11.02.2005
Wednesday Football
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Arizona Cardinals:
The Cards are trying to use more I-back, two WR sets in order to get more production from their running game, but the results just aren't there. I guess we'll see how Kurt Warner does this week. I still don't understand why Warner was brought in. Josh McCown isn't great, but you can count on him giving his best. How many games has Warner won this year?
Speaking of McCown, Dallas got good results by getting early pressure on the Cardinals QB. In the second quarter there were two key drives where Arizona could have stayed even with the Cowboys going into halftime. But because of the pressure, and more importantly the fear of pressure, McCown unloaded about six straight passes that were forced or thrown too soon. And so as a result, after a relatively good first quarter, McCown was off target with most of his throws for the rest of the afternoon.
J.J. Arrington continues to show that he has very little understanding on how to run behind blockers. He's up there on the list of backs that needs to be traded to Denver.
Larry Fitzgerald had a number of jump ball chances in this game, but the Cowboys did a good job of keeping multiple defenders around him at all times.
TARGETS(catches):
Fitzgerald- 11(4)
Boldin- 8(3)
Johnson- 5(2)
Shipp- 5(4)
Bergen- 1(1)
Ayanbedejo- 1(1)
Arrington- 1(1)
Dallas Cowboys:
Bill Parcells loves to face a team who uses plenty of blitzes and so getting ready to face Arizona must have been a fun week for him and his offensive staff.
Marion Barber is a good back, but he really had a ton of room to run on Sunday against Arizona. Dallas ran especially well behind the left side of their line, but the right end struggled to keep defenders back. Most of the profitable runs to the right were as a result of cut backs of plays starting left.
Keyshaun Johnson has been a very consistent performer this season. He's been thrown no less than 6 passes in any one week, he's scored in four different games and added a 120 yard effort in one game he didn't score in.
TARGETS(catches):
Johnson- 7(6)
Witten- 5(5)
Glenn- 4(3)
Price- 2(1)
Barber- 2(2)
Pierce- 1(1)
Polite- 1(1)
Chicago Bears:
The Bears ended the first quarter having held the ball for just 3:29 and with only 10 total yards of offense. This is just not a good road team and for them to take this one from Detroit is just huge for their season. (They did end up with 216 yards of offense for the first half.)
Losing Mark Bradley is just an awful break for Chicago. Not only was he becoming a protege of Muhammad, but Bradley was beginning to show that great run after catch ability he flashed at Oklahoma. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but the Bears' offense did nothing after Bradley went down with his knee injury (which, by the way, was another 100% turf casualty).
Chicago hit a lot of skinny posts in this game. Orton has such a great arm, that when he makes that throw it's almost impossivle to defend.
The Bears' defense is probably the fastest in the league. And they just pounded Jeff Garcia in this game.
TARGETS(catches):
Muhammad- 9(4)
Bradley- 5(5)
Jones- 5(3)
Gage- 4(2)
Clark- 4(1)
Wade- 2(0)
Edwards- 1(1)
Peterson- 1(1)
Detroit Lions:
Kevin Jones' game is really picking up. He turned it on late last year and it looks like he's about to do something big real soon. Jones looks as quick, as fast, and as strong as ever. And that was obvious before his third quarter TD run where he beat a very good linebacker (Briggs) around the right corner for the score.
Charles Rogers is back this week, but the Lions have good depth at WR even with Kevin Johnson out. Scottie Vines is a good athlete at that position and he's a quality fourth option.
TARGETS(catches):
Vines- 8(5)
MWilliams- 7(3)
Jones- 6(5)
Pollard- 5(3)
Bryson- 5(5)
Pinner- 1(1)
Martinez- 1(1)
Minnesota Vikings:
How will Minnesota's offense run with Brad Johnson behind center? Johnson will certainly bring more efficiency, but he doesn't have Culpepper's arm strength. That may actually be a good thing because it will force the Vikings to use more controlled pass plays, something they should have done from the beginning of the season. Minnesota also has to do something about the awful routes their receivers run. On almost every play they will run straight ahead for seven yards, stutter step about six times to try to sell the myth that they're breaking their route short (which they never do), and then they will go deep. No one's buying it.
There is just no aggresiveness on defense here. What happened to the attacking style they said they were going to play? Pat Williams continues to be the team's best defender.
TARGETS(catches):
Williams- 7(3)
Taylor- 5(2)
MRobinson- 5(4)
Wiggins- 5(3)
Williamson- 4(1)
Burleson- 3(1)
Kleinsasser- 2(1)
Moore- 1(1)
Carolina Panthers:
Shame on the Vikings for thinking they could cover Steve Smith with just Fred Smoot. 11 catches for 201.
