Beware the 4th Win

[Harry]

The Cards have specialized in shocking wins. At least 2 of their 3 wins came as great surprises. Last night the Pats rose up and got their third win. So maybe the Cards could still move up in the draft. However, danger lurks. The Cards opponents have left them with a strong strength of schedule. This is the primary criterium for ranking teams with the same number of victories. If you haven’t noticed there are 5 teams with 4 wins. This means another win could drop the Cards far down in the draft. I’m sure there will be some head-to-heads in the group, so a few will have at least 5 wins. Nonetheless another win could cost the Cards dearly.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

The Cards have specialized in shocking wins. At least 2 of their 3 wins came as great surprises. Last night the Pats rose up and got their third win. So maybe the Cards could still move up in the draft. However, danger lurks. The Cards opponents have left them with a strong strength of schedule. This is the primary criterium for ranking teams with the same number of victories. If you haven’t noticed there are 5 teams with 4 wins. This means another win could drop the Cards far down in the draft. I’m sure there will be some head-to-heads in the group, so a few will have at least 5 wins. Nonetheless another win could cost the Cards dearly.

It costs us nothing since we do not "have" anything currently. You play all of the games, win as many as you can, and let the dust settle then draft wherever you end up. All of this "If the season were to end today, we'd be drafting 3rd..." garbage is just that - it's garbage. The season does not end today so we do not have the 3rd pick in the draft.

 

[TheCardFan]

Disagree BIM.

We have nothing and we will continue to have nothing if we don't draft impact players.

We win one more game and we go from 3rd to 8th due to SOS.

The difference in 3rd to 8th could be the difference between Larry Fitzgerald and Roy Williams or Reggie Williams.

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[PACardsFan]

As a fan of a putrid organization that goes way, way back lol, the draft has always meant more to me than the NFL championship games and/or Super Bowls. So, I’m definitely not in the camp of win as many games as possible. I‘ve always been more of the fan that felt that as soon as we are mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it’s time to play our youth, experiment a ton, and lose, lose, lose LOL, LOL, LOL. I blame the Bidwill family for my attitude. After 60 years of mostly losing, the draft is where I have to go to find my happy place.

 

[RON_IN_OC]

Disagree BIM.

We have nothing and we will continue to have nothing if we don't draft impact players.

We win one more game and we go from 3rd to 8th due to SOS.

The difference in 3rd to 8th could be the difference between Larry Fitzgerald and Roy Williams or Reggie Williams.

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I agree that drafting impact players makes a huge difference, however NIL is now the outlier that can impact who wants to be drafted and when. So I don't say beware of the fourth win, bring on the fourth win.

 

[BirdGangThing]

Let's just say we're lucky to be playing 49ers next and the Seahawks last because the 49ers might not be so motivated to win in game #17

Hopefully we can try our hardest and still walk away with a solid draft

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Disagree BIM.

We have nothing and we will continue to have nothing if we don't draft impact players.

We win one more game and we go from 3rd to 8th due to SOS.

The difference in 3rd to 8th could be the difference between Larry Fitzgerald and Roy Williams or Reggie Williams.

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Different mindsets, for sure. I was one of those in the stands cheering on Josh McCown and the Cards as we beat Minnesota at SDS and knocked them out of the playoffs in the final game of the season before we drafted Larry.

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As I said, win games, let the season end, and see where you draft. I couldn't care less about the draft right now. I want us to win our remaining games. Maybe we will, maybe we won't, but I am not wanting my team to lose on any Sunday.

 

[slanidrac16]

I agree that drafting impact players makes a huge difference, however NIL is now the outlier that can impact who wants to be drafted and when. So I don't say beware of the fourth win, bring on the fourth win.

I was thinking the same thing. When does a college player have to declare he is staying in school?
If MHJ and Fashanu suddenly take a college deal how would that impact the value of draft choices?

 

[slanidrac16]

Different mindsets, for sure. I was one of those in the stands cheering on Josh McCown and the Cards as we beat Minnesota at SDS and knocked them out of the playoffs in the final game of the season before we drafted Larry.

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As I said, win games, let the season end, and see where you draft. I couldn't care less about the draft right now. I want us to win our remaining games. Maybe we will, maybe we won't, but I am not wanting my team to lose on any Sunday.

Hypothetically, how valuable would it be establishing a winning culture if we were to win 3 out of last 4 games?
It’s not going to happen but look how the Lions ended up last year and took that into this year.

 

[PACardsFan]

I honestly think we have 1 more win in us. And I don’t think it’s against the Bears. They’re a bad matchup for us. They have the 3rd best rushing offense in football & the best defense against the run. Their secondary has been below average, but with our WR room, we won’t be able to expose it. Our 1 win will probably be against the Seahawks. I can see us beating them to knock them out of the playoffs as payback for them beating us in the 2021 finale to deny us the NFC West title.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Hypothetically, how valuable would it be establishing a winning culture if we were to win 3 out of last 4 games?
It’s not going to happen but look how the Lions ended up last year and took that into this year.

