It Started On The Opening Kickoff

[Doug]

It was said that during pre-game warmups that Neil Rackers once again tweaked his hamstring injury and we say a p*SS poor kickoff that gave the whiners awesome field position to start the game.

Then we had the flu like outbreak of offside penalties that just would'nt stop on defense.Not like the 3rd one would make EVERYONE watch the ball by that time.No way.Everyone had to get a flag first.

Gerald Hayes for at least the first half was the invisible man.I watched him.He must still be hurt and just going through the motions.Dansby with two shoulder seperations is our only inside linebacker right now.

Two games earlier in the season Gerald Hayes had 10 tackes and was a very active player in the run stopping.He got run over last night like a freight train almost every play.

Okeafor was also a ghost player last night.We need Will Davis to get better and in a hurry because Berry can't fill for Okeafor for very long.Like 3 plays at a time is it.

The very first play of the offense and The dominator Smith from the 9ers throws Kurt like a ragdoll once gandy with a small 'g' does an OLE' job on Justin and Kurt was on the sidelines on the bench like he wanted to throwup.He was thrown on his hip pointer and they had Leinart warming up after our first 3 and out.From then on in Tim Hightower who should'nt be spelled with capitals never chipped on Justin Smith and was a total waste on offense except for a couple plays he did pick up a middle blitzer.Most of the time this week he even missed those.

Plus Beanie is not a blitz picker upper like Hightower is.Sorry Beanie lovers.He's just not got that part down yet.

So Warner was toast after the first 3 and out and Leinart should have played the game.Warner is afraid to sit now for what the team will think of him.This is his last season for sure.This year has been hell in protection for him.Gandy is toast with his pelvis injury and Bridges just needs a lil help but Hightower is too busy trying to get out in a pass patern to chip block on BULL RUSHING Justin Smith who is bigger than he's ever been in years past as he put on 30lbs of extra bulk to play this year.Man is awesome as is sopoaga on the other side who has improved imensely this season.

Penalties,Penalties,Penalties,Fumbles,Fumbles,int,int,The worst ref crew in the league bar none.Graded out they should'nt make the playoffs.They are the flagday crew for sure.Would ruin a playoff game.Only specific refs off of each crew are graded to make new crews for the playoffs anyway.

Making NO excuses at all.WE got our asses handed to us bigtime.This was the 9ers SUPERBOWL.They know they can't catch us.The lions and lambs got beat by 40 points a piece last week.I think we can eek out wins with Brian St.Pierre at qb over them.

Still if Larry Fitzgeralds knee is even damaged enough to slow him down a little bit.The season and playoffs and Lombardi are still a dream for this season.

This is just my personal opinion but thats the way I feel about it.We need him to do what he did last season in the playoffs and especially against the packers and vikes and saints.

Warner without protection isn't Warner and if He knew Whiz was'nt gonna protect him he probably would have retired after last season.This game was more than a joke.

It all started from the opening FLUKE kickoff from a kicker who is an unrestricted free agent who has had a groin injury all season and has put us in bad positions.I wonder if he is resigned.

As a player I can't imagine this was the same team that manhandled the vikes this year.I'm still in shock over the loss of every skill our team once possessed and now looks possessed.We knew we had to bring it last night.Its our own fault.Everyone was waiting on everyone else.We have no inside running game.Beanie wants to take every run to the outside due to no holes on the inside and the play is strung out most of the time for a loss of yards.

Why is Breaston running backwards on every punt return.What a joke.Did a new batch of peyote fall into the water supply at CARDINALS headquarters?

I'm gonna post this and then not post again till after the lions game and hope the eagles and a lions victory with Leinart at the helm will finally put the X by the CARDINALS name on the playoffs then I'd rest every player we have with major injuries and thats half the team.We are the walking mash unit if I've ever seen one.We know how to play when relaxed and healthy.I just don't see the second part of that happening this year.

I blame some bad play calling also.Whiz fell backwards himself in his playcalling.It was'nt up to play calling of our old offensive coordinator from last year now chiefs HC.Even Whiz fell backwards.Our two minute defense is so predictable and shamefull that every team in the NFL could score on it.Why did it take the titans so long to score on that pitifull bunch?

