Defense played poorly?

[lyrclcipha12]

im not positive about this, i did watch the game and i havent seen a box score, but did we didnt sack warner once if i recall correctly...hell we didnt have a sack the whole game that i remember...the only INT was on a hail mary before halftime...the lack of pressure and forced turnovers is what dissapointed me most...

 

[lyrclcipha12]

Larry Fitzgerald had 5 receptions for 85 yds and 1 TD in a quater and a half.

On that pace he would have had 10 receptions and over 160 yds recieving. And that's without Anquan Boldin on the other side. I can't see how you can't be concerned about that.

Not to mention that people keep mentioning that the defense was vanilla. But how vanilla was the Cardinals offense?

that on pace talk makes no sense because the odds of a guy lighting up the first half and then lighting up the second half without our secondary making any adjustments is very unlikely...that said, our secondary play did dissapoint me in that we allowed so many completions in the first half no matter how long they were...thats also the d-lines fault for allowing warner to have all the time in the world...but with all the money spent on the secondary in the offseason it was dissapointing...davis blew his coverage on that touchdown as well...

 

[Teague31]

Read Spags column on this- arizona plays a 3 wide set. normally we would counter with our nickel defense but since the 3-4 is new, BP wanted to use it so we did. that meant linebackers covering WR's instead of Aaron Glenn. Thats why Warner completed so many short crossing routes. no need to panic.

 

[jimmy40]

Or maybe you are just overly pessimistic?

I'm a realist, always have been, always will be. I don't live in the excuse world. Well, that's not entirely true, I do live in College Station.

 

[scotth66]

There was next to no pressure on the Cardinals QBs and no turnovers. To me, given that as a barometer for the last 4 or 5 years, yes, I'd say they played badly.

I'll take the 13 points allowed any time, but until we can pressure the QB or take the ball away, I won't call it good.

Another CASE of Zim messing up talented players with his bend dont break defense! ***

 

[dbair1967]

Larry Fitzgerald had 5 receptions for 85 yds and 1 TD in a quater and a half.

On that pace he would have had 10 receptions and over 160 yds recieving. And that's without Anquan Boldin on the other side. I can't see how you can't be concerned about that.

Not to mention that people keep mentioning that the defense was vanilla. But how vanilla was the Cardinals offense?

Fitzgerald did have the stats you said, but his long play for a TD was a total fluke...1) it should have been picked off or at least knocked down by Davis and 2) Fitzgerald wasnt even the intended receiver

Warner had 35 yds passing on 8 attempts in the 1st qtr

David

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

I guess a lot of folks are dumpin' on the defense but I didn't think they looked half bad for a new unit in the first preseason game. Most of 'em were making their tackles. The new defensive backs (and rebirth of TNew and some others) look nice! All with probably the two best defensive linemen on the roster for the 3-4 out. I'm optimistic about the future of the defense. Only time will tell I guess.

 

[King Diamond666]

We gave up 13 points. All teams play Vanilla this early in season. Ferguson and Spears out - I'd like to see more pressure in the season. Burnett, Ware will be unleashed then.....

They dont want to tip there scheme just yet..This will force teams in the reg season to go back and look at Bills other teams he coached to get an idea of what he might be doing..Less time to prepare???Any advantage you can get...

 

[Rack]

Ware and Burnett played a total of what, 15-20 plays? Ware almost had a sack on two different occasions where he just blew by the DE and in the fourth he got a hand on the QB before he was pushed in the back. Forgive me for not panicing

Ware was in the game in the second half so he played a hell of a lot more then 15-20 plays.

The Cowboys were missing two defensive line starters Ferguson and Spears.

Wow, Genius... maybe you should read what I quoted. The person I quoted mentioned that Ferg and Spears were out (and by the way, Spears wasn't a starter when he got hurt) and I replied letting him know that the Cards also had two OL starters out. Try reading the whole thread next time, Chico.

For anyone that watched the game, the Cards played anything but vanilla. They were blitzing and running stunts and such from the get go. On offense, they played their 3 receiver sets against a 3-4 defense in most cases, that had Ware in coverage against wide receivers. You can bet that won't happen in a regular game.

The cowboys blitzed some too. I saw one play where it was 3rd and 9, we blitzed 2 (plus the 4 man rush), but the Cards picked it up rather easily and McCown completed an 18 (?) yard pass for the first down. If they can pick up the blitz, why can't we?

But to suggest that the Cardinals where throwing the kitchen sink at the Cowboys isn't what I saw

Exactly. They didn't go completely vanilla after their 2nd series, but they sure as hell didn't throw anything crazy at us. Our D played bad. Plain and simple no matter how much anyone tries to spin it.

The Cards defense was anything but vanilla. They blitzed on every down.

No they didn't. Although they did run more safety blitzes then I'd expect in a preseason game. I think we blitzed Roy maybe once.

I never disagreed with Dale about the 3-4. The Cowboys stayed in the 3-4 the whole game.

No they didn't. They ran plenty of their Nickel D. I think they only played the 3-4 vs 3 WR sets when it was 1st or 2nd down, but on OBVIOUS passing downs they were in their nickel.

Fitzgerald did have the stats you said, but his long play for a TD was a total fluke...1) it should have been picked off or at least knocked down by Davis and 2) Fitzgerald wasnt even the intended receiver

I think the reason Davis didn't even attempt to pick it off is cuz he was coming up to make the hit on the actual intended target. He had probably already blocked Fitz out of his mind, but the ball sailed and he was already out of position (cuz he was coming up to make a tackle).

 

[ravidubey]

That TD pass looked to be a bad overthrow of another Cards receiver and LF scouped it up almost off the ground and made a play. Ware just about crushed Warner. It was a bizarre fluke of a thing and usually something like that would get picked ot end up in the dirt.

 

[Sinister]

Wow, Genius... maybe you should read what I quoted. The person I quoted mentioned that Ferg and Spears were out (and by the way, Spears wasn't a starter when he got hurt) and I replied letting him know that the Cards also had two OL starters out. Try reading the whole thread next time, Chico.

Sorry, half asleep when I wrote that, ha, but I guess you should expect more from a Genius. Yeah, Spears wasn't a starter, but he would have added to the rotation earlier. Injuries happen in the Regular season either way. The fact still remains that this is a brand new defense being implemented.

Also, the reason the Cards were able to pick up the blitz more often was because the only time the Cowboys blitzed was on third downs.

The Cards were doing a little more stunting and then bringing up the safety. The Cards were also blitzing on first down. The run blitz is the reason that Julius wasn't able to break out.

Really, it's not that big of a deal. If they continue to have problems in two weeks then I'll be worried, but as of right now, meh.