Gut Check Time???

[Rats]

It seems to me that this week is a gut check time for the Cards, there players, and the coaches. Last week we pulled out a road win in the division. Something that you have to do to again be champions. We didn't learn much about our offense but did learn we can play some decent defense. This week we go to Atlanta where we know they will be ready to come after us on both sides of the ball. Do the Cards trip and fall? Have the coaches prepared them for this game as well as possible? We could be 4-1 if we win this week. It is the kind of games champions win. I have not agreed with alot of decisions Whis makes but this week can make me change my tune. If he can get the Beanieless offense to play at a championship level and match with a good defensive effort it will go along way for me to say that this was not mainly a Warner led team revival and now it is back to the middle of the pack. I will continue to take shots at the coach and his staff until they win games like this on the road. The talent is there to win these games. Lets get it done. I want to be a believer.

 

[seesred]

One thing is for sure, they will come out fighting. If we hold them off in the 1st Quarter we will win! OUr D is better than their D.

GBR
40

 

[Duckjake]

It seems to me that this week is a gut check time for the Cards, there players, and the coaches. Last week we pulled out a road win in the division. Something that you have to do to again be champions. We didn't learn much about our offense but did learn we can play some decent defense. This week we go to Atlanta where we know they will be ready to come after us on both sides of the ball. Do the Cards trip and fall? Have the coaches prepared them for this game as well as possible? We could be 4-1 if we win this week. It is the kind of games champions win. I have not agreed with alot of decisions Whis makes but this week can make me change my tune. If he can get the Beanieless offense to play at a championship level and match with a good definsive effort it will go along way for me to say that this was not mainly a Warner led team revival and now it is back to the middle of the pack. I will continue to take shots at the coach and his staff until they win games like this on the road. The talent is there to win these games. Lets get it done. I want to be a beliver.

This will be a good test to see if the first team really did turn it around from preseason or if it was just St.Louis being a bad team. They don't even have to win just play solid football.

 

[az1965]

This will be a huge upset, IMO, if we pull out a W with the way the offense is restructured. Moreover, the offense is hurting quite a bit with key plays either out or not 100%.

 

[Rats]

This will be a good test to see if the first team really did turn it around from preseason or if it was just St.Louis being a bad team. They don't even have to win just play solid football.

Yeah, I agree that we need to cut down on Turnovers and make the most of the redzone opportunities. St. Louis was playing above themselves with Bradford hype and first game. Falcons should come in mad they lost in overtime and want to win there home game. Top Division winning teams win this game or lose like the Falcons did to the Steelers, in overtime. If we are a top Division team we should keep it close and not put up a stinker.

 

[desertdawg]

If DA hits a couple early passes, I like our chances. If they don't respect our pass and just "bring the whole house" constantly, not only is DA going to be used as a tackling dummy again, but the run game will also suffer. Coaches can coach,but only from the sideline. I really want to see DA do well. Talk about gut check time. If its close, I see our defense locking this one up for us at the end of an exhausting road game. Go Cards. 17 to 14

 

[Rats]

This will be a huge upset, IMO, if we pull out a W with the way the offense is restructured. Moreover, the offense is hurting quite a bit with key plays either out or not 100%.

Why? We are a division winning team and we won a playoff game last season. If the staff is as good as so many around here state we should be in this game and shouldn't be thought of as a huge upset. At what point do we look at ourselves and say if we lose to a Falcons team, it would be a huge upset on there part? Do we really look at ourselves as an inferior champion like the East Coast bias media likes to portray us? Does the loss of one or two players make that much difference when we are sold this bill of goods that we have a great coach? We need to be close as DuckJake says to finally get respect and not be thought of as the same old Cards without Kurt.

 

[Duckjake]

Why? We are a division winning team and we won a playoff game last season. If the staff is as good as so many around here state we should be in this game and shouldn't be thought of as a huge upset. At what point do we look at ourselves and say if we lose to a Falcons team, it would be a huge upset on there part? Do we really look at ourselves as an inferior champion like the East Coast bias media likes to portray us? Does the loss of one or two players make that much difference when we are sold this bill of goods that we have a great coach? We need to be close as DuckJake says to finally get respect and not be thought of as the same old Cards without Kurt.

