May the Better Team Lose

[Cheesebeef]

I really don't see that sorry we will have to agree to disagree. Aaron Rodgers couldn't put up that many points on us what on earth makes you think Cam can? Olsen is his one legitimate receiving threat and we are no slouch against the run? So where exactly are they gonna put up 30+???? Or better yet tell me how their awful secondary is gonna stop our receivers from having their way all day?

their awful secondary might not matter if our O-line plays like it has the last two games. Receivers can't catch balls that don't get thrown.

 

[oaken1]

Maybe I'm not explaining myself. When we're on offense, each team has their strength:
Carolina's strength is their defensive front 7
AZ's strength is their WR depth

My point is that our OLine has a significantly better chance of neutralizing their front 7, thus leaving their secondary in a position to be dominated. I think that their secondary is far more vulnerable than our OLine is. Our strength will have a greater impact in this game than their strength.

understood...and I agree for the most part.... last couple of games our o-line has been kinda weak though....

but yeah, I see how it can be viewed as an edge for us..if our blocking is on,...Fitz, Smoke, Floyd,JJ,...Jaron...they are gonna have a field day against the panthers secondary.

 

[Jasper]

We have one of the most experienced coaching staffs in the NFL.
I'm sure the coaches will figure something out.

 

[MadBird]

Come on guys we're playing the panthers geesh some of you act as though their the GOAT or something! It's the panthers yeah that team that the lowly Falcons beat, the team that gave up huge comebacks and barely hung on to win many times this season to poor teams! What in the hell has you guys so scared thinking we have to play a perfect game to beat these guys??? It's a good football team that's it, their not great their good but very, very beatable! I'm thinking the Cards can not only beat them but could potentially kick their ass if we play well. Its not some impossible mission to beat the freaking Carolina Panthers....

I would love to share your unabashed optimism. I just see a lot of match-up nightmares for the Cardinals. Newton is playing out of his mind this year and we have trouble with mobile QB's of his caliber. Stewart is back and healthy adding the threat of the run (he was out against the lowly Falcons). They have one of the best TE's in the game...and you know what TEs have done to us, and they have an outstanding LB corps.

Now, I agree their secondary is their weak spot and can be exploited IF...IF...the O-L can give Palmer time...which you have to admit was a problem Saturday...no? And their WR's are average.

The Cards have to run the ball to suck in those excellent LB's. IF we can find the running game I DO think the Cards can win in a close game.

I just don't see a blow-out - sorry. Winning on the road in the NFL is hard enough in the regular season...this will be a notch above. Believe me, I hope it's a "boring" Cardinals win...38-0 would be fine with me. If it is, I will gladly come back and praise your foresight.

Go Cards!

 

[nashman]

It's not like they are gonna send their front seven at us over and over lol. Ariana will for sure have some quick passing and screens set up and ready if they want to pressure heavily. I would be shocked if we can't move the ball in them, hell I bet the coaching staff is watching the second half and how the Hawks shut down their O and basically dominated them in the second half, right their is a blueprint of how to score and shut them down. Again it's the Carolina Panthers not exactly the SB Pats or Hawks. Honestly their most impressive win all season was Sunday and only half the game was impressive!

 

[oaken1]

It's not like they are gonna send their front seven at us over and over lol. Ariana will for sure have some quick passing and screens set up and ready if they want to pressure heavily. I would be shocked if we can't move the ball in them, hell I bet the coaching staff is watching the second half and how the Hawks shut down their O and basically dominated them in the second half, right their is a blueprint of how to score and shut them down. Again it's the Carolina Panthers not exactly the SB Pats or Hawks. Honestly their most impressive win all season was Sunday and only half the game was impressive!

pretty sure Carolinas staff is watching that same tape,.. looking to learn exactly the same thing..so it does not happen again.

 

[nashman]

And Saturday Palmer looked tentative and quite honesty overthrew what would have been two TD's. But whatever Saturday is over Palmer got his first playoff win and can now relax and this is the NFC championship game and Arians will have them ready to play, I believe you will see a different team than we saw sat night!

 

[nashman]

Oaken1 the thing is they don't have the secondary to not let it happen! A good passing attack will beat Carolina plain and simple! If we can limit our TOs to maybe one we will win period.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I hope you're right. I have been on here long enough for people to know. well I have never not picked the Cardinals. I see Cam and their O putting 30 plus on us.

Before this last game, Carolina had never scored 30 points in a playoff game before (13 previous games). Heck, last year - with Ryan "Freaking" Lindley - we were up 14-13 at the half...

Carolina is beatable.

 

[Shaggy]

Their front seven didn't look so great the second half the other day???? You can have quick slants, screens, lots of plays that keep them honest. Get one on one coverage and we can e pose them deep. Their not nearly as good as people are giving them credit for! The cards have been a much more impressive and balanced team all year with a tougher schedule!

That's what I am worried about. How many screens, short passes did you see Saturday? Palmer was throwing more deep balls then short 5 - 10 yrd passes. I was getting pissed why they weren't throwing shorter passes. If they can start throwing the shorter passes, it will ruin the Carolina rush.

 

[GatorAZ]

That's what I am worried about. How many screens, short passes did you see Saturday? Palmer was throwing more deep balls then short 5 - 10 yrd passes. I was getting pissed why they weren't throwing shorter passes. If they can start throwing the shorter passes, it will ruin the Carolina rush.

Been calling for more screens all year. Hopefully they get DJ the ball in space.

 

[SoCal Cardfan]

I can't help but wonder if the GB game was as close at it was, because Arians was holding back some wrinkles for this game.

