1 – So, Josh Rosen hands Aaron Rodgers his first defeat at Lambeau Field this season, and probably end his playoff hopes as well. Who would have thought that after we watched TV-shows leading up to the draft where Rodgers mentored Rosen? I’ll just raise my hand as the first one and say that I certainly did not.
I thought Rosen played his best overall game so far. I don’t think the box score tell the real story, and I especially noticed how he has really good pocket awareness. I feel like he only made one big mistake – and that was about to be a really big one – when on second down in the 4th quarter close to the Cards’ goalline he tried to create something out of nothing instead of just throwing the ball away and live for another down. That was about to turn into an interception. Other than that, I thought he mentally played like a veteran.
2 – This was obviously huge progress compared to the previous two weeks, but I don’t think they played that much better than against the Chiefs. After that game they got humiliated by the Raiders and destroyed by the Chargers, so I refuse to get my hopes up too high before next week.
That said, I couldn’t help but think of the many (MANY) people who claimed to know that the players had quit on Steve Wilks. If so, the same players sure managed to hide it well this week.
3 – I thought offensive tackle Korey Cunningham played another good game, but it has to be noted that he was called for two penalties, and on the last drive in the 4th quarter gave up a huge sack at the Cards’ own 26 yard line.
4 – Want another reason to appreciate Larry Fitzgerald? Since 1993 when free agency started, 0.07% of all players has remained exclusively with one team for 15+ seasons. That is 16 players out of a total of 16586. Larry Fitzgerald is one of them.
I’ll also wager that next week he will get the record for most catches by one player with the same team.
5 – Haason Reddick keeps playing better and better. I’m telling you, he ends up being a real asset to the defense.
6 – I think we have seen Trent Sherfield somewhat step up the last couple of weeks. In this game he once again had a huge catch – on the touchdown drive in the second quarter on 3rd and seven from the Packers’ 44 yard line - and Rosen targeted him on an important down on a field goal drive in the third quarter at 3rd and nine from the Packers’ 26. Also, he played half the team snaps on offense.
7 – I thought Byron Leftwich called a great offensive game. Obviously, for him to do that, the entire team (defense and special teams as well) must keep the Cards in the game, but I mean, that’s their job. They are supposed to and expected to do that. I thought Leftwich really exploited the weaknesses in the Packers’ defense, and that he was good at making small adjustments throughout the game to make sure that he continued to do just that (expose the defense).
The other day another member of this board – Chopper – presented his theory that if you like your offensive coordinator, you should promote him to head coach to make sure you don’t lose him to another team. I think that would suggest that Leftwich could easily be in play as the Cards’ next head coach if they decide to move on from Steve Wilks, and I would not be opposed to that. I like Leftwich. I think he has a great personality and is charismatic in the good way.
8 – I am not going to make the mistake of saying that Nkemdiche has turned the corner and that he was simply a late bloomer after his strong game last week and a solid performance this week, but I will say, though, that it has been a while since he has screwed up, so there is definitely improvement.
9 – If you wanted the Cards to go all in for the #1 overall draft selection, there goes that hope. Some will say that the Cards are not even good at being bad, so that they could at least get a nice consolation prize for their miserable play in multiple games. Don’t worry, though, they will probably still get a high draft pick. ESPN projects them to pick 4th with a 90% chance of having a top 5 pick.
However, there is a lot of teams at 4-9, so if the Cards win another game, they could drop pretty far in the pecking order (honestly, I don’t want to look through all those team’s Strength of Schedule). The Cards just beat the Packers in a so-called “irrelevant” game, so obviously other teams can win such games as well.
10 – I think that Larry Fitzgerald-catch on 3rd and 23 from the Cards’ 12 with a little more than five minutes left should tell you a lot about your true emotions. If you cheered spontaneously, I don’t think you really want the Cards to lose to get a better draft pick, no matter what logic will tell you Monday through Saturday. Listen to your subconscious.
11 – I have thought all season that Antoine Bethea has played well, so now it must be time for me to give him some recognition here.
12 – I think it is interesting that David Amerson played opposite Patrick Peterson 100% of the snaps, and that Leonard Johnson were the only other active cornerback although they made two (in my opinion) interesting signings this week in cornerbacks Quinten Rollins and Dontae Johnson. Leonard Johnson played a total of seven snaps on defense, so they obviously think they have something in Amerson, and after watching the 1.5 game he has played I tend to think the same. On the other hand, I thought that as well with Andre Smith after a couple of games, so what do I know?
13 – Did you see the report from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport before the game that both Steve Wilks or Steve Keim were on the hot seat? Yeah, every one of us could have told that weeks ago (no matter whether you think they will indeed be let go or not), but Rapoport still has sources around the league that none of us have. He is not just basing it on logic and putting two and two together like we are.
I think the last four games will have a lot more impact on how it unfolds than this game has.
14 – For those wanting Steve Wilks out, I thought I would provide a little statistic. Going back 10 years (and not including 2018) there has been six head coaches who have been one and done. Only two of them had a worse record than Wilks (2-12) while the others had better records.
