The Cardinals took away a strong victory against the New Orleans Saints this last Sunday with a 31 to 19 game at home in the desert. There were plenty of things to look at and be excited about, and a few things to look to improve. Let’s start with the good.
Palmer’s mobility
It wasn’t completely ensured that Carson Palmer’s surgically repaired knee was going to hold up to a full speed NFL game, but the former first-round pick showed that he still has a little bit of a spring in his step. On more than one occasion Palmer was forced outside the pocket and was able to deliver a strike down the field, creating an impressive showing in his first game back under center since the injury he suffered against the Rams. Completing 19 passes on the day for 307 yards with a hat trick of touchdowns it shows that Cardinals may have gotten their multimillion dollar quarterback back. And if he can prevent himself from being sacked like he did Sunday with that mobility in the pocket and the stellar offensive line play he got that it should allow Palmer to play a full sixteen game season this year.
Holding firm at the point of attack
I was concerned as to the ability of the defensive front three for the Cardinals as they looked to start Rodney Gunter at nose tackle but the rookie proved that he was capable of taking on the blocks and allowing his teammates to wrap up the dirty work. One of the biggest additions to the defense that had been missing for so long was Tyrann Mathieu seemingly showing up everywhere on the field for the team. He was in the box, he was in the deep third and other times he was covering the flats. The Cardinals needed an all world safety in their backfield last year and with the help of the defensive line The Honey Badger was able to show his form against the Saints. Holding their opponent to just 54 yards rushing in the first game of the season doesn’t mean much, but it is certainly a building block for the rest of the season.
With every game there are some down points to cover. We’ll talk about a few here.
Andre Ellington’s injury
It is rare in the NFL to go a whole season without a single injury climbing into your depth chart, some would say impossible. The problem with injuries is that they don’t take pity on players that are in the running for a potential breakout season. Ellington went down for the Cardinals on a non-contact play. It is believed to be a PCL injury and it is unknown as to how long he will be out. But the starting H-back looked to be back in form with an impressive 12 carries for 69 yards and a touchdown to his name as he split time with Chris Johnson. Yet this is the exact reason the Cardinals went and signed the former Jet in case this scenario reared it’s ugly head. All hopes for the Cardinals rest that it won’t be too long of a wait before Ellington is taking handoffs again.
Over aggressive defensive calls
Sometimes you can be a little too aggressive with your play calling. New defensive coordinator James Bettcher certainly made the most of his first impression to the fans at University of Phoenix Stadium with a game that saw the Cardinals only give up a single touchdown to the Saints. As impressive as that statistic may be, it doesn’t make up for the fact that Mark Ingram and the rest of the New Orleans back field had careers days receiving. It seemed that every third down Drew Brees was lofting a screen pass out to his tailbacks or his receivers in the flat and gaining huge amounts of yardage, one even going for 59 yards. While the defense eventually seemed to find itself in position to prevent those plays, it was almost as common as a cold in December that the Saints would find that little screen pass to get up the field. Bettcher had a great showing in his first game calling the plays besides that. Perhaps just a little bit less blitzes on third down would suffice in that problem.
The Cardinals look to take momentum from this win out to the Windy City in Chicago as they take on the Bears next Sunday at Soldier Field.