I don't really believe he was that overconfident because of the previous beat down we gave them....but there has to be some excuse for his vanilla plan vs the Pack.

 

[GatorAZ]

I can't help but wonder if the GB game was as close at it was, because Arians was holding back some wrinkles for this game.

I don't really believe he was that overconfident because of the previous beat down we gave them....but there has to be some excuse for his vanilla plan vs the Pack.

Lol that's pretty disrespectful to Green Bay. They came to play and took us to the wire.

 

[conraddobler]

I have no real feeling about this game.

The one thing I will say the Seahawks / Panthers game gave us a great heads up on what to do. I trust our coaching staff to build a game plan that can get this done.

I really don't buy they're better than us at all. I think Cam is arrogant and can be frustrated if we do it right.

They might be equal to us but their schedule was joke, 31st SOS which is a joke.

I agree we should focus on keeping Palmer clean as possible, bombs away.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

I can't help but wonder if the GB game was as close at it was, because Arians was holding back some wrinkles for this game.

I don't really believe he was that overconfident because of the previous beat down we gave them....but there has to be some excuse for his vanilla plan vs the Pack.

The only thing he said to the press was that he talked with Carson after the game about his play selection. They both agreed that Carson picked too many short/conservative plays to start the game...

It is in this video:

http://www.azcardinals.com/videos/v...y-Legend/4df043aa-c13a-45f7-93e7-f555c514bb5a

 

[MrYeahBut]

This game boils down to our o-line,...and how well we contain Newton on the run.

This is pretty much how I see it.

 

[NJCardFan]

As I said in another thread, if we can keep them to 20 points we will win. The other key is keeping the turnovers to an extreme minimum. That's what got Seattle into a hole but the difference is, when Palmer throws an INT it isn't because he gets pressured and just heaves it like Wilson did on Sunday. Palmer's INT's tend to come when he misreads the defense. However, if we do fall behind early, the key is to not panic. Carolina is a let the foot off the pedal team. Twice this season they went out to huge leads only to let the other team back in it. If Seattle had 1 more minute to play with, things might have been different for them. Reason being, Carolina gets too cocky. They get up big them mail it in instead of pinning their ears back and going for the QB. They think they can drop back into coverage and get it done and they can't. Eli threw all over them and so did Wilson when he had time.

The biggest key is our offensive line. If they play like they did on Saturday then this game is over before it started. And for some reason Iupati and Veldheer turned into Deuce Latui and Brandon Keith. Both were awful. Strange that Massie was actually good but Veldheer looked very pedestrian. If they can keep Palmer clean then he'll have his usual game. If not, it's going to be a long day.

 

[Snakester]

Our offense might have to score 40 points to win this game. I see a shoot out. I can't see our defense stopping Carolina at all. Their strength is running the ball both at RB and at QB. Their other strength is at TE which we always have trouble with. We will need to win the turnover battle and our offense will need to bring their A-game to win this.

If we play like we did against Greenbay this game will get ugly fast. We need to have success with our running game and play action. As many have already said our O-line will have to be at their best to stop a very good Carolina front seven. I think the game will come down to how Carson Palmer plays. He didn't play very well against Greenbay or Seattle. He will be the main reason if we win or loose.

 

[AZCrazy]

We will have to contain Star L and Kawann Short. Giving Palmer time is the key to this game.

You hear me Larsen????

 

[Russ Smith]

I think the main reason Carolina has trouble maintaining big leads is their pass defense. Teams get behind and start throwing more often, more WR sets and all of a sudden they realize Carolina has secondary problems they can exploit. Yes they get sacked and yes it's not that simple, obviously Carolina gives some things up to run clock and changes their offense too.

But Carolina's fundamental issue on defense is covering WR's. They give up lots of yardage, not at a high rate per completion, they get lots of INT's and sacks and it has worked because they are good enough to not give up the entire big lead they often have.

The hope for us is we don't fall way behind and we're still able to exploit the pass defense. Atlanta beat them by throwing for over 300 yards and not turning the ball over.

They're a good team, they can certainly beat us, but their weakness on defense is our strength on offense. we have a chance.

 

[bobdigital]

Pats fan here. I'll drop my POV.

You guys are a slight underdog overall but have a few key advantages.

One mentioned already is clearly your WRs over their CBs. This is key. Palmer needs to throw 40+ times so you can really exploit this. If successful you can push the game to more of a offensive shoot out which Carolina is uncomfortable with.

Another is your team does not turn the ball over much. That is key cause that has been the Panthers key to success. Get turnovers and get points off them. If you limit this like you can you make things a lot harder for their O. A big reason they beat Seattle is a cheap 10 points off turnovers. (pick 6 and FG).

Lastly and perhaps most underrated. You have a big time coaching advantage. Carolina is not a dumb team but hardly a smart one.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

This game boils down to our o-line,...and how well we contain Newton on the run.

+1

These are the keys

 

[football karma]

aspects i am thinking about:

the Seahawks defense plays a pretty basic set-- you know you are getting one of three set coverages, but played in a sound and disciplined fashion. Little blitzing, but rush 4, drop 7 and wait for you to make a mistake.

Cards D is really different -- lots of looks, blitzes etc. It will give Newton many more opportunities, but he has to find them in time. Very curious to see how Newton handles this

 

[conraddobler]

Where did the jump ball to Larry go?

 

[Russ Smith]

Where did the jump ball to Larry go?

I think he can still get up but not like he used to. That one throw against GB he barely got off the ground, admittedly I think he was as Collinsworth said trying to get his feet set, but he got no lift at all on that one,.