Game Analysis and Grades: AZ 24 MIA 23

[Walter Mitchell]

Big story lines in this fantastic finish: (1) Cardinals break 17 game road losing streak in dramatic fashion; (2) The big play Cardinal defense resurfaced today after a one week hiatus; (3) Josh McCown, mired in what some observers (myself included) might call a season long slump and/or funk, engineers a brilliant game winning drive; (4) Larry Fitzgerald, after putting up his first O-fer of his career last week at Buffalo, takes over the game in the last two minutes and finished with 5 catches for 92 yards and the game winning TD; (4) The Cardinals, who usually are the weekly victim of dubious officiating, were this week's beneficiaries; (5) Dennis Green wins his 100th game as an NFL Head Coach; (6) Green, in a magnanimous gesture, tosses game balls at The Bidwills and an emotional Rod Graves.

QB: D. Sorry, even though the one good drive won the Cardinals the game, Josh McCown's performance in this offensive yawner was offensive. One has to wonder whether McCown and the coaches ever practice down and distance situations...because McCown certainly has no clue. When a QB throws four yard passes on third and eight repeatedly throughout the afternoon, it's a sign that either he hasn't been coached and prepped properly or he simply is not competitive. In addition, McCown threw two out passes that should have been intercepted for TDs...and had they been...and had the defense not been so gosh darn determined to get the team back into the game...McCown's last drive would have been moot.

RB: B. The rushing woes were not Emmitt Smith's fault. He gave 100% on every play and took a pounding. His 4th quarter TD was further evidence that Smith is the greatest RB ever to smell the goal-line. Troy Hambrick's big 1st quarter scamper was sweet...and at least made the rushing stats more respectable.

WR: B. Larry Fitzgerald showed today that he can take over a football game. Bryant Johnson's first down reception was excellent. Anquan Boldin, obviously slowed by his rehab, played tough despite limited opportunities and ultra conservative play calling.

OL: D. Let's call a spade a spade. These guys aren't even average...and, even worse, niether is their effort.

TE: INC. Did the Cardinals play a TE today? Only kidding...sort of.

DL: A-. Every player up front made significant contributions to this win: Zellner's tipped passes, Davis' run stuffing, Dockett's outstanding penetration and timely sack, Berry's tremendous sack and strip...etc.

LB: B. A for Darling's, Dansby's and Thompson's blitzes. C for run defense.

DB: C-. Tough day, made tolerable by Duane Stark's TD interception and Adrian Wilson's stellar effort. We all know that WR Coach Jerry Sullivan knows how to get his WRs open...and today...the Cardinal secondary seemed to leave almost every WR open, either by playing a loose, soft zone or giving way too much cushion in man-to-man. They were outfoxed...that's for sure. Take, for example, the long pass reception to Marty Booker (down to the one inch line late in the 4th quarter) that nearly cost the Cardinals the game. What the Miami coached did was...(to be continued)

 

[WildBB]

It was definately a mixed day for eval's.

The Ref's, Stark's TD, and the last drive made it barely tolerable. And the W was HUGE.

I thought Josh played poorly. He threw way too many up for grabs and like you pointed out was lucky not to have one taken back the other way.

 

[Walter Mitchell]

What the Miami coaches did: They threw trips to the left...and when the Cardinals didn't add a third defender, Jay Feeley knew the Cardinals were playing cover 2 zone, so he knew he could throw into the right seam to Booker away from the trips (where the defense was likely to be most focussed), especially with the LCB giving a ten yard cushion. In that situation, the LCB has to press the WR to atleast disrupt the timing and allow the defensive line an extra second or two to pressure. It was way too easy...and made even easier by FS Ifeanyi Ohalete's slow reaction to the ball...which today was a liability throughout the game.

Coaching: D. Dave Wannestadt not only got screwed by the officials...he got screwed by his own players (the two dropped interceptions, and Sam Madison's holding penalty on the goal-line, in particular)...because he and his staff far out-coached the Cardinal staff in this game.

One has to wonder what the Cardinals are doing all week in practice, because on offense, the coaches and the players don't seem to have any sense of how to attack their opponents...this is obvious when week after week the game plan is to plunge Emmitt Smith into the line on first and second down and then throw a three yard pass on third down, regardless of down and distance.

In addition...certain players are getting benched for inconsistent, uninspired play (Clement and Spikes)...while others, like Josh McCown and Freddie Jones are not.

Even in this game, Clancy Pendergast's game plan was extremely flawed. He called some very timely blitzes, but his coverage schemes were far too soft and easy to pick up, against one of the more inept offenses in the league.

The Cardinal coaches can thank the officials for a number of fortuitous calls and non-calls. The helmet to helmet roughing of McCown was not nearly as conspicuous as the helmet to helmet lick Karlos Dansby put on Jay Feeley (that wasn't called) a few minutes earlier. Dansby's rush was awesome. But, it sure looked like he led with his helmet on the play. Perhaps this was justice for the questionable roughing call on Darnell Dockett in the Atlanta game.

Did any of you ever imagine that a Dennis Green offense could be so nauseatingly predictable and conservative? It's mind boggling.

 

[Russ Smith]

Did any of you ever imagine that a Dennis Green offense could be so nauseatingly predictable and conservative? It's mind boggling.

Give him a better QB, hopefully Josh with experience so we don't have to draft one, and Green will be fine.


He simply does NOT trust Josh right now.

 

[WildBB]

Coaching: D. Dave Wannestadt not only got screwed by the officials...he got screwed by his own players ...because he and his staff far out-coached the Cardinal staff in this game.



Did any of you ever imagine that a Dennis Green offense could be so nauseatingly predictable and conservative? It's mind boggling.

