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View Full Version : Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panther: Playoff Preview



bengaaaaals1688
01-08-2009, 01:00 PM
In a game pitting one of the best passing offenses in the league against one of the best rushing offenses in the league (kind of redundant considering last week huh??), the Cardinals will attempt to continue their "Cinderella" season against what is arguably the best team in the league. Winner of this game moves on to play either the Giants or Eagles, for a chance to play in the SB.

When the Cardinals have the ball:

Running the ball

Although the Cardinals had the 32nd ranked rushing offense in the league, they ran well last week against the Falcons, racking up 86 yards, but only averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Edge, had the best game, gaining 73 yards on 16 carries for 4.6 yards a carry. The Cardinals should give James the ball this game as well in an attempt to keep their running "success" up and have a chance to win the game. They are facing a defense that is ranked 20th against the run, allowing 118 yards per game, and should take advantage of it.

The Panthers biggest worry isn't going to be the run, but after what Edgerrin James was able to do last week, they still need to give it attention. They don't do a great job stopping the run, the loss of Kris Jenkins having hurt them in that area, but Jon Beason and the rest of the LBs need to step up and make some plays in order to keep the Cardinals one dimensional.

Passing the Ball

Well known to be the Cardinals strength this season, as it should be with the talent they have. Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald must, again, put on a "show." They are both great young WRs who can pick up big yards after the catch, as Boldin showed last week on his 70 yard TD catch, and have a knack for getting open. Kurt Warner needs to keep his mistakes to a minimum because the Cardinals do not want the Panthers to have the ball in this game. One question mark will be Boldin's status heading into the game as he has not practiced much this week because of a hamstring... If Boldin goes down, Steve Breaston will have to step up come game time.

The Panthers have fared better against the pass this season than the run, although not by much. They were 16th in the league, allowing 211 yards per game, but they do have one of the better CBs in the league in Chris Gamble. Gamble was 3rd on the team in tackles with 93, 83 of which were solo, and tied for the team lead with 3 INTs. Gamble will probably spend most of his time on Fitzgerald, while Richard Marshall makes his bid to cover Anquan Boldin. Julius Peppers is one of the league's best pass rushers, racking up 14 sacks this season, and the best description of his physical skills is that he is a freak of nature. The Cardinals OL will have much difficulty in keeping him quiet this week.

When the Panthers have the ball:

Running the Ball

The Panthers running game has been all but unstoppable this season, averaging 152 yards per game. Deangelo Williams seems to have found his stride in his 3rd season of play. While on his way to a 1,500 yard season, he also led the league in TDs with 18. Jonathan Stewart has proven to be a great compliment to Williams, during his rookie season. In their dual HB system, Stewart has put up respectable numbers, rushing for 836 yards (4.5 yards per carry), and 10 TDs of his own. The Panthers offense lives and dies by the effectiveness of their running game.

The Cardinals played a good game against the league's second leading rusher last week, but are in for a much bigger challenge this week. Coming into the game having allowed 110 yards per game on the ground (regular season), they must contain the 2 headed monster of the Panthers if they have any hope of winning this week. Karlos Dansby will have to play lights out again from the MLB position in order to hold Williams and Stewart down.

Passing the Ball

The Panthers strength hasn't been in the passing game, but they have played well. Having Steve Smith is obviously an asset when the ball is in the air. Dellhomme will need to take care of the ball better then he typically does. He threw 12 INTs this year, and only 15 TDs, while only completing 59% of his passes. If he takes care of the ball, and gets it to Steve Smith in the open field, their passing game will have done exactly what it is supposed to do.

While the Panthers want to get it to Steve Smith... The Cardinals will need to keep it AWAY from Steve Smith. Cromartie played well against Roddy White last week, but Steve Smith is a different story. Cromartie will need to have the best game of his young career if he wishes to keep Smith from tearing their defense apart. Not that Roderick Hood will have a much easier task in keeping Muhsin Muhammad quiet. They both need to be on their A games this week because if Muhammad and Smith can have big games, the Cardinals will be in for a lot of trouble. Bertrand Berry needs to have another big game and get pressure on Dellhomme in order to help out Cromartie and Hood.

If the Panthers get their ground game going, the Cardinals don't have much of a chance to win this game. They don't have a defense that is well equipped for the kind of rushing attack the Panthers can put together, and if the Cardinals sell out for the run, it will leave Steve Smith in single coverage, and that is never a good thing for the defense.

On the other hand, if the Cardinals can get their passing game going they can turn the game into a helluva shoot out, and it could get very interesting.

Medford Bronco
01-08-2009, 01:59 PM
Good job Bengals15616156

I love Carolina in this game. I think AZ has little chance to win, especially if they cant
stop the Running game of the Panthers.

