AZ54

Iglesias is gone. We keep 5 WRs then with Hester, DA, Knox, Bennett, and Davis and I think that implies we'll keep 4 TEs in Clark, Olsen, Manu, and KDavis.

Shaw is gone too. The last cuts will be among Gilbert, Iglesias, Wolfe as the Bears will hold out to see if they can get anything at all for them. I'd say two of those three are gone, if not all three.

Cards are trying to trade OG Reggie Wells and will keep Lutui. Wells has been a starter in the past and he could provide some needed depth. I'm not advocating a trade, rather just wait until the cuts are made.

I didn't take mental notes on the CBs on each play as my focus was on figuring out why our line play is so bad. I saw the CBs right near the LOS quite often and I'm sure that included many third downs but what I never saw was then attempting to jam the WRs. They almost always seemed to line up a half step outside the WR so as to force them inside on their release but in either case (inside or outside release) they just shadow the WR off the line. I don't recall us playing the CBs so close to the LOS so often before. Maybe it's a sign of things to come. Maybe we're not jamming WRs in the preseason so we can keep it as a surprise for the regular season. Maybe Marinelli is teasing us. In the Cards game the design seemed to be just to funnel the WRs into the center of the field, especially on blitzes, and they often took what we gave them. It's not a bad design necessarily as it should prevent you from giving up a big play but the safeties need to anticipate the throws better. In general we are generating more consistent pressure, largely thanks to Peppers, and hopefully the DBs start adjusting to it with their coverage timing (i.e. jump the route or smack the WR as the ball arrives). One thing that is very obvious is that with Urlacher roaming the middle things are much different than Hillenmeyer. I know how far and how fast Url can drop in coverage and IMO his presence alone could have disrupted a couple of their completions. One other note: After Briggs left the game we had Hunter and Iwuh out there on 3rd and long. Briggs reads defenses far better and reacts to the dump-off passes quicker. Once he sees it Iwuh has very good closing speed and I like how he attacks the ball carrier. We might really have something with him. Again, Hillenmeyer makes good reads but the closing speed just isn't there. In contrast Pisa looks like a guided missile out there. I think if our starting LBs were out there neither of those TDs are scored.

Calais Campbell might be a "no-name" to folks in Chicago but out here he's widely talked about as having had a near Pro Bowl season last year. While I think that's a bit too much hype he did have 7 sacks last year which is far more than any of our interior lineman. It was more than any of our DEs had too.

