Some observations about the Cards...

[DaBoys4Life]

While this thread is probably accurate, it's also a tacit admission that our defense isn't very good.

How good can we be giving up 22 points per game. If we can shut the Cardinals out I will change my mind.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The Cards throw the ball short just as much as anyone else. 75% of Warner's throws this season have traveled 10 yards or less this season.

Compare that to Carson Palmer (75%), Jason Campbell (78%), Donovan McNabb (55%), and Aaron Rodgers (53%).

Glad you brought that up.

Buffalo Bill's defenders talked quite a bit about the Cards moving up & down the field vs the Bills via the short pass.

That causes me some angst about this upcoming game...

 

[Paniolo22]

We need to defend Fitz the way other teams have been defending TO. I'll feel much better if someone else beats us.

 

[Alexander]

The gloom and doomers in here have noted that the Arizona Cardinals are featuring a rather effective offense this year, in particular an effective pass offense...

This is true enough, the Cards are throwing the ball around well enough to currently rank 3rd in the NFL in passing, one spot ahead of the Boys... they're also throwing the ball 37.2 times per game, 4th most in the league... this would seem to suggest that they'll pose the Boys some difficulty on pass defense...

This is true, but at the same time, what they do just might be tailor made for the Cowboys... you see, they don't throw the ball short much, they look downfield, and Kurt Warner isn't exactly what you'd call a mobile quarterback... counting sacks as pass plays, he's been dropped once in every 16.5 times he drops back... and this week, he'll be facing the team that ranks 6th in the league in sacks...

The Cards are also pretty turnover prone, even more so than the Boys, having thrown 4 ints and lost 7 fumbles (3 by Warner) already this season... if the Boys are indeed successful at putting pressure on Warner, we can expect them to turn the ball over some...

Even so, I expect that they'll be able to put some points on the board against the Boys... but at the same time, it's reasonable to expect that the Boys will be able to move the ball pretty much at will on the Cards through the air themselves-- the Cards are allowing 68.1 per cent completions on the season, and allowing an average quarterback rating of 103.9... and this week, they'll be facing the 4th best passing offense in the NFL...

Thus, my expectations are that the Boys will get a fair number of sacks, and probably a couple-three turnovers, while having considerable success passing the ball... so if they can hold on to the ball themselves, I look for a W in a somewhat high-scoring game, but one of about 10 points... I'm looking for a score along the lines of 38-28, or 37-27, something like that...

With the Boys winning, of course...

If we can get to Warner, we will win the game. They cannot run the ball well enough to keep things balanced, which should lead to a sack fest against Warner. If we get to him more than twice, we will have several turnovers to show for it.

 

[jobberone]

If they are adept at throwing the ball quickly and short then they will have some success. People here get all out of joint when we allow short passes but they are hard to defend and no one is going to shut down that kind of passing game consistently.

If they cannot run the ball against us then we'll see the same kind of game that we saw against the Skins and Bengals. I thought the defense did pretty well esp when we consistently gave them a short field to work with.

If we make too many mistakes, lose the turnover battle, and STs allows them field position then we will have a long row to hoe.

This is a big game for them. They win this game and they can say they can play with the big boys now. We lose and they'll say we have no heart and leadership. Tough spot to be in for those guys.