Initial Take From SIRIIUS/Internet
I didn't need SIRIUS or the Internet, because (a) the game was televised "live" last night on NFL Network and (b) (yay!) we got our electricity back at 1 pm yesterday.

After Watching on TV
70 of the 80 Cardinal players performed well enough last night to deserve a spot on the final 53 man roster. Which means the coaches have a bunch of very tough decisions to make, and Rod Graves and his people will have to display considerable nimbleness of foot to manipulate the waiver wires and Practice Squad in order to keep as many good players as possible and balance the present with the future, whiled at the same time remaining opportunistic monitoring the open market in case we can pick up one or two diamonds in the rough who can help us more than a couple of good players already on our roster.

The Cardinal starters and backups dominated for all but the final 3 or 4 minutes of the game, when "schoolyard football" took over and Tim Tebow and then 4th stringer (Weber) were allowed to run around and outmanouver an energetic (but half-step late) 3rd and 4th string Cardinal defensive unit to put Denver's only points on the board late in the game.

Game Recap

• 1st Quarter

  • Broncs received and started from their own 20. Calais Campbell sniffed out a 3rd down screen to force a 3 & out. Cards took over on their own 34. After Beanie picked up a quick +11 around left end, the Cards punted 4 downs later. Denver took over on their own 33 and went 3 & out again. Cards took over on their own 26. Kolb done; Bartel in. 16-yard completions to Doucet and Roberts and a few plays later, a pretty in & out double-move completion to Stuckey for +28 set up a 19-yard TD pass to LSH (who caught a short pass and zigged his way in for the score. Cardinals 7 - Broncos 0.

  • Denver started out (again) from their own 20 and picked up a quick 1st down on a 13-yarder from Quinn to Willis (Nnabuife covering) before punting 4 plays later. Punt bounced into end zone. Cards moved from their own 20 to the Bronco 48 (mostly on two 14-yard completions from Bartel to Steve Williams) where Bartel connected with Stuckey for a 48-yard score. Cardinals 14 - Broncos 0.

  • Broncs started from their own 20 and ran off one play to end the quarter.

• 2nd Quarter

  • (Holliday in on defense and playing like a 23-year old). Broncs went 3 & out (again). Cards got the ball back on their own 36 but went 3 & out. Broncs took over on their own 10 (after a Zastudl punt. Broncs picked up a first down on a questionable roughing call on Abdullah. Three plays later, M. Green sacked Quinn. Fumble! After Wiz's challengew was upheld, it was determined that Cards recovered on the Denver 33. But three plays later, a Bartel pass intended for Steve Williams was picked off by the Denver safety (who came over to help out but wasn't seen by Bartel). Broncs ball at the Denver 44. The Cardinal defense once again forced a 3 & out. Cards got the ball back on their own 19. They mounted a 12-play drive we'd aptly nickname "The Bartel and 'Toothpaste' Powell Show. Lots of dinking by Bartel and his receivers together by short to average running gains by reserve RB William Powell (whom we nicknamed "Toothpaste" because he can slip thru narrow holes). Drive ended on the Bronco 19 on a Feely 37-yard FG. Cardinals 17 - Broncos 0.

  • 2:07 til halftime. Denver started out from their own 13. On the second play of the series, Quinn failed to see Stewart Bradley drop deep in zone coverage. He threw it right to the Cardinal ILB who picked it off at the 23 and ran it 13 yards to the Denver 10. Powell for +6. Powell for +2. Powell for minus-5. Feely 25-yard FG with 0:02 on the clock.  Cardinals 20 - Broncos 0.

• 3rd Quarter

  • Cards received.Croyle in for Bartel. First 4 plays were runs by "The Toothpaste." Nichols made a pretty twisting catch for +11 and Croyle hit Steve Williams on a crossing pattern for another +9. The new Cardinal QB looked very poised and pretty accurate as he moved us from our own 20 to the Denver 37 where Graham dropped a punt on the Denver 6. Tebow in. (Perhaps a good dress rehearsal for when Cam Newton brings his rawness and athleticism to Glendale a couple of Sundays from now). Tebow did pick up one first down before Denver had to punt, but , to us, every pass play looked like an adventure - with Tebow alternately scrambling for his life or escaping for additional yardage or completing dangerous cross-field heaves against the Cardinal #2 and #3 defensive reserves (who applied a lot of pressure but often would whiff by a half-step). Cards got the ball back on their own 37. Croyle hit Nichols (who did another acrobatic catch, twist-away and run number) for +27. But the drive stalled and Feely kicked a pretty 52-yarder. Cardinals 23 - Broncos 0.

