Enough with the Max Hall love fest, this game was all on our defense

[Duckjake]

Have to agree.

A 25% conversion rate on third down is not going to win you a lot of games. Winning this game was nice and not expected. There were some timely plays and fortunate bounces.

This defense plays too sporadically to expect the kind of performance they turned in Sunday every game. There are games to come where the offense is going to need to play much better than it did Sunday.

Nice win but nowhere near convinced this team is there yet. Are we getting lucky? So far yes however even luck runs out after awhile and good solid consistent play needs to rise to the top sooner than later.

Good post. The Cards have five returns for TDs this season. 3 fumbles, one kickoff, one INT that account for 40% of our total points.

Other than Brown's return the Offense has scored only 5 TDs.

Let's hope the bye week gives the Cards the time they need to get that offense on track.

 

[JeffGollin]

"Takes 53 dudes to make a village."

(That includes the starting QB).

Obviously, Hall wasn't the second coming of Otto Graham and has a lot of room to grow, but the exciting thing is that (a) he seems bright and has the capacity to learn and get better and (b) as he improves, so will the football team.

The winning formula for the Cards has become a lot simpler:

1. Hall steadily improves.

2. The defense and ST continues to play to the high standard set in the NO game each and every week.

Final point up for discussion - I call it the 13th Man phenominon (since the concept of the 12th man is already taken). It takes the form of things the other team avoids doing because you've proved on the field that if they try it, you'll nail them. (Teams throw away from DRC. Some teams avoid running directly at the Vikings' Williams Boys). Playing schoolyard hoops, I knew I didn't have to worry about this one dude driving up the middle, because I repeatedly convinced him (by consistently rejecting his shot attempt) that "it wouldn't work" and he simply stopped trying.

Having a "13th Man" out there means one less factor you have to worry about. I think it's a decisive factor in some NFL games. What's neat is when, say, a team stops throwing at DRC and concentrates instead on Toler only to find that Toler is eating them up just as badly. So they take a shot at DRC again. (How'd that work out for you?). It's a beautiful thing.

 

[PortlandCardFan]

"Takes 53 dudes to make a village."

(That includes the starting QB).

Obviously, Hall wasn't the second coming of Otto Graham and has a lot of room to grow, but the exciting thing is that (a) he seems bright and has the capacity to learn and get better and (b) as he improves, so will the football team.

The winning formula for the Cards has become a lot simpler:

1. Hall steadily improves.

2. The defense and ST continues to play to the high standard set in the NO game each and every week.

Final point up for discussion - I call it the 13th Man phenominon (since the concept of the 12th man is already taken). It takes the form of things the other team avoids doing because you've proved on the field that if they try it, you'll nail them. (Teams throw away from DRC. Some teams avoid running directly at the Vikings' Williams Boys). Playing schoolyard hoops, I knew I didn't have to worry about this one dude driving up the middle, because I repeatedly convinced him (by consistently rejecting his shot attempt) that "it wouldn't work" and he simply stopped trying.

Having a "13th Man" out there means one less factor you have to worry about. I think it's a decisive factor in some NFL games. What's neat is when, say, a team stops throwing at DRC and concentrates instead on Toler only to find that Toler is eating them up just as badly. So they take a shot at DRC again. (How'd that work out for you?). It's a beautiful thing.

:likesthis:

 

[TheHopToad]

While Max Hall didn't directly get the ball into the endzone, he was very instrumental in sustaining drives that kept our defense rested and the Saints' offense off the field. He led drives down the field that resulted in 16 points.

Hall didn't win the game, but he also didn't lose the game either. You might not have been able to say that with DA playing.

 

[Duckjake]

While Max Hall didn't directly get the ball into the endzone, he was very instrumental in sustaining drives that kept our defense rested and the Saints' offense off the field. He led drives down the field that resulted in 16 points.

Hall didn't win the game, but he also didn't lose the game either. You might not have been able to say that with DA playing.

9 points actually. The drive than ended in Levi Brown's TD started at the NO two yard line after Lenon's INT.

The Cards had 5 drives where they gave the ball back to the Saints without making a first down. 4 three and out and the opening drive with the INT on third down.

But that's still better than last week.

The way things turned out it would have been better if the NO offense had spent more time on the field. Our D produced more points, 21, than NO had on offense. (Giving credit to the D for Brown's TD since they gave the offense the ball on the New Orleans 2 yard line.)