And that we have solid depth at most positions, OLB excluded . Breaston stepped up last week. We should have more guys step up this week. The rarity of 2nd tier players, those that are not stars or are backups, having big games for the Cards was something that irritated me for years. Lately we've seen much more of that from our guys. I hope it continues.

 

[NeverSayDieFan]

I'm w/AZ...I think it would be an upset...

Wolf always says...Beware the more desperate team. Falcons 0-1, home-opener, a decent team to start with.... Can we win?? Possible! But I would be surprised. Hoping for the best! GO CARDS!

 

[Duckjake]

Wolf always says...Beware the more desperate team. Falcons 0-1, home-opener, a decent team to start with.... Can we win?? Possible! But I would be surprised. Hoping for the best! GO CARDS!

It wouldn't be an upset imo. Not like it would be if the Bills beat the Packers this week for instance.

 

[az1965]

Why? We are a division winning team and we won a playoff game last season. If the staff is as good as so many around here state we should be in this game and shouldn't be thought of as a huge upset. At what point do we look at ourselves and say if we lose to a Falcons team, it would be a huge upset on there part? Do we really look at ourselves as an inferior champion like the East Coast bias media likes to portray us? Does the loss of one or two players make that much difference when we are sold this bill of goods that we have a great coach? We need to be close as DuckJake says to finally get respect and not be thought of as the same old Cards without Kurt.

It is not just one player or two.

It is not just Warner and Anderson.

The OL struggled against Rams last week and Falcons' D is better.

The WR situation is not good. Fitz is not 100%. He sat down some practice and may not even be on the field for some plays with a undrafted and unproven rookie replacing him. Early is out.

Beanie is out.

The offense is still "feeling out" and that might have worked against the worst team in the NFL last week, it ain't gonna fly aganist a playoff caliber team. As simple as that.

BTW, I would love to see us win, obviously. Just being realistic.

 

[Rats]

Wolf always says...Beware the more desperate team. Falcons 0-1, home-opener, a decent team to start with.... Can we win?? Possible! But I would be surprised. Hoping for the best! GO CARDS!

The Cards should look at themselves as the desperate one. Desperate for some shred of respect that should be given to a Division winning team and playoff game winner. That desperation should drive them to win big games like this. Respect would follow. We lose and we get no respect and start 2-3 going into Seattle. Talk about Same old Cards. I want to believe after 2 straight seasons of winning football that we can sustain something. We are lead to believe we have the coach for this and it is gut check time for that. I want to believe we have this kind of team and leadership. A win goes along way to accomplishing this.

 

[az1965]

The defense will have to win this one out for us with offense doing just enough to not lose the game. Getting some special team big plays will further help.

 

[Rats]

It is not just one player or two.

It is not just Warner and Anderson.

The OL struggled against Rams last week and Falcons' D is better.

The WR situation is not good. Fitz is not 100%. He sat down some practice and may not even be on the field for some plays with a undrafted and unproven rookie replacing him. Early is out.

Beanie is out.

The offense is still "feeling out" and that might have worked against the worst team in the NFL last week, it ain't gonna fly aganist a playoff caliber team. As simple as that.

BTW, I would love to see us win, obviously. Just being realistic.

So basically we are not a playoff caliber team? Or at best a weak division winner like they tell us(Even though we did defeat the Packers who we were told was the better team)??? Our D is not hurting. We have playmakers on offense. We are told we have depth that can translate into making plays. If we always look at ourselves as an underdog to a team that didn't accomplish what we did the last 2 years then we will have changed nothing with this organization. We have done more than this team the last 2 years. We should have the thinking that we are the favorite but we do not. No, every pundit says it is an upset when the Cards win outside of there Dome. BS....nothing really changes then I say.