Exactly. Do you want a team of guys with the mindset of "Let's try really hard, but it's ok if we lose games." or "Damn the torpedoes, let's win some f'ing games !!"

 

[BirdGangThing]

As far as the NIL thing goes - I hope their agents show them other options

A college team doesn't give 2 f***s about a star player's short term or long term health

Where as an NFL team sees the star player as an investment - and theoretically will protect their investment

 

[Dr. Jones]

The Chicago game on the road may be our last chance at Victory 4. And they will have nothing to play for IMO either. In the end, I think we will be shutting down Kyler and Conner at some point. That's just what my gut is telling me.

 

[PJ1]

If KM playing well results in us winning games that has to be considered a significant positive. If he is a disaster and we lose all four games people will be happy because we are picking third? Not me.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

I see both sides of the equation but I tend to shade more towards @Brian in Mesa 's side of things here. If you win 2 of these last 4, that meant you were .500 with this caca roster and Kyler. That's a huge positive for the next year. You can sell free agents on that sort of thing.

 

[TheCardFan]

Different mindsets, for sure. I was one of those in the stands cheering on Josh McCown and the Cards as we beat Minnesota at SDS and knocked them out of the playoffs in the final game of the season before we drafted Larry.

Yep.

That win kept us from the #1 pick in the draft, which was traded for more picks including a first round pick the next year.

We won 6 games that year, then 5, and then 5 the next year.

How did that win against the Vikings help us again?

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Yep.

That win kept us from the #1 pick in the draft, which was traded for more picks including a first round pick the next year.

We won 6 games that year, then 5, and then 5 the next year.

How did that win against the Vikings help us again?

Dennis Green was on record saying he would have picked Fitz with the first pick or the third pick. He'd have been the pick regardless, so we lost nothing. The Chargers got Rivers and 3 picks but never won anything while the Giants won two titles with Manning, so yeah huge trade at number one.

 

[football karma]

NY Giants, Wash, NY Jets, Chicago and Tenn are the 4 win teams currently

Jets and Wash play each other in week 16.

Jets go to NE in week 18

the Giants and Tenn have hard schedules down the stretch

 

[oaken1]

Different mindsets, for sure. I was one of those in the stands cheering on Josh McCown and the Cards as we beat Minnesota at SDS and knocked them out of the playoffs in the final game of the season before we drafted Larry.

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As I said, win games, let the season end, and see where you draft. I couldn't care less about the draft right now. I want us to win our remaining games. Maybe we will, maybe we won't, but I am not wanting my team to lose on any Sunday.

my heart says win every game. My mind says winning now only hurts our future. seasons like this are bitter sweet.

 

[oaken1]

Dennis Green was on record saying he would have picked Fitz with the first pick or the third pick. He'd have been the pick regardless, so we lost nothing. The Chargers got Rivers and 3 picks but never won anything while the Giants won two titles with Manning, so yeah huge trade at number one.

I am fairly certain us having the third pick is the main reason Denny took the job...wanted to get his Godson on his team and make sure he was set for life.

 

[football karma]

You can sell free agents on that sort of thing.

yes, but

i think the priority for FAs is:

1. Money
2. Whats the coach's reputation
3. Does the coach have runway (i,e, looks to be employed for a couple more years)
4. Prospect for winning
5. Location

 

[krazy2k]

Thank you, Patriots. Cards are still in the mix for the #2 pick unless they win another game. They are not in the mix for anything as it relates to the regular season. They are not going anywhere. KM is not a generational talent (he is not Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes) and the Cards will have to address the QB position within the next couple of years. Just my opinion. KM is a good quarterback, not a great one. He's more like a young Dak Prescott - and where has Dak got the Cowboys - nowhere but disaster in the playoffs.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I could never root for my favorite team to lose on purpose. Losers lack a back bone. Losers give up whenever the going gets tough. It's easy to be a Loser. Once you are OK with Losing you can't stop Losing.

Monti was hired to make this team better. It shouldn't matter whether he is picking 3rd or 7th in the draft. Last year the Texans won the last game of the season which knocked them out of the #1 overall pick. Did losing out on the #1 pick mess up their season in 2023? Nope! A solid draft (that didn't include the #1 overall pick) and strong coaching have turned that franchise around.

 

[Stout]

Exactly. Do you want a team of guys with the mindset of "Let's try really hard, but it's ok if we lose games." or "Damn the torpedoes, let's win some f'ing games !!"

I want the team to have this attitude, of course. It's just that we're in the situation where that probably won't win us games now, and that's okay.

 

[slanidrac16]

Thank you, Patriots. Cards are still in the mix for the #2 pick unless they win another game. They are not in the mix for anything as it relates to the regular season. They are not going anywhere. KM is not a generational talent (he is not Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes) and the Cards will have to address the QB position within the next couple of years. Just my opinion. KM is a good quarterback, not a great one. He's more like a young Dak Prescott - and where has Dak got the Cowboys - nowhere but disaster in the playoffs.

Yes. I don’t know if I could handle going to the playoffs 2 or 3 years in a row.
You need a GOOD qb to win. Right now I’ll take good and build the team around that.