Let's talk Arizona Cardinals (2 Viewers)

[Swampy Saint]

We should easily beat the Cardinals baseball team.

They don't even have a quarterback.

 

[Tater]

Computer that picks who will win the first week predicts that the cardinals will win by 3.5

 

[9thwardsaint]

We're going to mop the floor with them. We ended the year on a 4 game Road winning streak.

They're the pretenders of the year. I'd take our Coach , Our QB , Our Running Game and our O Line over theirs any day.


Quit being so darn timid. WHO DAT !!

That's what I'm talking about......
The Cardinals remind me of the Panthers. Tough team but they can be had.
If the previous Panther games are any indication, this game can go either way.

 

[Surviving Saint]

We're going to mop the floor with them. We ended the year on a 4 game Road winning streak.

They're the pretenders of the year. I'd take our Coach , Our QB , Our Running Game and our O Line over theirs any day.


Quit being so darn timid. WHO DAT !!

You are being optimistic Im assuming, hoping to form some sort of good vibe that carries the team to victory. I dont think you really mean what you typed.

Carson Palmer is the new Kurt Warner and this isnt the playoffs in the Dome. My heart says we win, but my head says we lose. Our defense wont make enough stops and our offense will come out slow. That is my prediction taking my B&G glasses off.

The defense didnt do enough in preseason to have me believe we are gonna stomp them.

 

[mc4saints]

We're going to mop the floor with them. We ended the year on a 4 game Road winning streak.

They're the pretenders of the year. I'd take our Coach , Our QB , Our Running Game and our O Line over theirs any day.


Quit being so darn timid. WHO DAT !!

 

[Live4theSaints]

We should easily beat the Cardinals baseball team.

They don't even have a quarterback.

Don't be too upset then when Michael Wacha throws for 300 yards and 2 tds vs us.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I've never seen the roof open here..if u say during the Emmitt Smith days then that was before this new stadium. They use to have play their home games at ASU and that was outdoors. I went to a Saints/Cards game then and that was terrible. TeBucky Jones was on the team. That's how long ago that was.

Cards Season Ticket holder here.

Regarding the Stadium. They don't open the dome unless the outside temp is less than 79 degrees. Therefore they usually don't open it till late October early November.

Also the playing surface should be in pretty good condition seeing as the Cardinals final two preseason games were away games. The natural playing surface is on a tray and is rolled outside to get sun. It's usually voted by the players as one of the best playing surfaces to play on.

The dome gets very loud. Should be rocking on opening day. There can be a lot of opposing team fans at the game. About half of the seats in the upper level is owned by scalpers.

 

[Westbank4Life]

We're going to mop the floor with them. We ended the year on a 4 game Road winning streak.

They're the pretenders of the year. I'd take our Coach , Our QB , Our Running Game and our O Line over theirs any day.


Quit being so darn timid. WHO DAT !!

 

[MadCardDisease]

That is pretty damn funny! Nicely done.

 

[CitySaint]

It would be interesting if the Saints dialed up blitzes and pressure to get Palmer on the move and throwing outside the pocket. Could Ellington keep the Saints in more contain due to the perimeter threat?

 

[MadCardDisease]

Defense

The secondary is a mixed bag. Peterson was considered a top corner, but was repeatedly picked on early last season before playing better in the latter half.

Offense

At RB, Ellington looked explosive his rookie year, but averaged just 3.3 YPC last year and was bottled up in preseason. Chris Johnson is a big play threat but is a journeyman at this point in his career.

Last year Patrick Peterson struggled early in the year with an unknown health issue. Turns out he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and was working to get it under control. He was able to control it by changing his diet and started to return to form in the second half of the season. He has it completely under control now without having to take any meds.

As for Andre Ellington, he was an extremely explosive player his rookie year. Then last year he split a tendon in his left foot during the preseason and lost that explosion we saw the previous year. He played about 10 games on that bum foot and wasn't very effective before going onto season ending IR for a hernia. He is now back to 100% as can be seen here during the preseason game against the chiefs:

Highlight: Andre Ellington shows off his speed

They lost a lot from what was a pretty good front 7 last year. Dan Williams and Dockett from the line. Dansby and Daryl Williams from the LB's. Weatherspoon is good, but not great. I think their LB"s look weak. Their secondary is nice, I like those 3 safeties a lot.

Last year Dockett went down with a season ending ACL during training camp. He never played a down last year and the Cardinals had success without him. In fact Dockett was recently cut by the 49ers.