 

[Duckjake]

The Cards should look at themselves as the desperate one. Desperate for some shred of respect that should be given to a Division winning team and playoff game winner. That desperation should drive them to win big games like this. Respect would follow. We lose and we get no respect and start 2-3 going into Seattle. Talk about Same old Cards. I want to believe after 2 straight seasons of winning football that we can sustain something. We are lead to believe we have the coach for this and it is gut check time for that. I want to believe we have this kind of team and leadership. A win goes along way to accomplishing this.

Exactly. Look what happened last year. The Cards went to NY and beat the Giants, at the time considered one of the top teams in the NFC.

Suddenly all the just got hot or lucky at the right time in the playoffs or they'll be victims of the SB losers curse stopped. Then they got the CKW era big head and laid an egg at home vs Carolina but righted the ship and beat the tar out of the Bears the next week in Chicago and silenced the critics for good.

 

[Bobcat]

Mostly for Coach Whiz...!!! Why didn't I ever let Q go...???

BOBCAT

 

[Rats]

Mostly for Coach Whiz...!!! Why didn't I ever let Q go...???

BOBCAT

I think it is more than that. This group of players that re-signed( DD, AW, Fitz,) have set out to prove things are different here in AZ. They could have went else where and been successful in this league but they chose to stay and write there own destiny by turning around a hapless org. They need to lead us to the respect they and we deserve in the NFL. Coach Whiz is seen as the catylis that will get the performence from them. I have said that I felt it was Warners drive to succeed that got the performence from them not the Coach but I want to be proved wrong. This is the kind of gut check time that will make alot of East Coast people give us respect. They need to bring it and if they lose then the pundits need to be saying it was a great game and no one deserved to lose. Otherwise we laid an egg or we blew them out. We need to get this done.

 

[Rats]

Exactly. Look what happened last year. The Cards went to NY and beat the Giants, at the time considered one of the top teams in the NFC.

Suddenly all the just got hot or lucky at the right time in the playoffs or they'll be victims of the SB losers curse stopped. Then they got the CKW era big head and laid an egg at home vs Carolina but righted the ship and beat the tar out of the Bears the next week in Chicago and silenced the critics for good.

This is the trademark we need to see continue to change this franchises destiny. These kind of wins, if they could continue this season, will change how the team is viewed league wide. I do not want to go back to being the Armpit.

 

[Shane]

Yeah, I agree that we need to cut down on Turnovers and make the most of the redzone opportunities. St. Louis was playing above themselves with Bradford hype and first game. Falcons should come in mad they lost in overtime and want to win there home game. Top Division winning teams win this game or lose like the Falcons did to the Steelers, in overtime. If we are a top Division team we should keep it close and not put up a stinker.

Don't really get the logic. We have pulled stinkers in THIS exact type of situation WITH Warner at the helm and Whiz as coach. One game doesn't tell you who you are no matter how much you would like to make it so. Especially when you aren't playing with a full deck.

Yet we were still a division and playoff contending team.

 

[Shane]

http://www.azcardinals.com/news-and...The-Jump/f635a25e-65f2-4968-9634-b6dbd40c5d90

This goes perfectly with this thread.

 

[Rats]

Don't really get the logic. We have pulled stinkers in THIS exact type of situation WITH Warner at the helm and Whiz as coach. One game doesn't tell you who you are no matter how much you would like to make it so. Especially when you aren't playing with a full deck.

Yet we were still a division and playoff contending team.

I agree, but one game can go along way in changing how a team is viewed league wide. If we win a game like this with out a couple of cogs we are saying hey we did this and we have put in place a standard that we want to be known as. A 4-1 start this year goes along way with perception. Not the standard "Weakest division winner" label we have been given.

 

[Rats]

http://www.azcardinals.com/news-and...The-Jump/f635a25e-65f2-4968-9634-b6dbd40c5d90

This goes perfectly with this thread.

Yes it does. If we go in and lay an egg we are the "Same old Cards" but if we win then we are now seen as a team that is continueing a new standard set when Kurt was the QB. This is a gut check for the coach who chose to go with DA. If the performence is subpar then it was a poor choice. We regressed. Not sure how you don't see the logic in this. If we succeed then Whiz made the right call and is leading the team to new heights and not standing in quicksand. It is said one game does not make a season but so many times we can look back and say "That is where it changed" This is one of those weeks.

