The SetupOpening day (in Arizona for a change). Carolina brings to the
deset a new head coach (Ron Rivera) and a new rookie QB (Cam
Newton). The Cardinals come in with a new QB and a bitter taste in
their mouth from going 5 & 11 a year ago.
Carolina has traditionally thumped the Cards
during regular seasons only to fall victim during the playoffs. In
Newton they bring a Michael Vick/Vince Young athletic mobile
dimension to their offense to go with the lethal RB tandem of John
Stuart and D'Angelo Williams, reliable game-breaking WR, Steve
Smith, a Pro Bowl offensive line and revamped TE crops (sound
familiar) that includes Greg Olson (Bears) and Jeremy Schockey
(Giants and Saints). They are very good at LB and DE, a bit iffy
at DT and have Chris Gamble and Charles Godfrey mixed in with an
otherwise shaky group of DB's.
Kevin Kolb will make his regular season debut
as a Cardinal. From a brief preseason look-see, he seems smart,
compact, a good decision-maker, fairly accurate, adept at
play-action waggles and naked bootlegs and, possibly the most
important - on the same page as Larry Fitzgerald and other
Cardinal receivers. Although Beanie Wells is said to be running
with more authority, we're hoping to see more of this on a
consistent basis during the regular season. The Cardinal O-line is
near-identical to last year's (the one major change being Colledge
for Faneca). Like the Panthers, the Cardinals have a completely
revamped group of TE's (including former Pro Bowl player,Todd
Heap, former Panther Jeff King and rookie receiving specialist Rob
Housler). Our WR's (otherwise known as "Fitz & those other guys")
is talented and deep at the Other Guy positions. Keep an eye on FA
pick-up Chansi Stuckey (crisp routes, great hands, knows what he's
doing, runs well after the catch). NT (& galloping gourmet) Dan
Williams now anchors the middle of the Cardinal D-Line, flanked by
Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell. Gone are backups Gabe Watson
and Alan Branch; replaced by Vonnie Holliday (Skins) and a couple
of energetic, though somewhat light rookies. One major change in
the LB corps where former Eagle LB Stewart Bradley joins Porter,
Schofield, Washingto, Lenon and Haggans. Major changes at CB, with
DRC gone in the trade for Kolb and Toler (knee) gone for the year.
AJ Jefferson (an UDFA a year ago) and Patrick Peterson (Top 5 &
our #1 draft pick) man the corners. Both are athletic freaks; both
are physical tacklers. Both are aggressive to the ball. Both are
raw and untested. (Fasten your seatbelts)
Challenge for the Cards will be to contain the
mobile Newton. Suspect Panther secondary figures to have its hands
full covering Fitz (and the other guys).
It wasn't pretty, and the "Cam Newton Saga"
was the dominant story going in and coming out. But the bottom
line is that we woke up the next day with one check in the "W"
column and that's what counts.
The inevitable questions:
-
How did Kolb look? (Like a quality
starting NFL QB. A winner).
-
How about our running attack? (So-so. Our
run-to-pass ratio was 27/27 and Beanie gained 90 yards, but we
weren't blowing guys out very often)
-
Our "other " WR's? (Early Doucet came up
big)
-
Our new TE's? (we knew about Heap, but
King made a huge impact as a Kolb target).
-
The young 'uns? (Our 2 CB's were schooled,
but PP21 (aka Petey -Pat) changed the game with his long punt
return for a TD. Daryl Washington made plays all over the
field).
-
How well did we contain Cam Newton? (Not
as well as hoped for, but hey! The kid was on fire).
-
How well did we muzzle Steve Smith? (He
ate Peterson's lunch early, but we were much better covering
him as the game wore on).
-
What about the Pantera running game? (We
held Stewart and D Williams to 56 yards)/
-
Injuries? (None to our knowledge other
than DWash's suspect "lower leg injury." We'll know more later
today).
