Under the radar? Cardinals are 8-2 in their last 10 games

[Big-T]

Take a step back, though, and look at those QB's.
Hard to name them all.
Bradford, Vick, Smith, Bradford, Romo, Smith, Wallace, Dalton, Jackson, then Wilson.

Now QB's like that passed all over the Patriots last year, but there are not a lot of Mannings, Brady's, Rogers, Rivers, etc. on that list. Nor are there many top outside receivers in that group.

There's also a chance (depending on the date of the games) the St Louis QB was Kellen Clemens!

 

[makoute]

If you can consistently hold your opponent to 20 points or less in those eight wins, doesn't matter who your QB is.

Very good 3-man line. Young shut-down corner in Peterson.
Not sure they are well-designed to defend the Patriots tight ends.

Their 3 DL scares the hell out of me, this is were the game will be won.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I'm sure Belichick will be beating this into their heads all week. That said, 1pm game, home opener, west coast team, we should win by more than a TD. I'll be interested to see how we defend Fitzgerald, which is obviously one of the keys to the game, the other being keeping Brady upright.

Yeah, this sums it up.

 

[PatsBoy12]

Where is Rodney Harrison to play the disrespect card? Regardless of the teams, 8-2 is a good record.

Though a bit overused now by teams, I feel that the disrespect thing was a strong rallying cry for this team for many years. The thing about it, though, is that it was true for so many of years, especially some of the SB years. Nobody gave the Pats any credit.

Tom was just a decent QB, Antwain Smith was nothing special, Deion was just a guy and Givens was a converted RB.

On defense, there were no household names (at that time). It was all BB's schemes. They talked about the team like there was no talent whatsoever. I think the recent showings by the defense proves that it wasn't all BB scheming. There has to be talent to run the stuff he likes. I think that's a little of what we witnessed against the Titans and, hopefully, for the rest of the season. The talent is in place now and the future is looking bright for the team.

 

[MadCardDisease]

Cards fan here.

Yes the Cardinals have won 8 out of their last 10 regular season games. Second only to the Patriots regular season record over the last 10 games. It's all been based off of the improved play of the Cardinals defense under now second year DC Ray Horton from Pittsburg.

Horton converted the Cardinals old 3-4 defense to the 3-4 defense that Pittsburg runs. Last year the defense really struggled early in the season under Hortons new system. The shortened offseasons really hurt here. The players just weren't buying into the new scheme that Horton brought over.

Then after the Cardinals played the Steelers, a bunch of Steelers players told the Cardinal players to give the system a chance. Finally the players started to buy in and the defense came alive in the second half of the season. The defense is the main reason the Cardinals won those games.

Helping the defense last year to win those games was the play of the special teams. Especially the play of Patrick Peterson in the punt return game. Peterson returned 4 punts for TDs tieing an NFL record. He also set up the Cardinals offense with several other nice returns. Additionally the Cardinals led the lead the league with blocked field goals. Calais Campbell (6'8") led the team last year with 3 blocked field goals. He already has a blocked field goal this year. Patrick Peterson also blocked a couple of field goals last year.

Offensively is where the big question marks for the Cardinals are. Obvioulsy Fitzgerald is one of the best in the business at WR if not the best. The problem is he has nobody to get him the ball. QB is still a huge question mark. It sounds like Kolb will start this week. He does fine when he has time. The big problem is the Cardinals OL is a mess. They lost their starting LT to IR during the preseason. Then they lost their RT to IR for the year. So now the Cardinals are starting a rookie at RT and a nobody at LT.

The OL got manhandled by Seattle's quality DL. The Cardinals failed to run the ball against Seattle. We are talking less that 50 yards total rushing with most of that coming on a 15 yard end around to WR Andre Roberts. I think this unit will really struggle this week on the road. I expect Kolb to be running for his life most of the game.

I don't see the Cardinals winning this game. The Defense would have to hold NE to mostly Field Goals and punts for the Cardinals to have a chance. However the Cardinals defense really struggles with stopping quality TEs and the Patriots have two good ones. Also fro the Cardinals to win their special teams would need to make some real big plays. I just don't see that happening against a well coached team like the Patriots.

Good luck on Sunday and hopefully everyone comes out of the game healthy.

 

[goheels22002]

Patriots were 9-1 in their last 10.

 

[ATippett56]

The one good thing about the Pats is if the Cards shut down the outside game, the Pats have arguably the best inside passing game in the league. Let them take away the outside game because the Pats can still kill you with Gronk, Welker, and Hernandez on the inside.

The Arizona Cardinals shut down the outside game?

Lloyd vs Cards - 5 rec for 80 yards

Lloyd vs Cards - 5 rec for 74 yards

Brandon Lloyd Career Game Log - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Sounds like propaganda (Jets Insider RamRodRay style) to me.

 

[LuRkeR1978]

Nothing to worry about...the last time there was a real trap game in the BB era, was week 1 of 2001.

 

[ausbacker]

The Cardinals have a decent Defense. For the Patriots to win, they need to take away Larry Fitzgerald and force their RB's at Wilfork. It should be interesting to see how the Patriots handle Arizona's DL. They're a more than handy pass rushing bunch.

In regards to the posters claiming 8-2 isn't that impressive, I say to you bullywangle (yes, I may have just invented that). An 80% win ratio against any opposition in 10 outings is impressive.

 

[lurker1965]

Um, west coast team traveling East and playing at 1 PM when their body thinks it is like 10 am. Just saying.

 

[Keyser Söze]

I don't think this one will be close. I see a 45-17 type of game in favor of us.

 

[NEboiTB]

Make that 8-3

 

[neali]

Patriots were 9-1 in their last 10.

Yeah, that's kind of what he meant when he said second only to the Patriots. I am impressed by the Cardinals record in the last 10 games. Let's play some football!

 

[PatsBoy12]

I don't think this one will be close. I see a 45-17 type of game in favor of us.

I never deviate from my "one-game-at-a-time" mantra, but I really find it hard to see a Patriot loss in this one. I am not saying it will be a blowout victory for NE or anything, but they're simply the better team, just like they were in week one.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

FWIW, most of those wins came with Skelton under center, not Kolb who will start on Sunday.

 

[PatsGirl2011]

I actually want a very close win to help prepare them for Baltimore...

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I'm not a gambler but those 14 point lines seem a little high given the few points AZ has allowed in recent seasons.

I'd love a nice easy blowout, mind you, with nobody hurt, but I see it more like 24-14 than 35-10.

 

[Deus Irae]

Kolb has 22 INTs to go with his 21 TDs, and he goes all Cutler under pressure. Unless BB decides to play a completely passive defense, Kolb should be wetting his pants by the second quarter.

If the Patriots don't win by 20+, it'll either have been a bad performance by the home team, or a back door "cover" by the visitors.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Kolb has 22 INTs to go with his 21 TDs, and he goes all Cutler under pressure. Unless BB decides to play a completely passive defense, Kolb should be wetting his pants by the second quarter.

If the Patriots don't win by 20+, it'll either have been a bad performance by the home team, or a back door "cover" by the visitors.

OK I'm off to Vegas

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

OK I'm off to Vegas

Hopefully you didn't get there....