Game Preview
Posted: November 11th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 15 Comments »Here’s a bit of info on the Cardinals.
2-6
Wins over Rams, Panthers.
This is not a good team, but I will give them a bit of credit. MIN beat them 34-10. PIT beat them 32-20. Every other game was 4 points or less.
Ken Whisenhunt is still a solid coach. He has some good pieces to work with. He’s just got some pretty big holes on that team.
OFFENSE – 25th in yards, 22nd in points
DEFENSE – 28th in yards, 23rd in points
This is a team we should beat. They have major issues on offense and defense. The Cardinals do have some dynamic returners, but that’s hardly what you want to be the strength of your team.
I haven’t watched a ton of the Cardinals this year. I did see them early on and they had some moments where you thought the team might be okay, but they played just well enough to lose. They fell to SEA 13-10 and then to the Giants 31-27. You can see they’re good enough to be competitive, but they play to the opponent rather than a standard of excellence. That’s a habit the Eagles need to break as well.
I think Shady is in for a big day. Last week the Rams ran out of some spread sets and had success. Steven Jackson was getting 4, 5, or 6 yards. Shady has the burst to make those 14, 15, or 16 yard runs. Or more. The Cards run a 3-4 most of the time. They go 4 man front in the Nickel. We’ve had success running on the 3-4.
Their DL has a couple of real talented players in Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell. Dockett is the quick athlete and Campbell is the big/tall guy. Campbell leads the team with 5 sacks. He and Dockett have combined for 9 TFLs. Both guys are listed as DEs in the base unit, but slide into DT in Nickel/Dime looks.
All great 3-4 teams need LBs that can rush the passer. ARZ has 2 young guys in Sam Acho and O’Brien Schofield who have potential, but are still figuring things out. Veteran Clark Haggans has his moments, but isn’t anything special.
The best LB is Daryl Washington, who plays on the inside. Good athlete. Very good in coverage. Not so great vs the run. Kelce can get him blocked.
We should be able to work on their secondary. Adrian Wilson is more like a LB than a S. He’s very good in the box, but can be exploited in coverage. CB Patrick Peterson is enormously gifted, but is a young player that will bite on fakes and double moves.
I feel confident that we’ll score points on Arizona. I think we’ll try for the deep ball a few times, but Shady will get his share of carries. We should be able to run on them.
Our defense has a chance to get back in a positive frame of mind this week. We’re facing a young QB and hurt RB who play behind a so-so OL. Juan has got to get his guys to go out and kick some butt.
The DL should be fired up after Monday night’s struggles. I’m sure the Cards saw the tape and will mix in some 7-man protections, but having Cutler in the pocket made a big difference. John Skelton has a strong arm, but it takes more than that to anticipate guys coming open and get them the ball creatively.
Larry Fitzgerald is the one dynamic weapon that Arizona has. I really am curious to see what we do with him. He’s one of the few WRs that is open even when he’s covered. Just give that dude a chance.
The Eagles defense needs to have a bully mentality in this game. The guys need to go out there with the attitude of completely shutting down the Cards. Don’t give them an inch. Make them earn every yard.
Will DRC be in the slot? Will Asante play soft in the Red Zone? Will Nnamdi be allowed to shadow Larry?
Jaiquawn Jarrett is going to get his first NFL start. I’m sure the Cards will try to pick on him. You always attack young DBs. Jarrett had a solid showing on Monday night and I’m excited to see how he plays. Kurt Coleman had a good game and has played well since getting his job back.
Can we lose this game? Sure. As I re-watched the Rams/Cards from last week, all I could think is “How in the hell did the Rams beat the Saints?”. But that’s the NFL. Teams matchup well with someone who is clearly better and that makes the game more even. You also have to remember that even on the worst NFL team there are some darn good players. The Cards have some good individual pieces. They don’t have enough good units.
I fully expect the Eagles to be fired up and ready to go. The OL got whipped Monday and should play with an edge. I’m sure the DL is jonesing to hit someone. And Vick and DeSean Jackson have to be dying to deliver a big TD. I want a good game, but I’ll settle for an ugly win if I have to. Gotta get a W.
Tommy
Is there a reason we haven’t put DRC in as the returner? The guy is fast, and we’ve all seen some of the electric INT returns he had as a card. Considering we haven’t gotten anything out of our return game, it seems like a good time to try someone else.