Game Recap
1st Quarter
-
Cards "deferred" reception of the
opening kickoff. Panthers received. A holding penalty on
the KO pushed them back to their 8 and a sack shared by
DWash and Lenon forced them to punt. Ball was downed on
the Card 46. After a 9-yard run by Beanie and a 2-yard
completion to Heap moved us to the Pantera 25, Kolb was
sacked for minus-11 yard but an encroachment call followed
by an 8-yard run by LSH and the first of a few key
receptions by Doucet (this one for +16) set up a 7-yard TD
run by Beanie. (Cards looked like they might run Carolina
right out of Glendale). Cardinals 7 -
Panteras 0.
-
After D Williams ran for +4 and
minus-1, we handed Carolina a gimme - Newton threw deep to
a wide-open Steve Smith (against blown coverage - Kerry
Rhodes the apparent culprit). Touchdown Panteras!
77-yards. Cardinals 7 - Panteras 7.
-
Cards started from our own 20. A
holding call on Sendlein put us on our own 10. Kolb was
sacked but fortunatey his fumble was recovered by
Colledge. We went nowhere and punted from our own 17. A
penalty on Shockey helped us hold them to 3 & out. We
started from our own 25. After Wells picked up 11-yards up
the middle, we went nowhere and punted. Panthers started
from their own 17. Newton hit Nanee for +21 (vs. Rhodes)
and the quarter ended one play later. 1st Quarter
Score: Cardinals 7 - Panteras 7.
2nd Quarter
- After Newton hit LaFell for +24, their drive
(thanks in part to a minus-6 yard sack by Kerry Rhodes)
went nowhere and they eventually punted from the Cardinal
35. Touchback! Completions of +20 (to Heap), +17 (to
Roberts) and +19 (to Doucet) helped Kolb move the ball to
the Panther 4; but KK was a bit off-target on a simple
toss sweep to Beanie and the Panthers took over. (Another
opportunity blown). Defense came up big and (aided by a
penalty on Wharton) held them to 3 & out. Cards got the
ball back on their own 39. A Wells run around right end
for +22 and a 23-yard deep throw to Fitz moved us right
back down to the Carolina 5. But a questionable crack-back
call on Roberts pushed us back to the 20, the drive
foundered and then Feely missed a 36-yard chip-shot
(Another opportunity squandered). 1:03 left til halftime.
Two plays after a DWash interception was nullified by a
roughing the passer call on Marshall (still another blown
opportunity!), Newton hit Steve Smith (who flew right by
Peterson) for a 26-yard touchdown with 0:13 left on the
clock (Talk about a 180-degree momentum flipper!).
Score at Halftime: Panteras 14 - Cards 7.
3rd Quarter
- Cards received and promptly went 3 & out. Panthers
moved from their own 34 to the Cardinal 49. A huge play
was the reversal on Wiz's challenge of a 41-yard grab by
Steve Smith (whose second foot was clearly out of bounds).
This time, D Washington's interception of Newton's pass
(intended for Smith) was legit and gave us the ball on the
Panther 48. On the first play of the series, Kolb hit our
"blocking TE" (Jeff King) who was wide open on a short
left-to-right crossing route. He continued to motor up the
right sideline for a 48-yard score. Panteras 14 -
Cards 14.
-
Carolina started from their own 20,
and Newton continued a pattern of repeatedly converting
3rd and more-than-10's. A deep pass to Olson (vs. Lenon)
down the right sideline and including more than one busted
tackle set up a one-yard wildcat dive over the middle by
Newton to put the Panthers ahead once more.
Panteras 21 - Cards 14.
- Howling ran back the ensuing KO 33 yards to the
Cardinal 41. Cards (despite being helped by a couple of
Panther flags) couldn't get anything done, and we punted
to the Carolina 20. Newton and the Carolina offense put
together a nice dink & dunk drive that extended into the
4Q. 3rd Quarter Score: Panteras 21 - Cards 14.
