier for our safeties to make the transition. Our new safeties coach, Darren Perry, was his coach in 2006, so they are familiar with each other.

He could also push Bigby for the starting job and give him some motivation, which doesn't sound like anything special, but Bigby could use some reinforcement after an injury-plagued 2008 season.

Smith could also help on special teams defense where the Packers struggled horribly last year.

Where there are positives, there are also negatives. You might remember Smith giving out the famous "I guarantee a win against the Patriots" statement.

Not only was it stupid to open his mouth and start talking trash, but the Steelers got crushed by 21 points and Smith gave up a number of big plays to Randy Moss and other New England receivers.

Nice going, stud.

In addition, he lost his starting job to Ryan Clark last season. Even though Clark was out with injuries for most of 2007, Smith got the chance to start and was just not good enough, losing his job when Clark got healthy in the summer of 2008.

He got the chance to start and did not take advantage of it, thus becoming mainly a benchwarmer for the 2008 season.

Still, TT made a good move bringing him in. It was for a pretty cheap cost, the guy has played with some amazingly talented defensive units, he gives us depth in the secondary, and he should be able to help us with the transition to a 3-4 defense.

While we do need to focus on bolstering the OLB and DE positions, I think this was a smart move. Do you guys agree with TT on this one?

With the Ninth Pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Green Bay Packers Select...

Kyle Corbett — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:44:59 -0500

So, this is my first article on Bleacher Report...please don't be too hard on me.

The Packers have the ninth overall selection in the 2009 draft (as you all know), and there are many different options we could consider. Here are a few.

Apparently, the most popular pick, according to experts, and the one I disagree with most, is Malcolm Jenkins out of Ohio State. With a switch to the 3-4 defense, I believe we have much more glaring needs on defense besides cornerback.

Yes, Charles Woodson and Al Harris are getting old, but they are still very solid. Both made the Pro Bowl (Woodson didn't play because of injury and Harris was an injury backup), and I believe they both have two to three years left in them.

But, there has been speculation they might have trouble switching to the 3-4. I do believe they will be strong as usual and make a smooth transition. Plus, we have Tramon Williams, who I thought did amazing this year, and Pat Lee, who didn't see much playing time but was solid when he did, backing those two up.

Picking Malcolm Jenkins wouldn't be a smart choice.

Then there are a couple of LB/DE guys who could play either position if we needed to: Brian Orakpo from Texas, Aaron Maybin from Penn State, and Everette Brown out of Florida State.

I honestly have not heard much about either Maybin or Brown other than they would be smart and well-chosen picks, but I have heard that Orakpo is an amazing player and could play either outside LB or DE very well and that you really can't lose with picking him.

The only question is if we pick someone up in free agency to play DE or LB, which TT is not too fond of, or if he doesn't fall to us, which is totally possible. If he isn't there and we do not sign anybody, then Brown and Maybin are right there for us.

Then there is my personal favorite who the Packers should draft: B.J. Raji out of Boston College. I watched him in the combine and he did great, running strong in all drills. We have probably the biggest need on our defense at the defensive line position, NT especially.

If we draft him, we have a very strong backup behind Pickett, which we don't have as of now. He would help with the depth on the defensive line and be an outstanding player. He is my pick for the Green Bay Packers at No. 9.

That is my first article and opinion on who Green Bay should draft. Let me know what you think.