Car 38 AZ 17 is my pick

horsesense
01-08-2009, 02:31 PM
AZ has 2 chances actually.

1. Slim
2. None.
Very nice read bengaaaals.

Medford Bronco
01-08-2009, 02:46 PM
AZ has 2 chances actually.

1. Slim
2. None.
Very nice read bengaaaals.

Maybe if the Cards use the horse in your avatar they can distract everyone :lol:

Agreed on both part as well

Poet
01-08-2009, 04:26 PM
The Cardinals are obviously not very good. However, just like their last matchup, they have a decent shot because Carolina has no real CBs. I know that their defensive rating is high, and I know that its hard to pass on the Panthers, but it isn't because their CBs are good. It's because of the pass rush.

The problem the Panthers will have is that many of the Cardinal players can bust a game open on a long or deep pass. If the Cardinals line just plays decent, it's going to be rough for the Panthers.

Of course the Panthers could just run the ball and control the clock. That would end it fiercely. But, as usual, the weak NFC is more prone to unpredictable results than the AFC. The Cardinals could win, and in reality it wouldn't be that big of an upset.

bengaaaaals1688
01-09-2009, 12:15 AM
The Cardinals are obviously not very good. However, just like their last matchup, they have a decent shot because Carolina has no real CBs. I know that their defensive rating is high, and I know that its hard to pass on the Panthers, but it isn't because their CBs are good. It's because of the pass rush.

The problem the Panthers will have is that many of the Cardinal players can bust a game open on a long or deep pass. If the Cardinals line just plays decent, it's going to be rough for the Panthers.

Of course the Panthers could just run the ball and control the clock. That would end it fiercely. But, as usual, the weak NFC is more prone to unpredictable results than the AFC. The Cardinals could win, and in reality it wouldn't be that big of an upset.

Well... I have to disagree that their CBs aren't good. Chris Gamble is at the very least, a solid player, who is very good at tackling. He may not be the greatest cover guy, but not many people are going to get past him if they do make the catch. Ken Lucas is also a pretty good CB, maybe not a top CB, but good all the same.

The Panthers shouldn't have too much of a problem with that because the Cardinals haven't exactly been the model for pass protection this season.

Poet
01-09-2009, 12:40 AM
Well... I have to disagree that their CBs aren't good. Chris Gamble is at the very least, a solid player, who is very good at tackling. He may not be the greatest cover guy, but not many people are going to get past him if they do make the catch. Ken Lucas is also a pretty good CB, maybe not a top CB, but good all the same.

The Panthers shouldn't have too much of a problem with that because the Cardinals haven't exactly been the model for pass protection this season.


I have never seen anything of of Gamble that I like. He isn't exceptionally fast, he doesn't have the skill set that Kiper loves (for those who aren't in on the joke, ball skills:laugh:), his leaping ability isn't phenomal. I look at him the same way I looked at DeAngelo Hall; someone who is kind of flash whose game is talked up too much. Granted Gamble isn't the moron that Hall is, and is a better tackler, but I don't think he is going to stop anyone.

Boldin is going to play. The guy has heart, and even though he wanted to be traded, he did it in a classy way. He was not a distraction, he plays his heart out, and even hurt he is going to toss around any Panther DB IMO. He may not be able to run his deep routes as well, but I guess he will just go into his baby Hines Ward mode, in fact I would bet on it.

I'm not saying the Cardinals will win, but the game should be relatively close. Granted I have a bad feeling that Kurt Warner will give the game away. Because, well, he sucks. The hack was only ever good in St.Louis. Hell, he had a brief resurgence last year, a stud year this season playing against no one and being carried by his two wideouts and someone he's a good QB again.:confused: http://www.nfl.com/players/kurtwarner/profile?id=WAR492511

If the Cardinals get tossed around something fierce, Kurt "The Thumb" Warner will have a lot of blame to hold onto.

I'd like to see the Cardinals win.

bengaaaaals1688
01-09-2009, 12:45 AM
I have never seen anything of of Gamble that I like. He isn't exceptionally fast, he doesn't have the skill set that Kiper loves (for those who aren't in on the joke, ball skills:laugh:), his leaping ability isn't phenomal. I look at him the same way I looked at DeAngelo Hall; someone who is kind of flash whose game is talked up too much. Granted Gamble isn't the moron that Hall is, and is a better tackler, but I don't think he is going to stop anyone.

Boldin is going to play. The guy has heart, and even though he wanted to be traded, he did it in a classy way. He was not a distraction, he plays his heart out, and even hurt he is going to toss around any Panther DB IMO. He may not be able to run his deep routes as well, but I guess he will just go into his baby Hines Ward mode, in fact I would bet on it.

