Keeping up with The Jones.
Aug 19, 2007 Athletes who don't stab people, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Jacoby Jones is unheralded, Preseason 2007, Secondary issues are primary, Super Mario, The Schaub Experiment, Winner winner chicken dinner
First off, I know that wins in the preseason mean about as much as to the outcome of the season as campaign promises do to the direction of a presidency. Still, given the choice between playing well and winning or playing well and losing, even in the preseason, that’s no choice at all.
Second, I feel sorry for the fans of the Arizona Cardinals. You have, hands down, the worst television announcing duo I have ever heard. They talked so highly of everything Arizona did, you would think the Cards were coming off a Super Bowl threepeat. They honestly seemed to believe that every position player for the Cardinals is Pro Bowl quality, and the play-by-play guy makes every tackle sound like it was Mike Jones against Kevin Dyson. Even worse, they whined about every call that went against the Cardinals, while ignoring that the Cardinals offensive line play seem centered around holding. Horrid. Even my wife, who couldn’t be less biased about any of this, remarked when the coverage switched to the Texans feed after halftime, “Did they change announcers? These guys don’t sound so retarded all of the sudden.”
As for the game itself…
- Matt Schaub looked fantastic. He completed his first six passes to five different guys, finishing 9/12 for 108. He showed an ability to roll to either side and deliver a ball. He stood tall in the pocket without getting happy feet and delivered a couple great throws–including the one to Owen Daniels down the middle on the long drive–and showed some good mobility on the naked bootleg TD. What was that people were saying about him being immobile?
- Jacoby Jones continued to be, for lack of a better word, amazing. He gained 10 on an end around on the long TD drive in the first and another 14 on an end around in the second. (Note: Not to go all Gregg Easterbrook on you, but both of these runs were end arounds and NOT reverses, as stated here.) He had 2 catches for 32 yards. Oh, and there was little 80 yard punt return TD, wherein he straight ran away from people who had good pursuit angles.
- Danny Clark showed why he has been bumped into a starting role when he stuffed the 4th down attempt by Arizona. Clark came in untouched, got a hold of the RB, and held on long enough to allow the line to snuff out the play. I continue to be more and more excited about the Clark-Ryans-Greenwood trio.
- Sage Rosenfels and Charlie Anderson were the best 2s of the week. I don’t think Anderson played well enough to get back into the starting threesome–nor do I hope he did–but he provides some really nice depth at that SAM position.
- If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 100 times, but Petey Faggins is NOT GOOD. I know it’s hard to stop Anquan Boldin, but Faggins’ play made one wonder why the Cardinals did anything on offense other than throw to Boldin. He was also caught napping on the TD pass to James, as the throw went right to the spot he mysteriously vacated. I know Faggins is a crowd favorite, but c’mon… enough already.
- Dunta Robinson continues to knock the crap out of people this preseason. It’s always fun to watch a 180-pound DB level someone.
- According to the NFL Gamebook, Jason Babin played. Though you wouldn’t know it by watching the game or looking at the box score. Not really the best way to follow last week, Babs.
- Not to toot my own horn, but in last week’s state of the roster post, I threw out the line “though I suppose Charlie Adams could make some noise before it’s all said and done.” A 40-yard TD grab officially counts as some noise. And it pretty much guarantees that Bethel Johnson should update his resume.
- DeMeco Ryans was quietly solid as per usual. It’s really nice to have that sort of talent and consistency in the middle of the field on a weekly basis.
- Owen Daniels had 3 grabs for 45 yards and delivered as much damage as he received on the tackles. He is a underrated weapon and a fantasy football sleeper.
- Kris Brown is still banging them through. Though I wish he wasn’t getting so many from stalled red zone drives.
- You can color me surprised if Scott Jackson gets anymore lip service from Kubiak about “getting more reps with the 2s.” He nearly got Sage Rosenfels killed.
- This lack of a pass rush from the front four (one sack so far, courtesy for Th. Johnson) is going to kill us. I don’t want to opine on the reasons just yet, as I hope to go through the tape of the first team a little more closely, but it has reached “critical concern” status. The defense as a whole, actually, is underwhelming. We can’t seem to stop the short passes and the check downs, and the Cardinals showed that our secondary is highly flammable against big receivers.
- Two picks, regardless of the QBs throwing at the time, is still a nice development. Jason Simmons, however, is not a starting safety by any stretch of the imagination. VIVA VON HUTCHINS! (Sorry.)
- Mario Williams, ND Kalu, and the aforementioned Babin… we’re sure they dressed for the game, right?
- The Arizona broadcasters just said “DeMeco Ryans… I think he was the defensive rookie of the year.” Really?
Next week… the Governor’s Cup. Our starters are supposedly going to play into the third quarter. Cowboys jokes are encouraged in the comments.