 

[az1965]

So basically we are not a playoff caliber team? Or at best a weak division winner like they tell us(Even though we did defeat the Packers who we were told was the better team)??? Our D is not hurting. We have playmakers on offense. We are told we have depth that can translate into making plays. If we always look at ourselves as an underdog to a team that didn't accomplish what we did the last 2 years then we will have changed nothing with this organization. We have done more than this team the last 2 years. We should have the thinking that we are the favorite but we do not. No, every pundit says it is an upset when the Cards win outside of there Dome. BS....nothing really changes then I say.

Losing to Atlanta on the road the second game of the season does not imply we may not be a playoff team. It is what it is... early season struggles with so many changes and injuries. We lost the season opener last year to 49ers with essentially the same team that went to superbowl and did not even remotely looked like a playoff team.

 

[Rats]

Losing to Atlanta on the road the second game of the season does not imply we may not be a playoff team. It is what it is... early season struggles with so many changes and injuries. We lost the season opener to 49ers with essentially the same team that went to superbowl and did not even remotely looked like a playoff team.

No, your right. Losing to Atl on the road in week 2 will not imply one way or the other if we are a playoff team. How we lose will however effect perception. I still think we are seen by most as a fluke that won on a wing and a prayer and not a very good team even though we accomplished great things the last 2 years. How we win or lose in Atl could effect that perception. I don't know about you but the sooner we are seen as LEGIT the better. We are not seen that way through out the league as was evident in everyone picking the Rams to beat us last week. We answered and need to do so again this week.

 

[Doug]

Exactly. Look what happened last year. The Cards went to NY and beat the Giants, at the time considered one of the top teams in the NFC.

Suddenly all the just got hot or lucky at the right time in the playoffs or they'll be victims of the SB losers curse stopped. Then they got the CKW era big head and laid an egg at home vs Carolina but righted the ship and beat the tar out of the Bears the next week in Chicago and silenced the critics for good.

Duck the Giants win came after they had their first loss to the Saints and had a Bye week to prepare for the CARDINALS in PrimeTime.I see a similarity in the falcons losing to a very strong Steelers defense at Pittsburgh and having us coming to play them with a new breed of Cardinal.

We have practiced at NAU,ASU,Vandy and today at Georgia Tech in the morning walk through.I think the guys are coming swinging for the fences this weekend,This Cardinals team is New with some great replacements jelling as some young kids start to work with new talented QB.

Even without Beanie and Doucet I see a team of leading Vets trying to convince the rest of the squad they deserve more respect and it does'nt matter if the media gives it to them.

Coach lott & Fitz took a helicopter ride after morning practice at Georgia Tech(whiz' college team) to Athens Georgia to watch the Georgia/Arkansas game.Saw Fitz at the game as they put him on camera on the sidelines.I have the pic of Fitz&Lott on top of high Atlanta building fixing to take off.

Rhodes is over his weeks illness and Darnell Dockett is in fine form as Calais' Campbell said he feels very confident after todays practice at Ga.Tech where Calais' said the last time he stepped on that field the first play he got a sack and Forced Fumble that went for a Touchdown.

I feel our defense feels like they can do the job with who they have and Hightower is looking to get a shot at making up for last week with the Howler getting his shots in too and maybe a shot to Wright.Its the play of Williams I'm keying this game off of.No turnovers or stupid penalties and people will be saying Kurt who?

Faneca will have this bunch primed for Abrahams attacks and make holes themselves to open our offense up.DA can take advantage of the falcons rookie lb.As I'm sure we've studied everything he's done since pre-season and last weeks game to take advantage of him and the small dbs the falcons have.

This won't be the walkover game some have predicted unless DA loses his confidence in wild away crowd.This team HAS the talent.Some young some old.Have a shot at even getting better later this long season,with players coming back.

Very good thread of back and forth coversations.Very good reads.