Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
1. Preparing to defend Vince Young and the Titans' offense with Chris Johnson is a lot more difficult than one might think. The real problem is Young is so tall in the pocket and is better at picking apart a zone...which is what you really want to play, because when you go man, you risk Young taking off for big gains. This is why BD played man and kept AW at MLB to shadow VY. IMO, the scheme was smart. In fact, I think BD called a great and at times, gutsy game. BD put his players in a very good positions to make plays...and sometimes they did make some great plays...but, the DBs, except for DCR, were two steps too slow and not at all ball savvy. This has got to change if the Cardinals are going to take their game to the next level.
2. Defensive Personnel: What BD has to face right now is that he is getting very little from veterans such as McFadden, Okeafor, Berry, Robinson and Ralph Brown. That quintet combined yesterday for 0 deflections, 0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 1 QB pressure and 4 tackles. When should BD run out of patience with these 5?
3. If it were up to me, I would make the following changes:
(A) Move Adrian Wilson to WOLB and have him rush that edge like a madman on every play. He is the best edge rusher on the team. This team HAS to get some edge pressure and funnel the QB into the waiting arms of Campbell and Dockett. I like Clark Haggans on the other side. He's been consistent making plays and his pass rushing has been sneaky good at times.
(B) Take Robinson out of the middle and start Alan Branch. Time to get a real upgrade here, especially in defending Peterson and Gore the next two weeks.
(C) Replace McFadden with Michael Adams. I really loved the way Adams battled WR Brandon Gibson in the Rams' game and was hoping BD would have the guts to stick with him. I prefer him to BMF for two reasons: (1) he's a far better tackler and much faster supporting the run (I am not so sure CJ would have gone the distance on his 85 yarder if Adams had been the CB to that side); (2) he has quicker feet, plays more aggressively and I believe he can really battle WRs Percy Harvin and Josh Morgan...I like Adams' chances in those matchups much better than McFadden's....which allows us to lock DCR up on Syndey Rice and Michael Crabtree.
(D) Now that we've moved Adrian Wilson up to WOLB with one responsibility: rush that edge...we move Matt Ware to SS, so that he can play press coverage on TEs Visanthe Shiancoe and Vernon Davis. Ware has the size and cover skills to dog these key players. I like keeping Antrel Rolle at FS and think he will respond in a big way the next couple of weeks.
(E) It's time to play Greg Toler in the nickel. In fact I would de-activate Ralph Brown (he does squat on STs anyway) in favor of having another safety in the mix in Rashad Johnson. And get this...with Toler's speed and size, he'b be a good one to blitz from the slot area now and then and have Rolle switch on the blitz.
(F) If Dansby can't play, I would prefer Monty Beisel over Ali Highsmith. Highsmith looks too erratic in Dansby's spot. Beisel played well there the last time Dansby was out. We need the best tackler possible there.
(G) My two rotation interior DLs: Watson and Iwebema. My third edge guy: Okeafor (maybe he can play better with spot reps).
With better personnel in there, and BD putting these players in the position to make plays, we may start to get the turnovers we need.
4. As for the offense this week the keys are:
(A) Blocking Jared Allen...which means chipping him our doubling him with the RB or TE.
(B) Running inside versus the Williamses will be tough, but the power off-tackle play can be had if the G and T can get a good double team on the DT, and the play side TE can kick out the DE...and by motioning the other TE to that side he can get after OLB Greg Greenway or Ben Leber---key players to block this week, so that the FB (Kreider) can isolate on the first show of color, either the MLB or the SS. If the Vikes clog it down, TH and BW can bounce it out.
(C) This week the team HAS to work diligently on perfecting the slip screen pass, especially to Allen's and Kevin Williams' side.
(D) Out of the two TE set, the team also has to do what Leinart did well yesterday, throw on first down up the seam to TE Ben Patrick, which will keep the LBs and SS honest.
2. Defensive Personnel: What BD has to face right now is that he is getting very little from veterans such as McFadden, Okeafor, Berry, Robinson and Ralph Brown. That quintet combined yesterday for 0 deflections, 0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 1 QB pressure and 4 tackles. When should BD run out of patience with these 5?
3. If it were up to me, I would make the following changes:
(A) Move Adrian Wilson to WOLB and have him rush that edge like a madman on every play. He is the best edge rusher on the team. This team HAS to get some edge pressure and funnel the QB into the waiting arms of Campbell and Dockett. I like Clark Haggans on the other side. He's been consistent making plays and his pass rushing has been sneaky good at times.
(B) Take Robinson out of the middle and start Alan Branch. Time to get a real upgrade here, especially in defending Peterson and Gore the next two weeks.
(C) Replace McFadden with Michael Adams. I really loved the way Adams battled WR Brandon Gibson in the Rams' game and was hoping BD would have the guts to stick with him. I prefer him to BMF for two reasons: (1) he's a far better tackler and much faster supporting the run (I am not so sure CJ would have gone the distance on his 85 yarder if Adams had been the CB to that side); (2) he has quicker feet, plays more aggressively and I believe he can really battle WRs Percy Harvin and Josh Morgan...I like Adams' chances in those matchups much better than McFadden's....which allows us to lock DCR up on Syndey Rice and Michael Crabtree.
(D) Now that we've moved Adrian Wilson up to WOLB with one responsibility: rush that edge...we move Matt Ware to SS, so that he can play press coverage on TEs Visanthe Shiancoe and Vernon Davis. Ware has the size and cover skills to dog these key players. I like keeping Antrel Rolle at FS and think he will respond in a big way the next couple of weeks.
(E) It's time to play Greg Toler in the nickel. In fact I would de-activate Ralph Brown (he does squat on STs anyway) in favor of having another safety in the mix in Rashad Johnson. And get this...with Toler's speed and size, he'b be a good one to blitz from the slot area now and then and have Rolle switch on the blitz.
(F) If Dansby can't play, I would prefer Monty Beisel over Ali Highsmith. Highsmith looks too erratic in Dansby's spot. Beisel played well there the last time Dansby was out. We need the best tackler possible there.
(G) My two rotation interior DLs: Watson and Iwebema. My third edge guy: Okeafor (maybe he can play better with spot reps).
With better personnel in there, and BD putting these players in the position to make plays, we may start to get the turnovers we need.
4. As for the offense this week the keys are:
(A) Blocking Jared Allen...which means chipping him our doubling him with the RB or TE.
(B) Running inside versus the Williamses will be tough, but the power off-tackle play can be had if the G and T can get a good double team on the DT, and the play side TE can kick out the DE...and by motioning the other TE to that side he can get after OLB Greg Greenway or Ben Leber---key players to block this week, so that the FB (Kreider) can isolate on the first show of color, either the MLB or the SS. If the Vikes clog it down, TH and BW can bounce it out.
(C) This week the team HAS to work diligently on perfecting the slip screen pass, especially to Allen's and Kevin Williams' side.
(D) Out of the two TE set, the team also has to do what Leinart did well yesterday, throw on first down up the seam to TE Ben Patrick, which will keep the LBs and SS honest.
