Are You Ready for Some Offense?

Harry

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Last Sunday Murray had a bad game. Much of the board seemed to be looking forward to an easy win against Washington. I’m sure many of you watched Kingbury’s offense take the Bengals’ defense apart Monday night. If their game play looked familiar I suspect some of you thought of one of Murray’s better games in year two. Daniels, however, looked more polished and should have with 55 starts in college compared with less than 20 for Murray. Daniels has grown with each game. Kingsbury’s offense has benefited from a better O-line and more weapons than Kingsbury & Murray had at that point. I’m not going to waste time on Keim. The facts are the facts. Washington has even picked up Ertz for short, mostly possession, pass plays.

I want to make it clear. The Washington game is Murray’s game to lose. If he plays to his ability, which I expect, the Cards win something like 44 to 34. It’s not that I think Murray has more talent, I just think it’s unlikely a rookie QB plays back to back nearly perfect games. Daniels’ potential is unreal. If he avoids serious injury, by year 3 he could be the best QB in the league. That, however, is a big if. Take Burrow. Once thought by many to be the next great QB, since his injury, he just hasn’t been the same player. Daniels runs aggressively risking serious injury. He’s fast and surprisingly strong. However, he doesn’t always slide. Instead he fights for extra yards, like an RB. In the NY game doing this he took a helmet to the ribs, being forced to sit out a play. He was lucky he didn’t break some ribs. I’m not advocating hurting people, but if he does this he will get punished by the Cards. Alertly the Commodores are coaching him, “Don’t run if you can; run if you have to.” He’s smart, but he sometimes lets his competitive instincts overrule his better judgment. Too many injuries may blunt his future.

Daniels will hurt the Cards running. It is critical the Cards’ outside guys contain him, forcing him back towards the middle of the field. Also the Commodores like to throw passes, including screens, in the flat. Defenders must be ready to move up quickly staying aware not to overrun the play. The Cards need to sharpen their tackling. If you try to arm tackle Daniels you’re just conceding extra yardage. Tampa blitzed 15 times but only sacked Daniels twice. The Cards will undoubtedly have to blitz to pressure him. They must stay in their lanes otherwise he’ll break long runs. If the Cards are in man coverage they must stay aware Daniels loves to run when all he sees defenders’ backs. He will climb the pocket and be on the loose.

Also while I like Washington’s O-line, they committed several costly penalties against the NY Giants. Except for a Nabers’ drop (otherwise he was great), the Giants win the game. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the O-line film room for that post game review. I used to have a cartoon with a worker emerging from a door with a giant bite mark on his rear. The caption read, “What did the boss have to say.” Not surprisingly the O-line was much better against the Bengals. The Giants triggered some of those penalties by employing minor D-line movement before the snap. They simply made the Commodores’ line jumpy. The Cards would benefit from using that tactic.

The Commodores love to throw those short passes early to get Daniels in rhythm, particularly short crossing routes. The Cards need to be aware and avoid running into their own defenders. Washington likes to use Ertz on these routes. He’s not fast, but strong. Likely a LB will end up running with Ertz. The LB needs stay tight and be very physical in coverage. If they stay close, undercutting and snaring an interception should be possible. Trying to cover these routes with safeties just allows easy short completions. They can’t get there in time. Daniels is astonishingly accurate. You shouldn’t give big cushions like the Cards have been doing. He will pick that defense apart. CBs must trust they can run with these WRs. The exception is McLaurin. You have to put a safety over the top or he will win deep.

Finally, the Commodores have a strong running game. Robinson and Ekeler are both capable of breaking long runs. Ekeler is also a fine receiver. They will likely run for 150+ yards in this game. If they run for more than 200, the Cards may have trouble getting enough possessions. The LBs must shed blockers and fill gaps, but not commit too quickly. They must tackle effectively and get support from one of the safeties. They must be alert for turnovers and get on any free ball.

When the Cards are on offense I expect a balanced attack. I think they can run and pass effectively against the Washington defense. Murray should look for single safety deep sets. That will tell him WRs are typically going to be single covered, especially Harrison on deep fly routes. Harrison will win most 50/50 balls. The ball needs to get out early enough to preclude that single safety from getting to the boundary to double the WR. Like in the Rams game, Murray must spread the ball around. Time may be short but when possible he must use progressions instead of just throwing to a covered primary receiver. One of the reasons the Cards have poor YAC is Murray too often isn’t patient enough to find a more open receiver so they have room to make a move. Again good strategy requires rolling him out so he can set up seeing the entire field. The Washington secondary is weak, giving huge cushions. Their team as a whole tackles sloppily. The Cards should win an offensive shootout. However, the offense must be consistent and avoid turnovers. If Murray wants this game bad enough to stay focused, Cards win.
 

ajcardfan

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I think how our defense does on 1st down will be key. We cannot be giving up 6+ yards on first down run plays and expect to win. Gotta force as many obvious passing situations as possible on 3rd down.
 
