NFL Playoff: Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals

 

The Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals, every body knows before kickoff that they will meet each other again on the same field in a few days. The Cardinals can only hope this will not be the same as what happened on the previous matchup. Aaron Rodgers, playing mostly against the reserves of Arizona, shredded them in a 33-7 Packers rout on Sunday. Rodgers after playing for three quarters completed 21 of 26 passes for 235 yards and a touchdown. Charles Woodson returned an interception 45 yards adding another score as the Packers (11-5) won seven out of eight games. It was the worst single-sided home loss for Coach Ken Whisenhunt in three seasons with the Cardinals. Arizona (10-6) pulled out Kurt Warner quarterback after only one quarter. Matt Leinart the Backup completed 13 of 21 passes for 96 yards and was intercepted twice.

Most of the first-team defense of Arizona played only one possession. Whisenhunt was cautious of his game plans and did not show much of what he would use next week, while Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy played the Packers’ usual high-powered game. Woodson left late in the first half of the game with a shoulder injury. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie Arizona cornerback went out with a bruised left knee and Anquan Boldin wide receiver had a right ankle injury in the game. Before he left, Woodson picked off Leinart’s errant pass and ran down the left sideline and made a dive for the touchdown to make the score 26-0 with 4 1/2 minutes left in the half.

This season, it was already his third interception return for a TD which is a franchise record. He also broke the Packers’ record with eighth defensive touchdown in his career since he joined the team in 2006. He has seven interceptions and one fumble return. He shares the mark with Herb Adderly (1961-69) and Darren Sharper (1997-2004). Woodson made a career best with his ninth pick of the season. He already has 45 in his career. Arizona hardly stayed away from its first shutout loss since the second week of the 2003 season. Ralph Brown made an interception to Matt Flynn’s pass and returned it 80 yards to Cardinals 8. Brian St. Pierre was able to get his first NFL touchdown pass on the next play, a 3-yarder to Larry Fitzgerald, with 2:59 to play. Arizona hoping to get the No. 2 seed ended with the victory of Minnesota over the New York Giants earlier in the day. That guaranteed a matchup between Cardinals-Packers first-round playoff. The only question left was seeding. Who will win the next game between Green Bay Packers vs. Arizona Cardinals?

ARIZONA (-5.5) vs. Houston

Arizona has started the season at 1-2 however they’ve also faced a pretty good teams that are a combined 9-3 straight up and about 6 points tougher than average (SF, Jack, and Indy). Arizona has been out-gained in those games 5.4 yards per play to 5.6 yppl, but that’s not bad considering those teams would out-gain an average team 5.7 yppl to 4.9 yppl. Arizona’s weakness, however, is their pass defense and Houston’s potent aerial attack (7.3 yards per pass play against teams that would allow 5.8 yppp) should thrive.

Arizona can also put up big passing numbers and Houston is even worse defending the pass, allowing 6.3 yppl to quarterbacks that would combine to average just 5.3 yppp against an average team. The math model picks this game 27-23 Arizona and there is totally no reason to deviate from that projection.

Cardinals O-line Looks to Regain Super Bowl Form

When the running game goes nowhere and the quarterback is knocked around like a piñata, the offensive line gets the blame. Left guard Reggie Wells, the chief of Arizona’s front line, has been around long enough to discern that. The Cardinals had last weekend off to ponder what has gone wrong for a team with such high expectations after last year’s surprise run to the Super Bowl. It’s the same offensive line, to a man, that started all 20 games last season and, in the playoffs, protected Kurt Warner superbly and even opened some holes for the running game.

Arizona ranks 31st out of 32 teams in rushing at 60.7 yards ever game, 3.2 ypc. Warner, meanwhile, has been sacked seven times, four times in the team’s most recent game, a 31-10 loss at home to Indianapolis. The other three came in the team’s other loss, 20-16 in the season opener, also at home, against San Francisco. In between, Warner was hardly touched in his NFL record 24-for-26 performance in Arizona’s 31-17 win at Jacksonville.

49ers’ Success Comes Despite Offensive Struggles

The San Francisco 49ers has taken early command of first place in the NFC West despite an offense that ranks among the worst in the NFL. It’s no secret where the team needs to improve entering Sunday’s key NFC matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, a game that will take the 49ers to their bye week. Regardless of being shut out offensively in the first half and finishing the game with just 228 total yards, the 49ers rolled to a 35-0 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday, San Francisco’s most lopsided victory in 87 games. The 49ers had two touchdowns on defense and another on special teams to improve to 3-1 and swept the first round of divisional play at 3-0 as the 49ers beat defending NFC West champion Arizona in Week 1 and Seattle in Week 2.

