Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
* One of the major obstacles the Cardinals had to try to overcome was the great disparity in playoffs experience----Aaron Rodgers was playing in his 13th playoff game (7-6)---Mike McCarthy, his 14th as a head coach---on the other side, Carson Palmer was playing in his 3rd (0-2) and 1st one in 6 years---Bruce Arians was coaching his 2nd playoff game as a head coach.
* Look at it this way---coming into the game, Aaron Rodgers had thrown 423 passes in his playoff career---Carson Palmer: 37.
* While BA said to the media that he doesn't see any drawbacks of having a first round bye---this was unprecedented territory for the Cardinals---and having to chew on such an anomalously poor performance versus the Seahawks for almost two weeks and having all that time to think, it is no wonder why Carson Palmer was champing at the bit and why he clearly was pressing. How many times has he sailed an out pass to Fitz on a first drive? That had nothing to do with Palmer's finger.
* Palmer knew throughout the game that he had to try to slow himself down. What was lost in the shuffle a little bit was how smart he was (a) to focus on the short passing game to David Johnson and (b) to come out in the second half zeroed in on Larry Fitzgerald in single coverage. Because of the threat of Johnson out of the backfield and of Fitz starting to feast on single coverage---Dom Capers started playing a steady diet of zone coverage---and that's when Carson Palmer gathered himself and started hitting John Brown (in particular) in the soft spots of the zone. The irony is that on the poor lob pass interception to Brown, Palmer consciously tried to slow himself down---and wound up double-crossing himself.
* Palmer tried very hard to fit intermediate and long passes in to Michael Floyd versus the zone---but the Packers baited Palmer into throwing a deep sideline pass to Floyd when they disguised the zone coverage and sprinted the safety over to take the deep pass away. It was an ingenious call by Dom Capers, who suspected that Palmer would see Floyd breaking past the first level of coverage. And on another occasion Palmer threw a high pass over the linebackers and under the deep third, where Floyd mis-timed his jump and only got a hand on it. The point is---Palmer pressed a little on these passes under some heated pass rush pressure---but his understanding of where and how to attack the Packer's defense was commendable. I will add this, Palmer's TD throw to Floyd to the back right corner of the end zone was a thing of beauty. It was a perfect throw and symbolically it seemed like an exorcism of the excruciating Super Bowl loss to the Steelers on what was a very similar throw and catch. Props to Floyd as well for maintaining his concentration on the tipped pass TD. That is never easy, especially in such a clutch situation.
* Thus---for the Cardinals to lose the turnover battle and to have been dominated up front on both sides of the ball the way they were in the first half and still prevail versus such an experienced playoff team, and versus HOF MVP QB Aaron Rodgers is a coup.
* While many are questioning BA's insistence on trying to pass for a game sealing first down and for sending 6-7 rushers after Rodgers on the two incredible Hail Mary passes---BA's "go for it---no risk it, no biscuit" philosophy was, in my opinion, the very reason why they won the game in overtime. Most teams would have gone into a state of shock after the Rodgers' phenomenal Hail Mary on the last play of regulation---Cardinals' teams of the past definitely would have gone into the tank---but there was BA on the sideline saying OK let's go win this thing.
* Was there any doubt that BA wanted the ball to start overtime? Some coaches have deferred, thinking that they could get a defensive stop and then all it would take is a FG to win. Bill Belichick has done that before a couple of times. Did BA try to settle everyone down by running the ball on the first play? No. He went into attack mode. And---there was Carson Palmer keeping his poise under duress and making on a scramble what was one of the most stunning throwback passes in Cardinals' history. BA, Palmer, Fitzgerald and the offense came into overtime being super focused and aggressive. Look at Fitzgerald's run and all the blocks the WRs were trying to make. All done cleanly. Then to have the perfect play call saved for the perfect time and to see Larry Fitzgerald bolt through what looked to be the parting of the Red Sea right up the middle of the field, was a turning of miracles into legendary reality. It was about as classic a triumph of the human will as they come---and the main reason is---the Cardinals are coached to have short memories and to be aggressive and to stay aggressive.