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Harry

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Ekeler is out for the Cards game. They still have killer RBs with Robinson being a force. They aren’t as dangerous as receiving threats.
 

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Commanders have wins against the broken Giants and the Bengals who are one of the worst teams in the leauge. Cards win this by 10 points.

There is a 0% chance the Commanders score 34 on us. Bills barely got there, Rams scored 10, and Lions scored 20.

Harry setting an over/under of 78 points is quite the prediction. Vegas has the game at 50.5 so Harry, if you think this game scores nearly 30 more points than Vegas thinks, I would sell my house and bet it on the game if I were you.
 
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phillycard

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Commanders have wins against the broken Giants and the Bengals who are one of the worst teams in the leauge. Cards win this by 10 points.

There is a 0% chance the Commanders score 34 on us. Bills barely got there, Rams scored 10, and Lions scored 20.

Harry setting an over/under of 78 points is quite the prediction. Vegas has the game at 50.5 so Harry, if you think this game scores nearly 30 more points than Vegas thinks, I would sell my house and bet it on the game if I were you.
I agree. While I don't think we're all of that and a bag of chips, I still say top to bottom we're better than them. I think the coaching staff, and the players to a man know that this is one we HAVE to have if we expect to be relevant come the holidays. In ths past, I had no faith in the KK regime, but as much as I side eye, JG, I believe he'll have this team ready to play ball to a fairly high level on Sunday. Quite the opposite of a possible Det W last week, if we lose to the Commodores, I'm likely to tamp down my expectations for the season.
 

Crimson Warrior

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Last Sunday Murray had a bad game. Much of the board seemed to be looking forward to an easy win against Washington. I’m sure many of you watched Kingbury’s offense take the Bengals’ defense apart Monday night. If their game play looked familiar I suspect some of you thought of one of Murray’s better games in year two. Daniels, however, looked more polished and should have with 55 starts in college compared with less than 20 for Murray. Daniels has grown with each game. Kingsbury’s offense has benefited from a better O-line and more weapons than Kingsbury & Murray had at that point. I’m not going to waste time on Keim. The facts are the facts. Washington has even picked up Ertz for short, mostly possession, pass plays.

I want to make it clear. The Washington game is Murray’s game to lose. If he plays to his ability, which I expect, the Cards win something like 44 to 34. It’s not that I think Murray has more talent, I just think it’s unlikely a rookie QB plays back to back nearly perfect games. Daniels’ potential is unreal. If he avoids serious injury, by year 3 he could be the best QB in the league. That, however, is a big if. Take Burrow. Once thought by many to be the next great QB, since his injury, he just hasn’t been the same player. Daniels runs aggressively risking serious injury. He’s fast and surprisingly strong. However, he doesn’t always slide. Instead he fights for extra yards, like an RB. In the NY game doing this he took a helmet to the ribs, being forced to sit out a play. He was lucky he didn’t break some ribs. I’m not advocating hurting people, but if he does this he will get punished by the Cards. Alertly the Commodores are coaching him, “Don’t run if you can; run if you have to.” He’s smart, but he sometimes lets his competitive instincts overrule his better judgment. Too many injuries may blunt his future.

Daniels will hurt the Cards running. It is critical the Cards’ outside guys contain him, forcing him back towards the middle of the field. Also the Commodores like to throw passes, including screens, in the flat. Defenders must be ready to move up quickly staying aware not to overrun the play. The Cards need to sharpen their tackling. If you try to arm tackle Daniels you’re just conceding extra yardage. Tampa blitzed 15 times but only sacked Daniels twice. The Cards will undoubtedly have to blitz to pressure him. They must stay in their lanes otherwise he’ll break long runs. If the Cards are in man coverage they must stay aware Daniels loves to run when all he sees defenders’ backs. He will climb the pocket and be on the loose.