I'm not saying the Cardinals will win, but the game should be relatively close. Granted I have a bad feeling that Kurt Warner will give the game away. Because, well, he sucks. The hack was only ever good in St.Louis. Hell, he had a brief resurgence last year, a stud year this season playing against no one and being carried by his two wideouts and someone he's a good QB again.:confused: http://www.nfl.com/players/kurtwarner/profile?id=WAR492511

If the Cardinals get tossed around something fierce, Kurt "The Thumb" Warner will have a lot of blame to hold onto.

I'd like to see the Cardinals win.

Don't get it twisted I'm not saying Gamble is a great CB by any means. But the biggest asset he has for this game is his tackling ability. A lot of the big plays made by Boldin, and to a lesser extent Fitzgerald, comes from their ability to get yards after the catch, and that is something Gamble doesn't allow very often. I think as Gamble get more experience and becomes even smarter he can put himself somewhere close to the top 5 in the league, but right now the fact that he doesn't allow big plays and he tackles, can be a huge asset for the Panthers defense this week.

Poet
01-09-2009, 01:07 AM
Don't get it twisted I'm not saying Gamble is a great CB by any means. But the biggest asset he has for this game is his tackling ability. A lot of the big plays made by Boldin, and to a lesser extent Fitzgerald, comes from their ability to get yards after the catch, and that is something Gamble doesn't allow very often. I think as Gamble get more experience and becomes even smarter he can put himself somewhere close to the top 5 in the league, but right now the fact that he doesn't allow big plays and he tackles, can be a huge asset for the Panthers defense this week.

The problem is that Fitz and Boldin are better than any WR with the ball after the catch that the Panthers have faced this year. I don't think he can do anymore than knock them off balance for someone else...after they run down the field for five or more yards.

Guess we'll see.:beer:

bengaaaaals1688
01-09-2009, 01:44 AM
The problem is that Fitz and Boldin are better than any WR with the ball after the catch that the Panthers have faced this year. I don't think he can do anymore than knock them off balance for someone else...after they run down the field for five or more yards.

Guess we'll see.:beer:

Only problem is the Panthers have faced Fitz and Boldin this year.;)

Poet
01-09-2009, 01:45 AM
Only problem is the Panthers have faced Fitz and Boldin this year.;)

:tsk:

/scoopsem up.

BroncoAV06
01-10-2009, 04:15 PM
I like the Cards to keep it close. Breaston has shown all season that he is top notch #3 and while filling in for Boldin earlier in the year he did very well. But I think if Boldin was 100% it could have put the Cards over the top but I feel they come up just short as I think the run game will show its ugly head for Arizona, meanig lack there of.

Panthers 8-0 at home, will feed the ball to Williams and Stewart, and the Panthers are a different monster up front then the Falcons. Pounding will take its toll on the Cards D leaving Smith open for one big strike!

ARI 17 CAR 24...

Broncolingus
01-10-2009, 07:11 PM
I do not dislike either one of these teams and don't care too much who wins...although, I going to want to see the winner beat either NYG or PHI.

Would love to see the Cards keep this run going given how shitty they've been for so long...

So...Go Cards!

Poet
01-11-2009, 05:15 AM
The Cardinals are obviously not very good. However, just like their last matchup, they have a decent shot because Carolina has no real CBs. I know that their defensive rating is high, and I know that its hard to pass on the Panthers, but it isn't because their CBs are good. It's because of the pass rush.

The problem the Panthers will have is that many of the Cardinal players can bust a game open on a long or deep pass. If the Cardinals line just plays decent, it's going to be rough for the Panthers.

The good.


Boldin is going to play. The guy has heart, and even though he wanted to be traded, he did it in a classy way. He was not a distraction, he plays his heart out, and even hurt he is going to toss around any Panther DB IMO. He may not be able to run his deep routes as well, but I guess he will just go into his baby Hines Ward mode, in fact I would bet on it.

The bad.

All I can say is that Delhomme is starting to look like a hack, the Cardinal's offensive line played their hearts out, and did I mention that Delhomme sucks.

I thought for a second that I was staring at Fitzpatrick for a second.

Medford Bronco
01-11-2009, 09:25 AM
Jake Dellome is pathetic as it showed yesterday.

those 2 early turnovers changed the whole game.

great win for Arizona

Medford Bronco
01-11-2009, 09:35 AM
AZ has 2 chances actually.

1. Slim
2. None.
Very nice read bengaaaals.


lol glad we dont bet horsense :D

horsesense
01-11-2009, 10:56 AM
AZ has 2 chances actually.

1. Slim
2. None.
Very nice read bengaaaals.

Sunday morning and Im still shocked. Arizona played a great game, and the Panthers waited till yesterday to lay an egg at home for the first time this season. Congrats to Cardinal fans. :beer: