Discussing the best (and worst) of Arizona sports.
Warning: this post contains a smidgen of overreaction, a dollop of tongue-in-cheek goodness, but also a healthy tablespoon of honesty.
Look, we all want Matty-Matt Leinart to succeed. Or not, if you're the national media or any form of media outside of Phoenix. I want him to succeed, too, despite this little blog entry.
But sheesh ... in two preseason games, the Cardinals' offense has been impotent.
Yeah, yeah, I get it: it's preseason with vanilla game plans and all that. But all teams are basically playing the preseason off-the-cuff. No head coach is putting together complex schemes to beat the opposition's fringe players and rookies. So all teams are on the same playing field -- no pun intended.
And the Cardinals offense still looked like a steaming pile.
I think we can all agree that there's no way Derek Anderson is starting. So, basically, it's Matt or bust at this point, and I think we should consider "bust." OK, Matt's been relatively steady and not made any really stupid mistakes, but he also apparently hates first down markers and he hasn't accumulated any points.
Now, a lot of the problems fall on the abhorrent play of the offensive line, but despite that, I don't feel like Matt Leinart is a dynamic quarterback. While the Cardinals defense is likely to be better than last year's middle-of-the-pack D, a team's defense needs to be lock-down if their offense isn't going to generate points, and so far they haven't been able to generate points under Leinart. Matt's a Kyle Orton-esque game manager, at best, but not a game changer.
Rookies Max Hall and, in particular, John Skelton, have the potential to change games. So I say, "What the hell?" Go ahead and put one of those guys out there to start the last two preseason games and get in some first-team play. Yeah, they may make some big rookie blunders, but both of those guys seem to have the talent and the chutzpah to go for the big plays when they're needed.
Even if Leinart has a decent year, I don't get the feeling many people think he's the long-term solution in Arizona. He's mostly a stop-gap until Hall or Skelton -- both guys coach Whishenhunt drafted, rather than a leftover from a previous regime -- develops at the position.
I'm a fan of throwing rookies into the blazing fire. While book-learnin' is fantastic, I think the only real way to learn is through experience and repetition, learning from real life mistakes.
And honestly, I don't think the Cardinals would be much worse off with a rookie under center than Leinart. Either way, the other 52 guys on the roster will be working harder than they should be to compensate, but I'd rather that extra work go toward brightening the future than dog-paddling in the present.
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RIP Seasons of Discontent
by Scott Howard on Aug 24, 2010 9:13 AM MST reply actions
I mainly just want to see them start the last preseason games
But I’m also one of those dudes who is into the allure of “potential.” Like I said above, I feel like Leinart, at best, will just be steady. I’d rather play a rookie that might be awesome, and give him the chance to show his stuff.
Bloggin' 'bout AZ sports ... SB Nation Arizona
by Justin Burning on Aug 24, 2010 9:52 AM MST up reply actions
What I'm having a tough time understanding...
Is why Leinart is getting dirt heaped on him for a 4/6 performance on 3 drives – 2 of which ended up with 3rd and inches situations.
On his 3 drives Tim Hightower had 3 negative runs (and though the line play was bad, each could have been at least a no gain…dude has to stop dancing) and there was a false start penalty by Levi Brown.
Also in listening to the broadcast like Jaws thought Stephen Williams misplayed the ball on Leinart’s long sideline pass on his last drive.
RIP Seasons of Discontent
by Scott Howard on Aug 24, 2010 9:52 AM MST reply actions
For me, it's not so much Leinart's performance on Monday
It’s just in general, i don’t feel he’s the future in AZ and it’s time to get moving on to something else.
Bloggin' 'bout AZ sports ... SB Nation Arizona
by Justin Burning on Aug 24, 2010 9:55 AM MST up reply actions
Anyone who wants Skelton or Hall to start is an idiot
You don’t give up on Leinart for something completely unknown like a fifth round draft pick or a Doug Flutie sized undrafted local kid. They may have potential for the future but all they’ve proven is that they are better than the third and fourth string defenses of the Titans and Texans.
Give Matt a chance to perform under the “bright lights” the regular season provides and I think you’ll see a different guy. Just have to worry about the injury bug with him.
I once tried to quit a job using a dry erase board. Unfortunately I wrote the first part in Sharpie so I couldn't finish.
by Greg Esposito on Aug 24, 2010 9:55 AM MST reply actions
I'm okay with being an idiot, but again
I stress I just want them to start the preseason games and play with the first units a bit.
Bloggin' 'bout AZ sports ... SB Nation Arizona
by Justin Burning on Aug 24, 2010 9:57 AM MST up reply actions
I'm with Espo.
RIP Seasons of Discontent
by Scott Howard on Aug 24, 2010 10:02 AM MST up reply actions
Same here
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan [I have always lived in Arizona, dad is from Chicago].
I can't stand fair-weather/bandwagon fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad. And don't switch to whichever team wins the Super Bowl each year.
by JoeCB1991 on Aug 24, 2010 1:35 PM MST up reply actions
Nice discussion, boys
Raising Arizona Sports at SB Nation Arizona twitter: @sethpo
by Seth Pollack on Aug 24, 2010 10:22 AM MST reply actions
I like their potential too, but...
… I’m not ready to give up on Matt yet. While the Card’s offense was vanilla, the Titan’s defense was anything but. It was obvious the constant pressure and blitzing was causing problems. I’m hoping that they’ll be more prepared for that in the regular season.
I don’t think judging any QB is fair when the O-line plays that poorly and the running game is non-existent. I think Matt played a safe game (too safe, really), but we’re talkin’ bout preseason (said in my best Allen Iverson voice). So, for now, I’m going to hold off until we see a regular season game (or 3) with a real gameplan and (hopefully) better play from the line (along with the added runnign game that would come with that).
As for the potential of Skelton and Hall, I want to keep both of them. Whether that means keeping 4 QBs or letting DA go. I mean, come on! Two easy passes in the red zone and he missed both of them badly. I could have made either of those. (Conversely, I don’t have as much a problem with Matt’s lone deep pass because it looked like a lack of communication with a rookie receiver. Fitz would have caught that.)
But I do agree. Give Skelton and Hall more time against some of the better defenses. Let’s see how much is skill and how much is matching up against the third-stringers.
by psknapp on Aug 24, 2010 10:33 AM MST reply actions
I was thinking about the idea of keeping both QB's also.
I mean you have your 53 man roster and off the top of my head I believe only 45 guys are actually active for the games. Why not have 2 QB’s in that inactive 8? You can at least try it for a while until the roster situation gets desperate.
RIP Seasons of Discontent
by Scott Howard on Aug 24, 2010 11:00 AM MST up reply actions
Some thoughts...
THT has not run well in his limited opportunities. He’s been really shying away from contact, almost curling up right before the hit. My guess is that this is so he doesn’t get hurt or banged up.
For the sake of getting some productivity out of the starting offense, give Beanie some reps and let the running game open up the passing game.
The morning radio guys were saying that Whiz is using the preseason to test players in certain situations (passing on 3rd and 1), rather than developing a game plan for getting first downs and scores.
All-in-all, there are two ways to look at the current situation: either game planning plays a HUGE role in success of the team, or the Cards are in serious trouble with the way the offense has been performing.
by ajotanelsona on Aug 24, 2010 11:44 AM MST reply actions
Agreed.
It was obvious (to me) that both coaches went into this game with different priorities. I don’t think Whiz cared about a win or a loss, but I’m sure the performances weren’t up to his expectations. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt from me, so I’m not panicking. Yet. I would like more ugency and presence from Matt, however. (… and leadership and confidence and emotion and…) And more… anything… from the O-Line.
by psknapp on Aug 24, 2010 11:55 AM MST up reply actions
THT has been some damn dancy too.
No one cut and to the line running. Doesn’t help Matt to start everything 2nd and 12.
RIP Seasons of Discontent
by Scott Howard on Aug 24, 2010 12:11 PM MST up reply actions
2 words - last year
did nobody watch pre-season last year ?
here is what we had going on ..
a starting QB that played 2 series and did not much of anything
an O-line that at first glance looked really bad
a defense that didn’t seem to do much …
all on the same 6 offensive plays for 4 straight games…
forget this, pre-season around here has NO meaning at all, simply watch your favorite prospects and see how they do, because you aren’t going to see anything else until St.Louis… and prognosticating about ML’s hold on the starting job is beyond ludicrous
he’s the starter
nothing is going to happen to make you feel good (if all you want are long drives, TDs and wins in the pre-season)
wait for St. Louis
by scsa69 on Aug 25, 2010 1:57 PM MST reply actions
and
since Whiz likes to win ‘REAL’ games, you are NEVER going to see a rookie start around here unless ML and DA both have broken arms and even then, I bet they would bring in some caretaker vet to start
by scsa69 on Aug 25, 2010 1:59 PM MST reply actions
Still...
Arizona’s eye for talent and getting great prospects in the late rounds of the Draft has me hopeful for Skelton and Hall. It may be early to tell but Skelton’s Rally against Houston had me seeing the next Brady. say what you want but that rally was very entertaining and made me forget it was preseason…
by Ezethrell on Aug 27, 2010 10:44 AM MST reply actions
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