4th Quarter
- Panthers made it to the Cardinal 36, where a sack
(shared by Schohawk and Porter) moved them out of FG
range. (Huge underrated drive-stopper). 13:01 to play,
ball on our 10. We picked up a first down on a +13
completion to King. Three plays later, Kolb hit Doucet on
a similar left-to-right crossing pattern to the one he
threw on the 48-yarder to King. #85 caught the ball in
full stride, turned upfield and outran everyone to the end
zone - a 70-yard TD that evened the score.
Panteras 21 - Cards 21.
-
10:48 left. Panthers started from
their own 26 and started right off with completions of +16
(vs.Peterson)and +8 to Smith. (vs. Daryl Washington who
was injured on the play). But a false start flag on
Carolina and later-on, a 3rd down sack (for minus-3) by
Marshall forced Carolina to punt from the Cardinal 47. Mr.
Baker punted directly to Mr. Peterson who promptly weaved
his way through a minefield of Carolina defenders en route
to a record-setting 89-yard score (longest in Cardinal
history since something like 1933). Cardinals regained the
lead, with 7:15 left on the clock. Cardinals 28 -
Panteras 21.
- After a 15-yard completion (vs. Jefferson) to Shockey,
the Cardinal defense stiffened and Carolina punted from
their own 36. Cards started from their own 11. A key
drive-sustainer (on a 3rd & 6) was a deep ball thrown to
Fitz for a 34-yard completion. We managed to get down to
the Carolina 47 with 2:29 left on the clock before
Zastudil had to punt. Carolina got the ball back on their
own 17 with 2:20 left to play. Details of that final
drive:
- Final Score: Cardinals 28 - Panteras 21.
Game Stats
-
Third Down Efficiency - 41% (vs.
Carolina's 27%)
-
Total Net Yards - 394 (vs.
Carolina's 477 for Panthers)
-
Time of Possession: 27:13 (vs. 32:47
for Panthers)
-
Net Yards Rushing - 99 (vs. 74 for
Panthers) We averaged 4.0 yards per carry. We held them to 2.7
-
Rushing Plays to Passing Plays (25-to-27)
-
Smith caught 8 passes for 178 yards. Fitz
caught 3 for 62. Doucet led the team with 105 yards on 3
completions
-
Kolb was sacked 2 times (We sacked
Newton 4 times)
-
No interceptions thrown by Kolb (One
thrown by Newton - to DWash)
-
We lost one fumble (Carolina didn't fumble
-
Penalties - We were penalized 6
times (twice on the final nail-biting drive). Panthers were
flagged 10-times.
-
Leading Cardinal Tacklers: Lenon 8, Rhodes
7, Washington 6.
-
Sack Leaders: Marshall, Rhodes, Porter had
one sack apiece. Washington and Lenon shared a sack.
Bright Spots
-
Kolb didn't post Newton's gaudy numbers,
but he did complete 66.7% of his passes for 309 yards, threw
for a couple of TD's and had no picks.
-
Beanie picked up 90 on the ground.
-
Early Doucet may have finally come of age.
-
A-Dub's run-blitz "outside-in"
pursuit-tackle to stop a run up the middle in its tracks early
in the game showed he can still bring it despite his injury
-
Although Fitz only had 3 grabs, two of
them were clutch catches that had a big impact on the game.
-
Peterson's punt return was awesome and
hopefully an indication of things to come.
-
Peterson and Jefferson's coverage improved
as they got more reps as the game wore on.
-
Other than D Washington's "lower leg", no
major injuries.
The Dark Side
-
Newton put up a record-setting 422 through
the air. Smith caught 8.
-
Blown coverages by Rhodes and Peterson
-
The missed chip-shot by Feely
-
Ball Security - fumble by Kolb and poorly
aimed pitchout to Beanie.
-
The chop-block flag on Roberts that led to
Feely's missed FG.
-
The 2 penalties (by Haggans and Porter)
when we least needed it - on Carolina's final drive.
-
I will worry about Washington's lower leg
until the test results confirm it's not serious.
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