It took me a day to shake off the depression and sum up the courage to watch the game again. After going through the first and half of the second quarter in slo-mo mostly to focus on line play and this is what I saw: Oline pass blocking: It's not all bad and quite often Cutler had time to make throws. On a couple plays the pressure could have been avoided if Cutler made a step or two in the right direction. Lance Louis is rapidly getting better and it was very obvious this game, one way you can know that is because you never heard Darnell Dockett's name. I'm not saying he is where he needs to be but at this rate he'll get there and he may end up our best lineman by years end (yes I said that then again look at the competition). The biggest concern is that both of our tackles have trouble with wide-outside rushes on the 7 step drops. I don't see much if any improvement at all since the first preseason game so I'm guessing we're going to suffer with this all season long. Oline run blocking: We pull two players off the line a lot on running plays. Almost always when you saw a Cardinal getting the backfield on a running play it was because one of our lineman ran right by him on the way to block someone else further upfield. This should be correctable with coaching. For the most part guys were not getting beat off the snap. Cutler: On at least one play he missed an easy dump off to the RB who was wide open. Forte and Taylor one-on-one with a LB should be a good thing for us. I still see Cutler waiting to throw and not "throwing to a spot". That has to improve. I have no clue if the first INT was him throwing late or Knox not coming back to the ball. The second INT was just a really bad throw, DA was wide open heading downfield. RBs: much better on pass protection and made some good plays, on their own at times. WRs: Still seems like they are thinking too much out there and of course on the first play Knox and Hester ran to the same spot. Dline: Peppers is the real deal although on one play he took the inside lane and let the RB outside for a decent gain. He should have left the inside for Hillenmeyer who was there to make the play. We dropped both Anderson and Idonije into coverage on blitzes. The blitzes worked on the Cards and were more effective than we've seen in the past. One big play was given up when Hillenmeyer took too flat of an angle into his coverage and let the WR slip behind him for a big gain, otherwise this biltz worked as designed. I didn't see Harris do much. Izzy got the start over Anderson but I didn't see much from him. He's solid and considering we got rid of Alex Brown I don't think we'll miss him. That's not to say Izzy or Anderson are better just that they are far behind him. We really need a true second pass rush threat aside from Peppers and I haven't seen it this preseason. LB: Hillenmeyer is no Urlacher but the whole world knows that. Iwuh made a fair amount of plays but he is reacting late and not reading the play quickly. He could be solid for us down the road. DBs: Were up on the LOS often at the snap and kept funneling the WRs inside where they never had any safety help. Chris Harris was just bad this game...tackling and pass coverage. Danieal Manning looked better than Harris but he still doesn't anticipate well and has to see it happening before he reacts. I'm ready for Major Wright. Offensive Coaching: It seemed some of what we called on offense were just plays we wanted to run regardless of circumstances. The wildcat in the redzone? Stupid play and killed momentum but if the point was to show it to opponents before the regular season ok fine, don't call it again. Martz and Tice have their work cut out for them to improve the running game. Defensive coaching: Last week I heard someone say that all NFL teams now run the skinny post against cover 2 and have the WR flaten out the route just in front of the safety. You saw that a lot from the Cards and we never picked up on it. The other thing we never have picked up on throughout Lovie's tenure is the RB out of the backfield and once again we gave up multiple big plays that way. Those two plays were all the Cardinals needed to move down the field. Will it ever change?

The season would start about the same time as it does today because we eliminate two (or three in the case of the Hall of Fame game) preseason games. If we add in another bye week then of course we advance things a week earlier. I don't think one week less of offseason changes things in a significant way. The points are valid about injury and recovery but keep in mind if they expand the rosters and make changes to the IR and PUP rules it will be possible for teams to keep players as they rehab during the beginning of the season.

I know we'll all be looking for some good things to happen this weekend against the Cards so here's a bit of a scouting report from what I've seen of the Cards so far this offseason. QB: Leinart has not looked good at all this preseason and has now been demoted in favor of Anderson. Meanwhile, Anderson's accuracy is all over the place. He can hit some perfect deep passes and then miss an easy 10 yard route. Under pressure his mechanics fall apart. Translation: If our secondary looks good don't make too much of it. OTs: The Cards OTs aren't all that great in pass protection. I expect Peppers to get around the corner early and often. If Mark Anderson is to generate sacks this year you should see some good pressure from him tomorrow. Demoting Leinart is the Cards final admission that they won't be relying on the passing game this year, which everyone's know all offseason. They will be working to establish their running game so it should be a good chance to see how our run D is. CB: Trumaine McBride (yes, that Trumaine McBride) was their starter opposite Rodgers-Cromartie (DRC) until he got demoted this week. Outside of DRC they have issues. Of course Adrian Wilson is their SS and he's an elite player but their FS is still a work in progress. There should be some good opportunities for Cutler and the WR to make plays. Overall: If the Cards look really good against us on either side of the ball it's reason for concern. OTOH if we look really good don't read much into it. LB: OLBs are ok but their ILB are a concern for them and they don't run well. If we can get Forte and Taylor to the second level they should be able to make some good gains, especially on outside runs. Dline: This is the strength of their D. They have very good players at DE and NT. Calais Campbell is becoming a good pass rusher, as is Dockett, and they should be able to give our Oline a good test of their pass blocking skills. Plus it's a 3-4 front so it's another opportunity to see how they handle their assignments.