Also while I like Washington’s O-line, they committed several costly penalties against the NY Giants. Except for a Nabers’ drop (otherwise he was great), the Giants win the game. I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the O-line film room for that post game review. I used to have a cartoon with a worker emerging from a door with a giant bite mark on his rear. The caption read, “What did the boss have to say.” Not surprisingly the O-line was much better against the Bengals. The Giants triggered some of those penalties by employing minor D-line movement before the snap. They simply made the Commodores’ line jumpy. The Cards would benefit from using that tactic.

The Commodores love to throw those short passes early to get Daniels in rhythm, particularly short crossing routes. The Cards need to be aware and avoid running into their own defenders. Washington likes to use Ertz on these routes. He’s not fast, but strong. Likely a LB will end up running with Ertz. The LB needs stay tight and be very physical in coverage. If they stay close, undercutting and snaring an interception should be possible. Trying to cover these routes with safeties just allows easy short completions. They can’t get there in time. Daniels is astonishingly accurate. You shouldn’t give big cushions like the Cards have been doing. He will pick that defense apart. CBs must trust they can run with these WRs. The exception is McLaurin. You have to put a safety over the top or he will win deep.

Finally, the Commodores have a strong running game. Robinson and Ekeler are both capable of breaking long runs. Ekeler is also a fine receiver. They will likely run for 150+ yards in this game. If they run for more than 200, the Cards may have trouble getting enough possessions. The LBs must shed blockers and fill gaps, but not commit too quickly. They must tackle effectively and get support from one of the safeties. They must be alert for turnovers and get on any free ball.

When the Cards are on offense I expect a balanced attack. I think they can run and pass effectively against the Washington defense. Murray should look for single safety deep sets. That will tell him WRs are typically going to be single covered, especially Harrison on deep fly routes. Harrison will win most 50/50 balls. The ball needs to get out early enough to preclude that single safety from getting to the boundary to double the WR. Like in the Rams game, Murray must spread the ball around. Time may be short but when possible he must use progressions instead of just throwing to a covered primary receiver. One of the reasons the Cards have poor YAC is Murray too often isn’t patient enough to find a more open receiver so they have room to make a move. Again good strategy requires rolling him out so he can set up seeing the entire field. The Washington secondary is weak, giving huge cushions. Their team as a whole tackles sloppily. The Cards should win an offensive shootout. However, the offense must be consistent and avoid turnovers. If Murray wants this game bad enough to stay focused, Cards win.

Thanks for the content Harry! Appreciate you!

Two quick thoughts:

1. Agree it's a great chance for ARZ to get the running game going. IMO it's our key to victory today since our QB play is so much better when JC gets loose.

2. Daniels appears kind of slight in terms of his frame. He reminds me a little of RG III (the electric QB from Baylor). He looks way too fragile to make it more than a couple of years in this league taking those kind of shots from NFL safeties and LBs.
 
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CardNots

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Thanks for the content Harry! Appreciate you!

Two quick thoughts:

1. Agree it's a great chance for ARZ to get the running game going. IMO it's our key to victory today since our QB play is so much better when JC gets going.

2. Daniels appears kind of slight in terms of his frame. He reminds me a little of RG III (the electric QB from Baylor). He looks way too fragile to make it more than a couple of years in this league taking those kind of shots from NFL safeties and LBs.
I didn’t remember thinking of RG III as slight framed.
 
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Harry

Harry

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Easy now it was a high scoring game lol.
Can’t dispute the Cards simply didn’t play up to their capabilities. Some big questions now have to be answered. I will say Daniels was every bit as good as I presented him. My assertion that in 3 years he may be the NFL’s top QB may be understatement. He’s astonishing already. I was surprised the Cards couldn’t handle the Washington defense. It’s mediocre at best. It was as if the Cards created a game plan without considering how Cincy attacked that defense. The O-line certainly didn’t show up to play.
 

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Can’t dispute the Cards simply didn’t play up to their capabilities. Some big questions now have to be answered. I will say Daniels was every bit as good as I presented him. My assertion that in 3 years he may be the NFL’s top QB may be understatement. He’s astonishing already. I was surprised the Cards couldn’t handle the Washington defense. It’s mediocre at best. It was as if the Cards created a game plan without considering how Cincy attacked that defense. The O-line certainly didn’t show up to play.
I come out to see ASU and Cardinals games frequently from SoCal. I had traveled out to see ASU play Colorado in Tempe when Daniels was a Freshman at ASU. I was amazed by his athleticism, scrambling ability and arm strength. I immediately knew he would be a star. They did not win that game......But I knew he was a star in the making. And I was right.
 

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