* Look at it this way---coming into the game, Aaron Rodgers had thrown 423 passes in his playoff career---Carson Palmer: 37.
* While BA said to the media that he doesn't see any drawbacks of having a first round bye---this was unprecedented territory for the Cardinals---and having to chew on such an anomalously poor performance versus the Seahawks for almost two weeks and having all that time to think, it is no wonder why Carson Palmer was champing at the bit and why he clearly was pressing. How many times has he sailed an out pass to Fitz on a first drive? That had nothing to do with Palmer's finger.
* Palmer knew throughout the game that he had to try to slow himself down. What was lost in the shuffle a little bit was how smart he was (a) to focus on the short passing game to David Johnson and (b) to come out in the second half zeroed in on Larry Fitzgerald in single coverage. Because of the threat of Johnson out of the backfield and of Fitz starting to feast on single coverage---Dom Capers started playing a steady diet of zone coverage---and that's when Carson Palmer gathered himself and started hitting John Brown (in particular) in the soft spots of the zone. The irony is that on the poor lob pass interception to Brown, Palmer consciously tried to slow himself down---and wound up double-crossing himself.
* Palmer tried very hard to fit intermediate and long passes in to Michael Floyd versus the zone---but the Packers baited Palmer into throwing a deep sideline pass to Floyd when they disguised the zone coverage and sprinted the safety over to take the deep pass away. It was an ingenious call by Dom Capers, who suspected that Palmer would see Floyd breaking past the first level of coverage. And on another occasion Palmer threw a high pass over the linebackers and under the deep third, where Floyd mis-timed his jump and only got a hand on it. The point is---Palmer pressed a little on these passes under some heated pass rush pressure---but his understanding of where and how to attack the Packer's defense was commendable. I will add this, Palmer's TD throw to Floyd to the back right corner of the end zone was a thing of beauty. It was a perfect throw and symbolically it seemed like an exorcism of the excruciating Super Bowl loss to the Steelers on what was a very similar throw and catch. Props to Floyd as well for maintaining his concentration on the tipped pass TD. That is never easy, especially in such a clutch situation.
* Thus---for the Cardinals to lose the turnover battle and to have been dominated up front on both sides of the ball the way they were in the first half and still prevail versus such an experienced playoff team, and versus HOF MVP QB Aaron Rodgers is a coup.
* While many are questioning BA's insistence on trying to pass for a game sealing first down and for sending 6-7 rushers after Rodgers on the two incredible Hail Mary passes---BA's "go for it---no risk it, no biscuit" philosophy was, in my opinion, the very reason why they won the game in overtime. Most teams would have gone into a state of shock after the Rodgers' phenomenal Hail Mary on the last play of regulation---Cardinals' teams of the past definitely would have gone into the tank---but there was BA on the sideline saying OK let's go win this thing.
* Was there any doubt that BA wanted the ball to start overtime? Some coaches have deferred, thinking that they could get a defensive stop and then all it would take is a FG to win. Bill Belichick has done that before a couple of times. Did BA try to settle everyone down by running the ball on the first play? No. He went into attack mode. And---there was Carson Palmer keeping his poise under duress and making on a scramble what was one of the most stunning throwback passes in Cardinals' history. BA, Palmer, Fitzgerald and the offense came into overtime being super focused and aggressive. Look at Fitzgerald's run and all the blocks the WRs were trying to make. All done cleanly. Then to have the perfect play call saved for the perfect time and to see Larry Fitzgerald bolt through what looked to be the parting of the Red Sea right up the middle of the field, was a turning of miracles into legendary reality. It was about as classic a triumph of the human will as they come---and the main reason is---the Cardinals are coached to have short memories and to be aggressive and to stay aggressive.
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