arizona game reaction thread

I thought the O-line for the Cardinals did enough to open some holes for their RB and did a good job picking up the blitz.

I thought the opposite of the Rams’ O-line. Hill didn’t have a lot of time to set up and find open receivers, and I don’t know if there were a lot of open receivers. Arizona’s blueprint of hitting the QB all game and winning in the 4th quarter worked again. That bad pass to Bailey that could have gotten the Rams into Cardinals’ territory was a result of a game of pressure and hits … when he had a chance to finally burn Arizona, he threw the ball quickly and was inaccurate enough that Bailey couldn’t pull in the pass.

The defense was fine. I’ll take 12 points every time, especially when they were put in some very tough situations by the offense and had to be on the field so much. I disagree on that PI call on JJ. I thought he played that really well. I saw more contact left uncalled in many games in recent weeks.

And, when the Rams finally made some big plays and got the ball to the goal line, the Cardinals’ D came up big and the Rams’ receivers could not get open. On that 3rd down play, Arizona just owned the Rams.

Arizona was better and made more plays. Outplayed and outcoached the Rams, in my opinion.

If I were a Cardinals’ fan, I’d be really proud of my team. Loved the way they battled.

And, I’d feel snakebit. No way this team wins in the playoffs with Lindsey.

We aren’t good enough on the OL. It’s that simple.

And Hill showed that he is not a genuine starting QB. Missed a lot of throws today.

That 3-3 to Bailey? Lousy throw. Yeah, Bailey might have had it. But a lousy throw.

Oh, and we reverted to our old ways defending the run. We weren’t sound up front.

Which brings us back to coaching. We got outcoached tonight. Badly.

Arians got more out of lousy QBs than we got out of a good backup. He frustrated our pass rush all night long and gained enough yards to keep winning the field position battle, the key in a defensive duel like that.

But the real revelation was Williams v that AZ guy. Both blitzed all night long. The difference is that our blitz opened up lanes and avenues that AZ could exploit. AZ blitzed and yet the D front was always intact along the LOS. No lanes and avenues.

That’s the thing with Williams. His blitzes can be effective. But they also result in many an unsound deployment.

Consider this wrinkle of playing our LBs down and AD and Brockers as LBs. What does that accomplish? Nothing. DTs playing upright are not going to defend the run or get extra pressure pass ruching. And LBs with hands in the dirt ain’t gonna get much after the surprise wears off.

We do need a better OL and a better QB.

But the real story of this year is the lousy coaching performance. And you saw it tonight. Arians gets one helluva lot of mileage out of what he is working with, even with multiple injuries. Fish and Williams have managed to fritter away their advantage with a highly talented defense and Schotty has done little to raise the ceiling of our offense.

Yes, we are better than we were.

But we have a long way to go, and it isn’t primarily, IMO, a matter of talent.

This coaching staff has squandered our talents. And after tonight, I am left dubious that anything will change next year.

To me Hill looked the same tonight as against Wash. No consistency ,one good pass one WTF pass.He reads defenses better than Davis but the erratic accuracy is about the same.

The OL was owned tonight. I am so sick of looking at number 63 as he chases the man who just beat his block to make a tackle. If Barnes can’t beat out Wells or Joseph, Saffold is the only interior lineman on the roster worth keeping.

I don’t usually question play calling, but why didn’t Shotty call more RB screens? He called 2. One went for about 20 yards and the other looked like it was there and just poorly executed by Cunningham. Against such an effective pass rush, why not keep running them?

On some runs I thought Arizona did a good job using Donald’s aggressive play against him. Good patience and then running where AD used to be.

No player frustrates me more than Jenkins right now.

I agree with zn, Arizona is a bad match up for this team.

wv wrote:

(Bumrap —
quoting Arians – no link )

“Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is. I think they saw a good defense tonight, it was in red and white,” Arians said before talking about his 143 rushing yards. “We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”

Arizona’s D is good, no doubt. They’ve proven that for a few seasons now. Solving the mystery of the Wells, Joseph and Hill trinity isn’t exactly a revelation, however.

zn wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wv wrote:</div>
Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is. I think they saw a good defense tonight, it was in red and white,” Arians said before talking about his 143 rushing yards. “We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”

Why is Arians so hostile? Makes me root against them going forward.

Arians was fuming all game long. Maybe this is carry over from that. Plus he lost yet another QB. Perhaps he’s pissed because he knows he’s one n’ done in the playoffs. I mean, they were gonna be in trouble with Stanton at QB let alone the third stringer.

BTW I think Kellen Clemens wins that game last night.
Not saying he’s a star QB but he’s better than Hill.

Grits

Agamemnon wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nittany ram wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>zn wrote:</div>

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>wv wrote:</div>
Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is. I think they saw a good defense tonight, it was in red and white,” Arians said before talking about his 143 rushing yards. “We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”

Why is Arians so hostile? Makes me root against them going forward.

Arians was fuming all game long. Maybe this is carry over from that. Plus he lost yet another QB. Perhaps he’s pissed because he knows he’s one n’ done in the playoffs. I mean, they were gonna be in trouble with Stanton at QB let alone the third stringer.

<span class=”d4pbbc-font-color” style=”color: blue”>I read/heard something where he said they lost out on the playoffs last year cause the Rams beat them on a FG. His comment/s reminded me of something Fisher might say. </span>

Lol and now he’s lost two QBs against the Rams thus greatly reducing any chance he had in the playoffs.
He must HATE the Rams by now.

We are more than just a QB away from being a winner. We need to improve the OL to have any hope of making the playoffs next year. Wells and David stink.

Dak wrote:

I thought the O-line for the Cardinals did enough to open some holes for their RB and did a good job picking up the blitz.

I thought the opposite of the Rams’ O-line. Hill didn’t have a lot of time to set up and find open receivers, and I don’t know if there were a lot of open receivers. Arizona’s blueprint of hitting the QB all game and winning in the 4th quarter worked again. That bad pass to Bailey that could have gotten the Rams into Cardinals’ territory was a result of a game of pressure and hits … when he had a chance to finally burn Arizona, he threw the ball quickly and was inaccurate enough that Bailey couldn’t pull in the pass.

The defense was fine. I’ll take 12 points every time, especially when they were put in some very tough situations by the offense and had to be on the field so much.

you nailed it. Rams didn’t run block well….and the Cards did…

this allowed the Cards to run a balanced offensive attack.

the back breaker was not scoring the TD when they had 1st and goal in the 4th….

Next year, with Bradford and Quick, with this existing D, the Rams will be a force to be reckoned with.

joemad wrote:

the back breaker was not scoring the TD when they had 1st and goal in the 4th….

The third down call, and the decision
to kick a FG on 4th down were interesting to me.
It kinda showed that Fisher had just given up
on the idea of pounding the ball into the endzone
against that Cardinal front seven. Even
Fisher didnt believe they could beat that
Cardinal front with ram-power.

That sez somethin about the Ram OLine,
maybe.

w
v

bnw wrote:

cgsuddeath wrote:
Just remember that Bradford was the last Rams QB to beat Arizona.As for Arians comments,I hope the Rams remember them.

Not a smart move by Arians. Fisher and Co. will not forget. Such a depressing game after all the optimism leading up to it.

I can assure you the Rams won’t show any mercy.Ask Oakland.