Daryl Washington (caught smoking pot again a little over a year ago) was suspended for the entire season last year and still hasn't been reinstated. Clearly he hasn't met the NFLs requirements as the suspension hasn't been lifted. He is a force at ILB and has been suspended for 20 out of the last 32 games and counting.

Dan Williams is the one key player from last year who the Cardinals lost to FA. He is a massive run stuffer but was more of a rotational guy who typically only played about 30-40% of the defensive snaps. Still the Cardinals have a very deep DL and will rotate players constantly to keep them fresh. Only Calais Campbell stays on the field all game.

I agree with you though that the one weak spot on this defense is the LB corp. With the biggest weakness being the ability to cover good TEs.

99% sure they will be without Floyd. He had surgery on 3 fingers.

Floyd dislocated 3 of his fingers on his left hand and they were popping out of his palm. It was a gruesome injury!
:throwup:

He had surgery to repair his hand and returned to practice this week. He has been keeping in shape while his hand has healed and just started catching passes again this weeked. WR is the deepest position on the Cardinals so I don't think they will risk Floyd in this matchup.

Fitzgerald is still a force with his size, experience and still has some of the best hands in the league. John Brown is a burner and an emerging star. He has been uncoverable all preseason. The Cardinals have 2 more WRs who can take the top off a defense. Britton Golden and rookie JJ Nelson. JJ Nelson was the fastest player at the combine this year (Faster than John Brown) and has flashed during the preseason with some big catches. He also looks like a rookie at times and hasn't been on the same page as Palmer.

Here is a catch during the preseason that shows JJ Nelson's break away speed:
http://www.azcardinals.com/videos/v...son-deep/524cc297-acd8-491b-83f1-2fa5f5c6fb92

Jaron Brown is a reliabe pass catcher who is in his thrid year and always seems to make key third down catches that move the chains.

When the Cardinals go 4 or 5 WRs they can be very dangerous even without Floyd. Throw in a healthy Andre Ellington out of the backfield and you have a ton of speed on offense.

The only question mark is the TE position where injuries have kept the starters off of the field all preseason.

 

[Jameth]

I'm really excited about this game, it's about the perfect Week 1 matchup for us. I'm even glad it's on the road.

I was just looking through Arizona's roster, and noticed they only have three corners listed. I figure Mathieu can play corner, but still. Who is Peterson projected to cover? I would assume Cooks, but I've seen Card fans suggest he'll be covering Colston. I think Arizona might regret putting Betel or Powers on Cooks.

 

[MadCardDisease]

I'm really excited about this game, it's about the perfect Week 1 matchup for us. I'm even glad it's on the road.

The Cardinals are 14 - 2 at home since Bruce Arians took over as Head Coach. The two losses came against the Seattle Seahawks.

 

[ReefGuy]

Great info Madcarddisease.

I will be surprised if the Cardinals run 4 and 5 wr sets with the offensive line looking the way that it is. It's going to be hard to hold up without that running back or tight end staying in to block.

Regarding Patrick Peterson he's a high risk high reward corner. I don't think he will match up well with Cooks due to his quick twitch/shifty style.

I think this boils down to the Cardinals ability to get pressure on Brees rushing 4. If they aren't able to do that it doesn't matter how good the corners/safeties are Brees is going to shred them.

Less than 48 hours to go!

 

[MadCardDisease]

Great info Madcarddisease.

I will be surprised if the Cardinals run 4 and 5 wr sets with the offensive line looking the way that it is. It's going to be hard to hold up without that running back or tight end staying in to block.

Regarding Patrick Peterson he's a high risk high reward corner. I don't think he will match up well with Cooks due to his quick twitch/shifty style.

I think this boils down to the Cardinals ability to get pressure on Brees rushing 4. If they aren't able to do that it doesn't matter how good the corners/safeties are Brees is going to shred them.

Less than 48 hours to go!

Yeah Bruce Arians loves to spread the field and chuck the ball. Expect to see a bunch of WRs on the field. Even with Palmer coming off a major knee injury and questions on the OL Arians won't change.

We aren't really sure how the new DC will call things with Peterson. I wouldn't be shocked to see him cover Colston man and have Powers with help cover Cooks.

I agree it all comes down to can the Cardinals get to Brees. The Cardinals won't be able to get pressure with their front 4 alone. Expect a lot of Blitzes to manufature a pass rush. If Brees can take advantage of the Cardinals complicated blitz package he could have a big day. The Cardinals in the past aren't afraid to bring the house and I expect them to bring it under new DC James Bettcher.

One thing is for sure, the Cardinals Defense has been very dominate at home with the crowd noise. This is especially true for teams with OLines who are young or new to playing together.