The Cards (working, good, teams)

[sexxxcblac]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Veldheer out for the season. Mathieu up to six weeks. Goodbye playoffs.

Mathieu wasn't playing at 100 percent which caused our defense to be significantly weaker.
Remember when Jackson played the position early in the season, the defense looked a lot better.
Same with the offensive line. Players were playing hurt and the line was noticeably weaker.
They bring in the 2 replacements and the offensive line looks great.
I remembered people saying , just wait until they played a formidable front 4.
They did against the JETS and looked great.
Now the starters come back and we look like crap......again.
Seattle is letting the door open for us.
I said it before and I'll say it again....the Cardinals will clinch a playoff spot the last game of the year in Seattle

[AzScorpion12]

Cardinals bring back punter Drew Butler, for some reason
'


It's now official,BA and Keim have lost their minds!

Not that Quigley was much better (barely 1 yard) but at least he had a decent hang time.


Cardinals bring back punter Drew Butler, for some reason | ProFootballTalk

[ScottsdaleMark]

I'm a big special teams guy and I don't really understand the loyalty to Butler. Quigley isn't a superstar but he had a little more leg strength than Butler does and I think looking at his career, he's shown a little higher ceiling to his ability. Just my opinion.

My thing with Butler is, if your gross yardage numbers are going to be that limited, you would ideally be bringing something else to the table, e.g. a directional punter like the former pro Mike Horan, or an Aussie style kicker who is hard for opponents to field.

Butler has proven to be good at keeping the ball out of the end zone, but he's a conventional kicker and kicking short balls that are still coming down to earth in time to be fielded and returned for a few yards before the returned gets tackled.

I know there's also a lot of focus on Butler's job as a holder, and they even kept him on the roster one week after he was hurt just to hold for kicks...but then again, an organization that prizes a holder so much, one would think, wouldn't have started the season having two rookies compete to be the long snapper and then lose games because of it. Oops.

I hate to bash Butler all the time, he is a professional and he has his strengths, but I just would like to see an upgrade pursued at that position.

You watch a guy like Kevin Huber on the Bengals who pins opponents inside the 10 and inside the 5 with such precision, or an incredible leg like Marquette King on the Raiders with his nearly six seconds of hang time, and you just realize how big the gulf is between our punting game and many other teams'.

[JGMotorsport64]

This one is a head scratcher for sure. Quigley was at some level competent. Here's my prediction, Butler costs us a game and ends any playoff shot.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

This one is a head scratcher for sure. Quigley was at some level competent. Here's my prediction, Butler costs us a game and ends any playoff shot.

As mediocre as this team is this year, it would almost be a relief....23-20 over the Niners, really? We seem to be limping along one step ahead of a very laissez-faire executioner, who's probably just waiting for us to keel over all on our own.

I guess I should be thankful we're a .500 team; that's much better than we're used to here. Once again the weight of expectations proves to be one mean SOB. I expect a bounce-back year in 2017, or at least I'm hoping for one, and I do hope we have a decent end to this year in some form or fashion, although I think the Cardinals have the talent to do better all-around as an organization and a team in 2017 regardless of whether we rally to contend for a playoff spot or completely fall apart down the stretch here.

[azriverfan.]

I believe the front office has more to do with our poor season than the coaching staff. Steve Keim has done a fine job in general, but he really deserves the lion's share of criticism for the way he handled the offseason. Coming off a loss in the NFC championship game, the team should have doubled their efforts in the off-season to address any potential weakness. And rather than enter the season with that philosophy, they were laid back. The 2016 draft looks like a bust with no meaningful contributions from any of those players. We entered the season with three new starters on the offensive line. Our kicker and punter were retained from last season

[ScottsdaleMark]

Valid points azriverfan. I think maybe he figured the team was so strong, why not bring it back as is? Most teams due to salary cap issues don't have the luxury of just bringing back everybody like we did.

I guess the downside is that we have seen clearly that what works one season, may not work the next. There is a tremendous luck element in sports, due to things like injuries and players declining or improving. Examples: Palmer losing some of his accuracy due to age or some other reason reason; Floyd catching the dropsies; our special teams turning into a collective basket case; and of course Matthieu not being recovered fully and all our many other injuries. I guess there's no way to prevent things like that and they're out of your control.

So while we had the luxury to stay the same when most teams have to let guys go and bring in cheaper players due to cap issues...Keim did still swing that huge Chandler Jones deal and sign a few free agents with our limited cap space. I think he did the best he could in free agency, with the exception of our special teams being allowed to remain substandard for another year, and of course the lack of success (so far) in the draft. I haven't given up on the draft class yet, but I agree it hasn't been any help this season.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

Valid points azriverfan. I think maybe he figured the team was so strong, why not bring it back as is? Most teams due to salary cap issues don't have the luxury of just bringing back everybody like we did.

Well that's just it, he didn't bring it back as is. We have three new starters on the offensive line. Our deep snapper and center retired and probably could have been signed. The starting right tackle Bobbie Massie, the starting cornerback Jerraud Powers and the starting defensive end, Dwight Freeney, left via free agency but were not signed to large contracts by their new teams. All three could have been resigned and the team would have still been under the salary cap.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Annnnd Butler's first punt was only 36 yards, yet Sherels had plenty of time to field it without being hit and then returns it 32 yards. Vikings quickly score a touchdown working with a short field. Cardinals special teams, everybody!

[i'm not a cookie]

Why does our coach always insist in starting with the ball instead of deferring to the second half. Every. Damn. Time.