Fighting off the doom and gloom

[AZ54]

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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nfoligno]

Nice analysis. One thing I would like to know, as I didn't see the game. You said our DBs played closer to the LOS. Did they continue this on 3rd downs, or back off.

 

In the past, that has been a huge gripe. We play a certain way on 1st and 2nd down, get the opponent into 3rd and long, then totally change what was working (usually going into a traditional cover 2), and the result is a 1st down. I do know we are once again getting killed on 3rd down. What I am curious about is whether a key reason is the same as in the past. Abandoning what worked to get them into 3rd and long and moving into a more pure cover 2.

 

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?

 

[Lucky Luciano]

Nice analysis. One thing I would like to know, as I didn't see the game. You said our DBs played closer to the LOS. Did they continue this on 3rd downs, or back off.

 

In the past, that has been a huge gripe. We play a certain way on 1st and 2nd down, get the opponent into 3rd and long, then totally change what was working (usually going into a traditional cover 2), and the result is a 1st down. I do know we are once again getting killed on 3rd down. What I am curious about is whether a key reason is the same as in the past. Abandoning what worked to get them into 3rd and long and moving into a more pure cover 2.

 

don't take this to the bank but i believe we are playing up on all three downs for the most part. i really haven't focused on our corners as much as other aspects so am not sure if we are getting jams at the LOS or not. in any case it is an improvement as far as scheme goes that should have been changed 5 years ago. whether the talent and coaching can turn our past cover 0 corners and safeties into productive nfl players is yet to be seen in regular season.

 

 

 

 

[Bears4Ever_34]

I knew from the second that Martz was named OC that we were doomed. We may put up some points but I bet we'll have more TO's than last year. With a bad offensive line the last thing you want to do is make your QB go back 7 steps. The next worst thing you can do is make your QB throw the ball to a spot that has to be precise when you just threw 26 INT's last year. The west coast offense is exactly what this team needs and I'm not talking about Ron Turner's style.. Someone with a brain. Lance Luis has been our best OL by far this preseason and Chris Williams has been the worst. It's going to be a long year if our #1 draft pick can't hold his own against below average-average defensive lineman. He got beaten by a no namer this past week and the week before by an average player in Kamron Wimbley. He needs to step it up big time if Cutler is going to stay healthy all year.

 

On the defensive side, Julius Peppers has been the only bright spot as far as Im concerned on the defense. Hopefully Major Wright will be back by next week because he looked great in his first game. The whole Urlacher thing better just be a precaution because I'm getting sick of him being injured on the 2nd play of the series every damn time! This team just looks soft to me. The lack of coaching is evident and our fundamentals are sometimes brutal for NFL players.

[AZ54]

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.

[AZ54]

Nice analysis. One thing I would like to know, as I didn't see the game. You said our DBs played closer to the LOS. Did they continue this on 3rd downs, or back off.

 

In the past, that has been a huge gripe. We play a certain way on 1st and 2nd down, get the opponent into 3rd and long, then totally change what was working (usually going into a traditional cover 2), and the result is a 1st down. I do know we are once again getting killed on 3rd down. What I am curious about is whether a key reason is the same as in the past. Abandoning what worked to get them into 3rd and long and moving into a more pure cover 2.

 

 

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.

 

 

[Bears4Ever_34]

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.

Which makes absolutely no sense considering the tougher throw is to the outside.. But of course Lovie still has faith in the Cover 2..

[bradjock]

Nice analysis. One thing I would like to know, as I didn't see the game. You said our DBs played closer to the LOS. Did they continue this on 3rd downs, or back off.

 

In the past, that has been a huge gripe. We play a certain way on 1st and 2nd down, get the opponent into 3rd and long, then totally change what was working (usually going into a traditional cover 2), and the result is a 1st down. I do know we are once again getting killed on 3rd down. What I am curious about is whether a key reason is the same as in the past. Abandoning what worked to get them into 3rd and long and moving into a more pure cover 2.

 

Here's what Dan Pompei said in the tribune: "On third-and-13, they dropped seven men to cover four Cardinals who ran routes. Yet no one was within 7 yards of Steve Breaston, who accepted the gift and ran it in for a touchdown."

 

That's from http: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,3168528.column

 

On a side note, I will say it's amazing how often we hit the quarterback . . . right before a huge gain. This is typical to what we've seen the past 3 seasons.

[BigDaddy]

This is the same lame ass secondary that has been doing us in for 2-3 years now. They couldn't play tight coverage if their lives depended on it. THEY will be the biggest contributor to our shortcomings. I also expected alot more from the d line but as usual, they aren't blitzing much if at all and we will have to wait till the regular season opener to make the declarations but I am not real optimistic. This secondary is making me nauseous though. Slow, weak and ineffective is about all that can be said for them so far. Manning looked decent the other night but Harris sucked, As for our corners, there isn't one of them I would like to keep.

[madlithuanian]

We played up more often...and they still continued to pick up 3rd downs like free 20 spots on the street.

 

Our 3rd down conversion % is abysmal. On both sides. We give it up, and can't get it.

 

Nice analysis. One thing I would like to know, as I didn't see the game. You said our DBs played closer to the LOS. Did they continue this on 3rd downs, or back off.

 

In the past, that has been a huge gripe. We play a certain way on 1st and 2nd down, get the opponent into 3rd and long, then totally change what was working (usually going into a traditional cover 2), and the result is a 1st down. I do know we are once again getting killed on 3rd down. What I am curious about is whether a key reason is the same as in the past. Abandoning what worked to get them into 3rd and long and moving into a more pure cover 2.

 

[madlithuanian]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

Which makes absolutely no sense considering the tougher throw is to the outside.. But of course Lovie still has faith in the Cover 2..

 

[nfoligno]

And further proof that if our DBs would play tighter, and actually jam WRs, our DL would have time to hit the QB BEFORE he gets rid of the ball.

 

Here's what Dan Pompei said in the tribune: "On third-and-13, they dropped seven men to cover four Cardinals who ran routes. Yet no one was within 7 yards of Steve Breaston, who accepted the gift and ran it in for a touchdown."

 

That's from http: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...,3168528.column

 

On a side note, I will say it's amazing how often we hit the quarterback . . . right before a huge gain. This is typical to what we've seen the past 3 seasons.