Matt Leinart is likely on the trading block, not that the Bears should be interested. lol I'm ready to start discussing the final roster: I think Jarron Gilbert gets cut and that pisses me off. While it's the right call given his total lack of productivity it's another wasted 3rd Rd pick. That's killing this team, but you all know that. Gilbert's competition, Wootton, hasn't shown much either but as rookie his arrow, athleticism, and attitude are all pointing up. Brian Iwuh has quietly moved into the backup WLB spot behind Briggs and nobody else is listed behind him. I know he was brought in for his special teams ability but it appears he's giving us far more than that. Meanwhile, Tim Shaw is buried behind Roach/Tino so his shot at making the roster appears to be solely as a special teams ace. The entire DB situation is a mess, and not for a good reason. What seems very clear is that Major Wright is going to be starting for us at FS. Maybe he's not ready in game 1 but once that finger is healed he's out there. Behind him and Chris Harris (and perhaps Steltz) there's a lot of question marks. Oline: Beekman hasn't looked good at all. For that matter it's hard to even come up with 5 guys who have looked good enough to make the roster let alone figure out the backups. We know Shaffer will be there and likely Asiata, Beekman (based on past experience and an utter lack of competition).

I don't mind 16 and I wouldn't mind 18 but with 18 games we must expand the roster, both final roster and game-day roster. For all this talk about the wear and tear on players it is a factor for some positions but for many others it not like it used to be. Many teams, like the Bears, rotate a lot of players in some positions like Dline, RB, TE. On the other hand, it's a big concern for starters like the Oline, DBs, and QB. However, it's possible an expanded roster allows teams more flexibility to rotate out more positions like DB. The only other way I can see offsetting the wear and tear is by adding a second bye week during the season. Thus the season would be more or less broken into 3 periods of 6 games and then the playoffs. I think the IR policy needs to be revisited as well because with a longer season it makes it more likely a player can recover from a significant injury in time to contribute later that season.

I've been saying all along it will be hard for the Vikings to repeat what happened last year simply because it's so hard to have two injury-free seasons (at least to key players) back to back. Now they have Rice out and Harvin is having serious problems with his head. Question is: If Brett knew this before he flew up there would he have still returned? I think so because he had 20,000,000 reasons to return.

Having installed a new "timing" offense, one dramatically different from what we ran last year, while having such a young WRs corps I was expecting far worse performance at least at the start of the camp. I think it really shows how hard these guys worked during the offseason.

I'm ready for this weekends games and here's a few things I'll be looking for. DT: I like some of the things Melton did last game, Toeina too. They were inconsistent on pressure but definitely showed up on several plays. If we're keeping 5 DTs it looks like Harris, Adams, Harrison, Melton, Toeina and surprisingly I feel a lot better about our depth here today than I did 3 weeks ago. Don't mistake that for confidence across the board it's just that coming into camp there were a ton of questions among this group with Adams being the only consistently reliable player for us last year. DE: Corey Wootton didn't do much last game. Jarron Gilbert did less. Can't see who's going to win this battle for the 4th DE spot but my money is on the rookie to step up the next few games now that he's gotten the first game jitters out of the way. Or to put it another way, if Gilbert makes it as our 4th DE we're in trouble. CB: I would like to see Corey Graham (really anyone) step up as a solid NB for us. Not sure the Raiders are the right team to judge this against but it's game two and we should start seeing something good if it's there even if it's inconsistent. It sounds as if Graham can at least be a decent backup CB for us on the corners this year but we need to fill this NB role. Toss in Josh Moore (or again anyone) to show we have some more depth at CB. Tim Jennings? DJ Moore? Is Woodny even in camp? LeFevour: He was destined for the practice squad the minute we drafted him but nonetheless I'd still like to see improvement from him to get some idea if he's even worth the "project". At least he has now had more practice reps in the last week than in all of camp prior to game 1. RBs: How about some better blitz pickups? Oline: Louis is strong but was often beat initially off the snap. Once he got his base anchored he was often able to hold his block. Can he get it right at the snap? Omiyale, same deal, can we fire off the line and make some holes? Can anyone make a hole for a RB? I suspect our real backup Center is Garza not Beekman, especially after what I saw last week. Not sure about Asiata but if it's him, Beekman, and Shaffer as our backups I only see one solid player in the three. WR: I like where our starters (all three) are at and expect a step up in performance this week. Juaquin Iglesias can you step up or will I be watching Rashied Davis for another year? This of course includes what Iglesias does on special teams.