15 – The next two games are against the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, not to mention the last two being against division foes. I would not be surprised if the Cards ends 3-13, 4-12 or even 5-11. I think all those scenarios are possible.
I thought Rosen played his best overall game so far. I don’t think the box score tell the real story, and I especially noticed how he has really good pocket awareness. I feel like he only made one big mistake – and that was about to be a really big one – when on second down in the 4th quarter close to the Cards’ goalline he tried to create something out of nothing instead of just throwing the ball away and live for another down. That was about to turn into an interception. Other than that, I thought he mentally played like a veteran.
2 – This was obviously huge progress compared to the previous two weeks, but I don’t think they played that much better than against the Chiefs. After that game they got humiliated by the Raiders and destroyed by the Chargers, so I refuse to get my hopes up too high before next week.
That said, I couldn’t help but think of the many (MANY) people who claimed to know that the players had quit on Steve Wilks. If so, the same players sure managed to hide it well this week.
3 – I thought offensive tackle Korey Cunningham played another good game, but it has to be noted that he was called for two penalties, and on the last drive in the 4th quarter gave up a huge sack at the Cards’ own 26 yard line.
4 – Want another reason to appreciate Larry Fitzgerald? Since 1993 when free agency started, 0.07% of all players has remained exclusively with one team for 15+ seasons. That is 16 players out of a total of 16586. Larry Fitzgerald is one of them.
I’ll also wager that next week he will get the record for most catches by one player with the same team.
5 – Haason Reddick keeps playing better and better. I’m telling you, he ends up being a real asset to the defense.
6 – I think we have seen Trent Sherfield somewhat step up the last couple of weeks. In this game he once again had a huge catch – on the touchdown drive in the second quarter on 3rd and seven from the Packers’ 44 yard line - and Rosen targeted him on an important down on a field goal drive in the third quarter at 3rd and nine from the Packers’ 26. Also, he played half the team snaps on offense.
7 – I thought Byron Leftwich called a great offensive game. Obviously, for him to do that, the entire team (defense and special teams as well) must keep the Cards in the game, but I mean, that’s their job. They are supposed to and expected to do that. I thought Leftwich really exploited the weaknesses in the Packers’ defense, and that he was good at making small adjustments throughout the game to make sure that he continued to do just that (expose the defense).
The other day another member of this board – Chopper – presented his theory that if you like your offensive coordinator, you should promote him to head coach to make sure you don’t lose him to another team. I think that would suggest that Leftwich could easily be in play as the Cards’ next head coach if they decide to move on from Steve Wilks, and I would not be opposed to that. I like Leftwich. I think he has a great personality and is charismatic in the good way.
8 – I am not going to make the mistake of saying that Nkemdiche has turned the corner and that he was simply a late bloomer after his strong game last week and a solid performance this week, but I will say, though, that it has been a while since he has screwed up, so there is definitely improvement.
9 – If you wanted the Cards to go all in for the #1 overall draft selection, there goes that hope. Some will say that the Cards are not even good at being bad, so that they could at least get a nice consolation prize for their miserable play in multiple games. Don’t worry, though, they will probably still get a high draft pick. ESPN projects them to pick 4th with a 90% chance of having a top 5 pick.
However, there is a lot of teams at 4-9, so if the Cards win another game, they could drop pretty far in the pecking order (honestly, I don’t want to look through all those team’s Strength of Schedule). The Cards just beat the Packers in a so-called “irrelevant” game, so obviously other teams can win such games as well.
10 – I think that Larry Fitzgerald-catch on 3rd and 23 from the Cards’ 12 with a little more than five minutes left should tell you a lot about your true emotions. If you cheered spontaneously, I don’t think you really want the Cards to lose to get a better draft pick, no matter what logic will tell you Monday through Saturday. Listen to your subconscious.
11 – I have thought all season that Antoine Bethea has played well, so now it must be time for me to give him some recognition here.
12 – I think it is interesting that David Amerson played opposite Patrick Peterson 100% of the snaps, and that Leonard Johnson were the only other active cornerback although they made two (in my opinion) interesting signings this week in cornerbacks Quinten Rollins and Dontae Johnson. Leonard Johnson played a total of seven snaps on defense, so they obviously think they have something in Amerson, and after watching the 1.5 game he has played I tend to think the same. On the other hand, I thought that as well with Andre Smith after a couple of games, so what do I know?
13 – Did you see the report from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport before the game that both Steve Wilks or Steve Keim were on the hot seat? Yeah, every one of us could have told that weeks ago (no matter whether you think they will indeed be let go or not), but Rapoport still has sources around the league that none of us have. He is not just basing it on logic and putting two and two together like we are.
I think the last four games will have a lot more impact on how it unfolds than this game has.
14 – For those wanting Steve Wilks out, I thought I would provide a little statistic. Going back 10 years (and not including 2018) there has been six head coaches who have been one and done. Only two of them had a worse record than Wilks (2-12) while the others had better records.
15 – The next two games are against the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons, not to mention the last two being against division foes. I would not be surprised if the Cards ends 3-13, 4-12 or even 5-11. I think all those scenarios are possible.