After hearing the interview of a reporter from AZ today… I wonder if DRC still shows up to work with his lunchbox… full of crayons (facepalm). I was hopeful that a DRC/Asante combo could somehow work out with the wily vet giving the young talented guy pointers on how to prepare mentally for the game. For some reason, adding another elite corner to the mix has turned our DB grouping into a mess.
I have adjusted my thinking… I used to think that it was important to pull DeSean when we’re in the red zone. I now think it’s important to pull DeSean and Asante when we’re in the red zone.
Wait, what? A lunchbox full of crayons? Do you mean that in the literal sense?
Because, if so, DRC is my new favorite player. Hands down. Bringing crayons to an NFL practice is fucking AWESOME.
Awesome, maybe, but I don’t know about favorite. Asante works pretty hard to relate to the fans. Last week, didn’t we all feel like we had our groins lacerated by 300-pounder’s cleat?
If I remember correctly, I think the guy said that DRC keeps crayons in his backpack… I was trying to tie that in with the whole blue collar show up with your lunchbox type saying that you hear so many players use. The reporter was talking about how much he loved DRC with the Cards because the dude would almost literally say whatever was on his mind at the time.
Sounds like Kolb won’t be starting. Too bad, would have made for some good drama.
I think I might prefer Kolb to start. I feel like we’ve lost a number of games to back-up/ young QB’s in the last few years, but maybe that’s not the case – I’m not looking it up.
I got this game chalked up as a win. We beat bad teams, lose to good ones. I expect more the same. I expect we’ll play sloppy football for streches, but do enough to win, maybe even win big. But I don’t think we’ll see the game we saw against Dallas. A perfect, 4 quarters, of good football. This team isn’t capable of a repeat performace on that level.
The NFL is f’n insane. To think that we’re not even 3 years removed from these two teams playing in a classic NFC Title Game. Nuts.
Patrick Peterson is quickly becoming one of my top-5 favorite “non-Eagles.” Loved him at Louisiana State. Had him ranked as my #1 prospect in the entire draft this year. Seeing a guy who goes 6′, 225lbs field a punt at the 1-yard line and outrun 21 other players 99 yards to the house for the game-winner in OT was special. I might’ve even let out an audible “whoop.”
I’m hoping that this game is one of those leisurely Sundays. We’re a much better team, we’re coming off of a brutal loss, and we’re at home. Doesn’t this team kind of OWE us one ‘relaxing’ win this season? We’ve been absolutely emotionally pulverized since the St Louis game. Come on, Birds… give us a nice, fat, 37-10 win. Please. You guys are wreaking havoc on my Crohn’s disease.
Castillo has been on film for weeks now. Anyone worried that any decent, professional coordinator outscheme him like Martz or Gilbride? SF’s offensive coordinator was a young guy. I am truly worried he is terrible, not just mediocre.
Actually the problem has been Castillo outscheming himself. I’m not even going to consider round peg meet square hole, like the whole city of Philly is crying about. Let’s look at something fundamental to Philly defense, the blitz.
We have not run a single successful blitz through all eight games. We have no QB sacks from a blitzer this season. I would bet that every other NFL team has at least 3-4 blitz sacks.
Who on this team CAN blitz? Actually all of the players who can, which is basically your LB’s and safeties are all 2nd and 1st year players. Well, when they do blitz (UGH) they are fundamentally unsound.
Basic blitzing…A blitzer when not stonewalled blocked should never leave their feet. There is not a single player on this team who, while blitzing, does not fall every time for the pump fake. Every Time…shit like this makes this one of my least favorite Eagles team.
They replaced the blitz with the Wide-9.
I’ve watched at least 3 Cards games this year and parts of a few others, including their last. What else is there to do when the Eagles play Sunday and Monday nighters. Their OLine blows, for Kev, this meant happy feet and poor return in his QB play. Skelton, who is taller and less mobile did step up in the pocket and deliver few well timed passes. However, he seemed to be the opposite of Kev, in that he didn’t sense pressure at all and got grounded twice in the endzone.
I watched Washington run all over the Cards, but they were missing LBs that day. Disco Stew started and looked like ish, particularly against the run. My fear is our turnovers feeding their scoring opportunities a la the Cards Baltimore game. My hope is that Peanut is fed the ball and has a big day, he and we need it IMO. Oh and TDs 10 and 11 for McCoy would be nice too.
Tommy, I’m sold on Still.
But …. but… the CHILDREN!
I don’t want any players from Ped State University, no sir.