The packers are a bunch on the rise,even with injuries to star players.Don't know if the CARDINALS have anything special left in the tank.If Fitz is gone it won't matter anyway.

It was an enjoyable year at times and Its just a damn shame it had to end like this.We screwed the pooch bigtime last night.If we can't beat the 9ers we don't deserve the Lombardi PERIOD!!!

 

[nashman]

You make some valid points, but our year is not over your a little carried away with that talk. And Beanie doesn't get strung out for losses to the outside that often think you need to check your eyes or stats! Dude was our only bright spot on Offense last night and then the fumbles got to him after it already hit the rest of the team. This team is not done by a longshot, geesh I would hate to see what you had to say after the Pats/Eagles game last year...were we done then too?

 

[Catfish]

I think that Doug is saying that IF we have the injuries that he believes we have, then our stint at the playoff run IS over now.

As a man who is suffering from back and neck problems because of himself having been a player, I believe that he recognizes the symptoms of someone who is hurt too badly to contribute. He has said for a couple weeks now that Hayes MUST be playing with a disk problem-----as his posture on the field and his movements suggest that he has nothing strengthwise left to give. Hayes at this stage of the season is but a mere fragment of the player who just a few games ago had 10 tackles.

Dansby now has two shoulder separations to deal with, and while they are not major separations, the fact that both shoulders are damaged more or less puts his play at a much lower level of intensity than he had when both shoulders were healthy. It is one thing to favor a good shoulder to deliver hits with, but when both are hurting, the hits go away period.

Now that Kurt has a hip pointer on the hip opposite where he had surgery in the off season, he has also seen a lot of his bravado slip away. It was on our first offensive series, that Kurt was thrown down onto his new hip pointer, the one he just received on the second to last series on Monday night against the Vikes. Doug was watching to see how Kurt would respond to that hit, and the response was not good. He saw Kurt on the bench, looking pale like he needed to throw up. The staff was even warming up Leinart, (though they didn't bring him in the next series). These are 3 KEY injuries, any one of which might have booted us out of the playoffs last year.

I can see that it will not be a trifling matter to compete with the big hitting teams from here on out. Berry is good for about 3 plays, then needs rest, (considerable rest). Okefor is a meer shell of the guy that we rode into the playoffs last year.

Yes, we do have Campbell, and he is starting to come into his own, but THAT will never make up for the diminished play by Dansby and Hayes due to injuries. DRC has become a really good cover guy, but he literally shies away from tackling contact. He is NOT a hitter, and probably never will be one. Ware will hit you, but he is playing hurt now too, and McFadden is playing on one wheel right now, although he is probably giving us the best combination of cover and tackling at the corner position on the team right now. On top of everything else, we still have not come up with a decent end-game defense, as we still cannot seem to stop the opponent on a late drive to win the game. That in itself cost us the SB game last year, and coupled with the injuries previously mentioned, we are no where near the same team that made a serious run last year.

We should have been able to compete with the 9ers, but we did NOT. We allowed Gore to run for 169 yards against us------and that will not serve well to take us into a playoff run.

If Warner truly is hurting as badly as it seems, then maybe playing Leinart would be an upgrade at this time. Sadly though, we don't have any new bodies to plug into the defensive front seven, to make up for injuries there, nor have we developed an answer the the end-game problem that has continued to plague us this year, despite the fact that we knew after the SB loss that we needed to change that aspect of our defensive scheme.

I just don't see us having the horses we need to make the same run that we did last year, let alone be a threat to come home with the Lombardi. Believe me, it sucks saying this, but I am beginning to believe that this is exactly what we are facing now.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

every team and player is hurting at this time of year. The Cards are actually in pretty good shape.Plus, you throw in 2 weeks of rest after they clinch tomorrow and it will be an extremely healthy team come playoff time.

 

[lauraw]

Great post Doug!! way to put yourself out there!!

 

[DemsMyBoys]

Yes, the injuries worry me. But I continue to be optimistic. I don't think God is through with this team yet.

And Doug, Warriors NEVER retire. They just turn the TENS unit up a dozen notches and pass all their wisdom along to the new recruits.