The power rushing attack San Francisco was expecting to carry its offense has not quite lived up to its billing through the first quarter of the season. The 49ers have averaged just 77 yards rushing and 237 total yards per game from the time when star running back Frank Gore was hurt on his first carry against the Vikings on Sept. 27. Even with them ranking 28th in the league in total yards, the 49ers rank ninth with 105 points scored. They have outscored the opposition 55-24 in the second half and 31-10 in the fourth quarter. The 49ers make it when it counts the most, crunch time.

2 Reasons Why the Seahawks Will Upset the Colts in Week 4

Colts have been having problems stopping the run. The Indianapolis Colts may be riding high at a perfect 3-0, but there are some problems that lie underneath this perfection. They may have held Arizona, which has little to no run game at all, to less than 50 yards rushing, but containing the Seahawks will be a different story. Seattle has a much better run game than the Cardinals, led by Julius Jones who is averaging 4.9 per carry for 226 yards YTD. If the Seahawks can pound it on the ground consistently, they may be able to exploit Indy’s biggest weakness and rush their way to a victory.

Indy is so banged up on defense. While it is debatable whether Seattle has more offensive weapons than Arizona, the team might have enough to dominate an not a hundred percent Colts defense. After spending most of the first three quarters in the Arizona backfield, Dwight Freeney spent the left over 15 minutes in the Indianapolis locker room watching the Colts roll to an easy 31-10 win over the Cardinals. Freeney hurt his right quadriceps this past Sunday and told team doctors that he “felt something pop” in his leg. Team officials are still in the course of finding out the brutality of the damage and how much time he will miss. Sadly, the Colts have much more to worry about than the health status of their top pass rusher. Indy is missing a few key players on the defensive side of the ball, including safety Bob Sanders, who was a previous Defensive Player of the Year. Although cornerback Kelvin Hayden and defensive captain Gary Brackett might return Sunday night, Dwight Freeney’s injury could create a huge void that simply cannot be filled.

On Second Thought, Cardinals RB Beanie Wells, Should’ve Stayed In School

Last season, Beanie Wells was considerably one of the best running backs in college football. He just came off a monstrous sophomore season where he rushed for 1,609 yards, which was an Ohio State rushing record for a sophomore. He injured his foot in the Buckeyes season opener last year. This injury beleaguered the Buckeyes as they went down without a fight against USC, and it plagued him with a big question mark on whether or not he is injury prone. He returned after a small number of games and sustained the season gaining 1,197 yards and eight touchdowns.

In the Cardinals loss to Indy last night, they had a bunch of opportunities on third and short and near the goal line for him to come in and establish himself here. Instead, they were determined to throw the ball and run it with Hightower, and both decisions lead to as many fumbles as Wells had the week before. The distinction is Wells only lost one of the fumbles. Arizona is just not an excellent fit for Beanie Wells and they wasted their pick on him if they are not going to use him. They have one of the biggest legs coming out of college and he’s been underutilized. If he didn’t enter the draft so early, he could have been celebrating with a Buckeyes team that would be invincible if he was on it. This is just another case of a young talented player thinking with his pockets, instead of thinking of what would be best for him in the end.

Colts Power Past Cardinals

In his first game in Arizona, Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, three in the second quarter, as he powered the Indianapolis Colts past Kurt Warner and the turnover-prone Arizona Cardinals 31-10. Manning and Warner are two of the most prolific NFL quarterbacks in NFL history. The only difference was that the Colts’ offensive line gave Manning all the time he needed to carve up the Cardinals while Warner was under extreme pressure all night long.

For the 18th time, Manning had four touchdowns in a game, moving him past Johnny Unitas into third on the NFL career list, only trailing Dan Marino’s 21 and Brett Favre’s 20. Manning also reached 300 yards passing for the third time in three games this season, giving him 50 for his illustrious career. Manning started slowly but ate the Cardinals for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a show of precision in the second quarter. He threw 20 yards to Reggie Wayne for the first TD, 10 yards to Dallas Clark for the second and a clever 53 yards to Pierre Garcon as the Colts took a 21-3 halftime lead and they were well under way in powering past the Cardinals.

James Wants Out of Arizona

The veteran running back was at the forefront of an Arizona Cardinal resurgence which resulted in a post season effort ending in the Super Bowl. But after that, he feels he is stagnating and has formally asked the team ownership for his release. He bases his claim on an agreement allegedly entered into that he will not be in a Cardinal uniform after the 2008 season.

James was benched in the middle of the 2008 season and still has one year and $5 million remaining in the four year contract worth $30million that made him come to the dessert. He feels that his skills are not utilized in the offence and wants to go to a team that can better utilize him. He feels aggrieved that he was benched during the season and that the agreement that he would be released after the season was made at the time of his benching.