I read somewhere from either Marinelli or Hoke that they were going to play more press coverage, or at least be closer to the LOS, this year. Either they were BSing or they don't want to show that yet and just let 'em stay back in the base "take your 5-7yds" coverage. Once again I'll believe it when I see it out this coaching staff.

That little cut? Rub some dirt on it!

Yes, that was pretty much all he contributed last night. Since he never had much of a pass rush on the RT I wouldn't say it was his pressure causing the false starts.

I don't recall anyone talking about Webb as anything other than a project and that means practice squad IMO. I don't even know if Beekman can make this team although it's not like anyone else really stepped up so it's possible he's the best of the worst. Jarron Gilbert may not make the team either. With 4 DEs ahead of him and no swimming pools in sight what's he good for? Chris Harris is still Chris Harris in coverage.

It's a positive IMO because making the decision this early means the coaches decided they will be happy with either Wolfe or Bell, whichever wins the competition.

Today's article in the Suntimes quoted Drake as saying they are going to make sure Hester is fresh for special teams. Seems clear they are now willing to pull him off the field for a snap or two and I think they have also said they will move him around to make it harder for defenses to key on him, or in other words put him in the slot. Whatever they have to do to massage the egos is fine by me just get the most productive WR group on the field. ***************************************************************** http://www.suntimes.com/sports/football/be...-bear11.article Drake said there's less pressure to overwork Hester at receiver. The team is confident in its depth at the position, particularly with another Devin emerging. Devin Aromashodu was the team's hottest receiver in the final quarter of last season and has had a strong start to training camp, despite the challenge of learning all three receiver positions. ''[Aromashodu] gets in there, and they split time,'' Drake said. ''We don't want that heavy burden put on [Hester]. ''Because we have the luxury of having DA, it gives us the opportunity to keep Devin as fresh as we can.''

Louis was drafted a year ago under the guidance of Ron "run-Wolfe-up-the-middle" Turner.

Unga has a pretty bad hamstring injury that is going to linger throughout the rest of camp. Without reps he seems destined to the practice squad.

Louis said when the Bears called him on draft day they told him he was drafted for Oline. The media was told a different story (apparently).

Hell no I didn't get to go, I'm stuck here in Arizona. I just read the media reports. I was hoping someone from the board was out there but it doesn't appear that way. Yes, Louis was in at RG. I tend to disagree with your assessment of that meaning the others are just bad. The others, including Garza, have a lot more experience and if the coaches went the safe route you'd still be seeing Beekman at LG and Garza at RG. To me this indicates that Louis really is stepping up. As far as Olsen making plays in camp. The only point I was trying to make is that Martz is clearly using TEs on downfield routes, something that wasn't supposed to be on the menu. I wasn't necessarily referring to Olsen looking great. Months ago I read somewhere that there was a role for TEs catching passes in this offense going back to the old Air Coryell days with Kellen Winslow. The question was one of would Martz tap into that or go with what he's done in the past. It seems to me Martz has given Olsen and Clark opportunities early in camp to state their case and so far so good.

Much like Martz does, I like the level of detail Tice pushes on the Oline. It's easy to say all the coaches in the past did this too but little by little we read about how the guys all across the offense are working on stuff they never worked on before. Basic things like the WRs getting off press coverage, Cutler starting all over with his fundamentals, Oline seems to be getting a lot more detail on their techniques as well via Tice. You are right, with this type of coaching it appears we are seeing players develop. I'm anxious to see the first preseason game to get a feel for what this new offense looks like.

It appears Pisa still isn't 100% recovered from the knee injury, although he must be pretty close. If Pisa ends up the backup that's not bad depth at all, and it also means Roach is playing better now than when he lost the battle last year.