Have to agree here. Just saw the stat that McCown was 12-19 for 66 yds in first 3 quarters.

The majority of his stats came on the last Fitz hookups when it became absolutely drastic measure time.

Josh has very little field awareness. O f who';s around him in the rush, and downfield vision. When he did scramble for that 1st down he had no idea if anyone was chasing him. It was a little lucky.

And the Ref's bailed him out plenty.

 

[john h]

Give him a better QB, hopefully Josh with experience so we don't have to draft one, and Green will be fine.


He simply does NOT trust Josh right now.

Play Calling/Coaching: D-

QB: D-

Defense: C+

Receivers: B inspite of McCown

Referees: A+ as far as we are concerned F as far as Miami is concerned

DB: C

Punter: A


In spite of his credentials Green is showing me nothing up to this point. He had nothing to do with the intercepion and TD or the fact their kicker missed an extra point. By sticking with McCown he is bordering on an F.

 

[john h]

Give him a better QB, hopefully Josh with experience so we don't have to draft one, and Green will be fine.


He simply does NOT trust Josh right now.

As long as Josh is Josh Green will continue to be predictable and run run run until he is forced to pass. Problem is we are not all that good at running and the other team even one as bad as Miami can stop our run. This is not the same Dennis Green as we saw in the past.

 

[WildBB]

Play Calling/Coaching: D-

QB: D-

Defense: C+

Receivers: B inspite of McCown

Referees: A+ as far as we are concerned F as far as Miami is concerned

DB: C

Punter: A


In spite of his credentials Green is showing me nothing up to this point. He had nothing to do with the intercepion and TD or the fact their kicker missed an extra point. By sticking with McCown he is bordering on an F.

I thought that too. He really put the season (in the toilet) in major jeopardy today.

 

[Evil Ash]

Play Calling/Coaching: D-

QB: D-

He leads them on a game winning drive and the first road win in 2 years but he gets a D-? I know he played like crap for 3 quarters but he came through when he needed to (isn't that all that matters?)... that grade is too low IMO

 

[Brevity]

QB: D. Sorry, even though the one good drive won the Cardinals the game, Josh McCown's performance in this offensive yawner was offensive. One has to wonder whether McCown and the coaches ever practice down and distance situations...because McCown certainly has no clue. When a QB throws four yard passes on third and eight repeatedly throughout the afternoon, it's a sign that either he hasn't been coached and prepped properly or he simply is not competitive. In addition, McCown threw two out passes that should have been intercepted for TDs...and had they been...and had the defense not been so gosh darn determined to get the team back into the game...McCown's last drive would have been moot.

Agreed. Plus, Josh does not have command of the game.

After the completion to Fitzgerald at the end of the game there was 0:57 showing on the clock after the refs blew the play dead. Josh just strolls down the field. 16 seconds elapse before anyone calls timeout. I don't know if I should lay that at Josh's feet but he should have been checking the bench for some direction. Green was trying to get the TO.

Also, Josh threw quite a few Plummeresque "dying ducks". Blame the O-line if you want.

All in all, not pretty.

 

[Redsz]

In spite of his credentials Green is showing me nothing up to this point. He had nothing to do with the intercepion and TD or the fact their kicker missed an extra point. By sticking with McCown he is bordering on an F.

Oh good grief! Green has shown you nothing to this point? Are you serious?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Oh good grief! Green has shown you nothing to this point? Are you serious?

I gotta agree with this. John - you are (and don't take this wrong) insane if you have seen NOTHING so far from this team. We were an absolute ABOMINATION last year - losing over half of our games by over 20 points. So far - we have been competitive in every game but one, even had a blowout victory and already beat the leader in our division, not to mention winning a game on the road for the first time in over two years. All those things - ARE DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR - AND THE DIFFERENCE IS DG AND WHO'S HE'S BROUGHT IN HERE.

Rome wasn't built in a day - have some patience for God's sake.

 

[Tangodnzr]

Good post Walter


I do take some issue with your 2nd paragraph however:

QB: D. Sorry, even though the one good drive won the Cardinals the game, Josh McCown's performance in this offensive yawner was offensive. One has to wonder whether McCown and the coaches ever practice down and distance situations...because McCown certainly has no clue. When a QB throws four yard passes on third and eight repeatedly throughout the afternoon, it's a sign that either he hasn't been coached and prepped properly or he simply is not competitive. In addition, McCown threw two out passes that should have been intercepted for TDs...and had they been...and had the defense not been so gosh darn determined to get the team back into the game...McCown's last drive would have been moot.

Although I think you are maybe being a little overly harsh on Josh

I don't think this was a stellar game by him, but once again I think he's catching a little TOO much criticism. Most of it to be expected, I guess, from the same ol', same ol's who will never really be satisfied with anything he does and jump at every little excuse they can to call for his head.

I'm going to post my initial post-game impressions on another thread, and in the process of doing that try and clarify in my own mind , thoughts I have right now that maybe Josh is just trying too hard, trying too much to "not make a mistake" and that's getting instilled in him via Green. Not because of JOSH but because of GREEN.

For now.....

The biggest prolem, as I keep saying...is the OL. This present chinese fire drill is almost starting to make last years ineptness look genius, and I'm gearing that primarily towards the coaching.

I built my reputation as a dance instructor telling and believing those I taught:
"My goal is to teach you in such a fashion that the limit on your rate of progress is YOU and your ability to learn, NOT my teaching."
And every lesson I ever gave I tried to walk my talk.

I'm still not seeing that on the offensive side of the ball yet.
It's not just Josh. Yes his play needs to improve....how many on the offense is the NOT true of?

True to form I think Green and his coaching staff are the biggest overall limiting factor right now, more than anything else.