The Arizona management, through its general manager did not respond to requests for comments on the Edgerrin James situation. The conventional wisdom is that since Edgerrin is the top running back a trade would be the likely scenario instead of allowing the star to just walk out of the desert.

Cardinals Salary Cap

There will always be tough decisions when it comes to a football team, and the Arizona Cardinals are facing a lot right now. It truly was a great ‘08 season for them, as they have reached the Superbowl for the first time and almost won it as well. Now that it’s all over, they are facing a lot of problems, and it would be difficult to return based on their circumstances right now.

For one, they have lost both their defensive coordinator and offensive coordinator. Pendergast may have not been much of a loss, but Todd Haley was an important component of the team’s success. Anquan Boldin is sure that he wants to leave the team, and Kurt Warner is on the fence whether he’d retire or not.

It’s not all bad news for the Cardinals as they still have a lot of cap space. Since it’s defense they need, they’d have enough to sign Julius Peppers since he is clear that he does not want to return to the Panthers. They could also sign defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth of the Titans, and keep Warner as well.

It will be exciting to see how the team will develop this season.

Rebuilding the Chiefs

For quite sometime, the Kansas Chiefs haven’t been performing well and there are currently on the path to rebuilding their team. One of their first move to turn their organization around is to recruit the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, as their head coach.

While Todd Haley is a great addition to their team, there still is a lot to do to improve the team. It’s just a beggining of a team rehabilitation program.

Another thing that they have to deal with is running back Larry Johnson. They still don’t know what to do with him, and a trade would be difficult. His age, along with what comes with him off the field would make him of less value, and the Chiefs wouldn’t get much in return. A better option for them would probably to release him.

They also need to fill the quarterback position. They have the number 3 pick, so they would be able to get someone like Mark Sanchez. If ever Tom Brady is able to play, then they probably have a chance of getting Matt Cassell.

You’re Fired!

It has been known the Arizona Cardinals are not really a defensive team. It was such an amazing run for them last season, and everyone saw a slight improvement in their defense. The thing is that this improvement simply isn’t enough, and it just didn’t work when it mattered the most. Finally, they were able to reach the Superbowl for the first time in franchise history, but fell short of winning it because of a crucial defensive lapse.

It was during the last few minutes that the defense allowed the Steelers to score a touchdown, which eventually led to their loss. This could be the reason why the Cardinals are letting go of defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast.  Coach Whisenhunt says that Pendergast did a good job, but he is only thinking of the general good of the team, and that he want to give Pendergast an opportunity for the growth of his career.That sounds kinda showbiz but he may have meant it.

The Cardinals now both have the defensive and offensive coordinator positions available, and it is still unknown as to who Whisenhunt has his eyes on for the d-coordinator spot.

The New Staff

Last season was great for the Arizona Cardinals. They have been one of the low teams all thoughout the history of the NFL, but they proved otherwise during the course of last season. They reached the Superbowl and if it weren’t for a last minute lapse in defense, probably would have won it as well. Now the question is whether they will be able to retain such strength next season.

One of their best weapons is now the head coach of the Kansas Chiefs. Todd Haley was the one that had orchestrated their overwhelming offense, and it would be really difficult to replace him. Another loss would be in the defensive coordinator position. Clancy Pendergast is no longer part of the Cardinals, and it is unknown whether he chose to leave, or he was asked to leave. Either way, it seems that the reason for his departure was the final defensive play in Superbowl 43.

Head coach Whisenhunt now will have to rebuild his coaching staff. For the defensive coordinator position, he has his eyes set on former Seattle linebacker, Keith Butler.

Predicting Superbowl 44

Ok, so it’s quite early to predict who would meet in Superbowl 44, but there already are strong contending teams that are very likely to reach the championship round next year.

For the AFC, you simply can’t count out the champions. With a still growing Ben Roethlisberger on their side, the Pittsburgh Steelers still have a strong chance of reaching and possibly winning the Superbowl for the 7th time. They will also have an easier schedule this season, and that is rare for defending champions. Another strong contender would be the New England Patriots. Even without Tom Brady, Matt Cassel would still be able to fill those shoes and keep their high-paced offense running. They will be having a touch schedule but they are the best team in their division.

When it comes to the NFC, the Cardinals will simply have a tough time returning to the Superbowl. As of now, they are still having problems with their winning line-up, and their future is still uncertain. One of the strongest contenders would have to be the New York Giants. In recent years, the Giants have been able to get to the Superbowl and win it so there’s a big chance that they would be doing something similar this season.

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