  • Denver moved from their own 20 to the Cardinal 42 where Prater's 60-yard FG attempt was wide-left. Cards started out at midfield with Powell losing a yard as the quarter ended.

• 4th Quarter

  • Croyle led the offense on an 11 play drive featuring completions of +11 and +8 to Spach and Mau'ia and eventually got us to the Denver 16, where Feely kicked his final FG of the night - a 34-yarder.  Cardinals 26 - Broncos 0.

  • 9:50 to go. Broncs started from their own 32. A holding call along with a minus-7 yard sack by Obiozaor forced Denver to go 3 & out. Cards got the ball back on their own 23 and ran Powell 4 straight times (picking up one first down). But, after an incompletion ended the drive on their own 36, the Cards were eventually forced top punt.Graham dropped his punt on the Denver 6-yard line. 4:33 left to play. Schoolyard time. After scrambling completions for +13, +26 and +12 got Denver to the Cardinal 43, Tebow hit Riley who juked a bevy of Cardinal tacklers (bad timing for those hoping to survive) for a 46-yard TD.  Cardinals 26 - Broncos 7.

  •  2:57 left. Croyle and the Cards forced Denver to use up 2 time-outs and the 2:00 warning, featuring conservative short runs by Powell and completions of +12 nd +10 to Nichols and Spach before Graham punted from his own 40. Ball downed on the Denver 16. Weber in for Tebow with 0:53 to go. He was sacked by Jaso Campbell for minus-9. But one play later, Riley once again outjuked the entire Cardinal defense for 89-yards. A couple of penalties moved Denver back to the Cardinal 14, where Weber's final scramble fell just short of the goal line as the horn sounded. Final Score: Cardinals 26 - Broncos 7.

The Bright Side

• No injuries

• Not a lot of penalties.

• Although only in for one series, Kolb, Fitz and the starting unit looked ready for prime time.

• Doucet and Roberts looked ready to roll, but so too did Steve Williams. And Chansi Stuckey made a strong case for being out number 4 (ahead of S Williams).

• With maybe one exception, Bartel has looked nearly as solid as Kolb.

• All our O-lne units did an outstanding job of protecting the passer and a pretty good job of opening holes for Cardinal RB's.

• Beanie looks ready.

• Our #1 and #2 defensive front 7's looked pretty solid and deeper than originally thought. Although they didn't rack up a lot of sacks, they did exert a lot of pressure consistently.

• There was better performance from our backup- corners than we had expected. Most notably #23 (Abdullah)

• William "Toothpaste" Powell reminds me of a poor man's Ryan Williams (good speed, vision and wiggle - plus he was rock-solid protecting the ball and durable enough to lug the leather 29 times (mostly up the gut).

• Graham looked good enough to withstand competition from Zastnudl

• Feely looks ready to rock 'n roll.

The Dark Side

• .We didn't get to face Denver's #1 QB (Orton)

• Bartel is still prone to letting his guard down and committing one game-changing miscue per game (in this one the interception on the long throw to Steve Williams . He's young, but if he wants to be our #2, he has to clean this up.

• While Powell showed flashes of "what can be", he also ran into piles with his pad-level too high. But not always. If he can learn to consistently "run low", he can be a force at 208 lbs.

• There were too many plays where Powell ran into brick walls due to missed blocks mostly by pulling linemen. Hopefully this can be cleaned  up.

Last Word
Best preseason performance by a Cardinal team I can remember in a long while. Wiz and his staff will have their hands full figuring out who stays and who goes. Rod Graves will have to do some fancy manipulation of the waiver-injury-special teams process to keep as many of our good guys as possible while not overlooking a rare player on the open market who might help us.

80 Isaiah Williams

13 Aaron Nichols