Smith did his damage with the smoothest, most subtle moves you'll see out of a receiver. He absolutely had Smoot's number.
There's been a lot of flea flickers in the league over the last few weeks, but I yet to see one work. The big thing about these plays is that the wide receivers really have to sell it, and just by judging the results, they are not getting anyone to bite.
The Panthers' run game has struggled, but with DeShaun Foster back in the lineup they looked improved. He definitely adds something to their attack that Carolina needs to succeed.
Keep an eye on TE Michael Gaines. He had two big catches in this game and I like how comfortable he looks as a receiver (he's 280 pounds).
TARGETS(catches):
Smith- 11(11)
Foster- 5(1)
Colbert- 4(2)
Proehl- 3(2)
Gardner- 2(1)
Gaines- 2(2)
Davis- 2(1)
Goings- 1(0)
Green Bay Packers:
This was a game where Brett Favre really could have used Javon Walker. Favre's throws were anything but careful, and 4 of his 5 INTs were passes that the Bengals DBs made better plays on the ball than the Packers' receivers. Lots of miscommunication out there and not a lot of determination on Green Bay's part.
The Packers have an underrated defense. They are well-coached and they stop the run better than expected.
I was anxious to see Samkon Gado run, and he did once for 8 yards. Early comparisons to Willie Parker look to be close. Gado is fast, and he has a good, powerful, and low base.
Bubba Franks is a player you might be able to get cheap (or free) right now. Considering there are very few players on this team that Favre has played with, I expect Franks to have a busy second half to the season.
The play to end this game (Favre's fake spike gallop) is probably one of the ugliest plays to occur in football this year.
TARGETS(catches):
Chatman- 11(8)
Franks- 10(7)
Driver- 9(5)
Lee- 4(3)
Fisher- 4(2)
Henderson- 1(1)
Cincinnati Bengals:
It looked like the Packers in this game borrowed a lot from what the Steelers did on Monday night; bringing pressure by overloading one side and playing a two deep shell behind.
Cincinnati did a poor job at finishing drives, and with Green Bay not allowing them any big plays, the Bengals offense was only able to put together two good drives all game. Their execution is lacking right now, as teams have adjusted a bit to what the Bengals are doing on offense.
Chris Perry's chances continue to rise.
TARGETS(catches):
CJ- 13(5)
Perry-7(6)
TJ- 6(5)
Henry- 4(2)
Walter- 1(1)
Schobel- 1(1)
RJ- 1(1)
JJ- 1(1)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
You can't really ask more of your defense than what they got, but still the Bucs couldn't pull out a victory against SF. Coming in with a record of 5-1 against teams who were a combined 13-23, this game really proved just how fragile the Bucs' success is.
Third downs have been one of Tampa's top strengths this season, but with Simms at QB and without any production from the running game, Tampa Bay wen 3 of 14 on third downs. Starting a game on the road is just a very difficult thing for a young quarterback to do.
I can't believe that with an extra week to prepare, Coach Gruden would hand Chris Simms the same offense to run. But that's what seems to have happened here. There didn't appear to be many half-field reads, or designed rollouts (ala Ben Burger, 2004) to slow things down for Simms. And in turn the Bucs were as undisciplined as ever, racking up 8 penalties for the game and also forgetting to tackle Kevan Barlow on the second to last play of the first half (leading to a Nedney field goal).
TARGETS(catches):
Galloway- 13(8)
Clayton- 7(4)
Smith- 3(2)
Alstott- 3(3)
Hillard- 2(1)
Pittman- 2(1)
Williams- 2(1)
Sheppard- 1(1)
San Francisco 49ers:
Mike Nolan won this game for the Niners. He and his staff outcoached Tampa Bay by such a wide margin, the 49ers actually won. Were it not for a great individual play by Joey Galloway, Tampa probably gets blown out 15-3 in this game. San Fran gave up zero turnovers, they ran the ball 39 times for 158 yards, and quite simply they made plays when they needed to. This Cody Pickett is an interesting player, but he's not really a legitimate quarterback yet. And he's probably starting this week.
TARGETS(catches):
Lloyd- 6(2)
Morton- 3(1)
Barlow- 3(2)
Jackson- 2(1)
Smith- 2(0)
Bajema- 1(1)
Gore- 1(1)
Beasley- 1(0)
- posted by jrf @ 11/02/2005 09:35:00 PM
