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Week 1 2022: Chiefs @ Cardinals


HoboRocket

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Things are already look rough. Rondale Moore, Trayvon Mullen, and Cody Ford have been ruled out of week 1 while JJ Watt, Zach Ertz, and Byron Murphy are all questionable. And that's with their large amount of key players already unavailable due to IR, suspension, and Non-Football injuries.

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7 minutes ago, UncleAdamz said:

What are you thinking happens?

Well, I WAS thinking the Cardinals were going to surprise the Chiefs with their "No height, no worries" offense in 10 personnel and get like 3 passing TDs on third down with Rondale Moore, 5'7", Greg Dortch, 5'7", Marquise Brown, 5'9", Andy Isabella, 5'9", Eno Benjamin, 5'9", and Kyler Murray, 5'9". The Chiefs wouldn't be able to tell which one is our QB. But then Rondale had to pull a DeAndre Hopkins and hurt his hammy.

In all seriousness, though, I was hopeful that the Cardinals could achieve a win with a diverse offense and surprisingly effective pass rush. However, with three WRs out (Hopkins, Wesley, Moore) and two TEs hampered but likely to play (Ertz, Williams) it's definitely going to be a lot more difficult. Factor in an improved Chiefs secondary and it'll be tough to do much out wide or in the slot.

I think two TE sets and an effective running game will be the key. They have a legitimate CB and safety group, but our speed on offense should keep the safeties from crowding. Rashad Fenton isn't amazing, but L'Jarius Sneed is a #1 corner in the NFL and Trent McDuffie is both fast and quick, with great feel for spacing and sure tackling to prevent yards after the catch. His only knock is size - meaning that the Cardinals' smaller WRs will probably have trouble against him. The Chiefs' LBs can be victimized if we can keep the safeties backed off the line, and we have a deep TE room, even with injuries. Kyler also thrives outside the pocket, so he should give the Chiefs trouble regardless.

Meanwhile, we're going to need our thin secondary to hold up. Vance Joseph loves to blitz, but Mahomes thrives outside the pocket and on the move. The Cards will need to rush three or four pretty much exclusively, and we'll likely need all three safeties on the field. Jalen Thompson and Budda Baker are one of the best safety tandems in the whole league, with elite range and closing ability. Deionte Thompson is one of the better back-ups league-wide and can be used in a Cover 3 defense. Simmons should also get some volume at safety with all the injuries around the team. Hopefully Collins and Vigil can be big factors against the run, but the Cardinals have the pieces to at least slow down the Chiefs' offense and control the pace of the game. They just need to play really smart football. But that's the only way they win with the current roster imo.

Fingers crossed.

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Not surprising that the defense played the way it did. It’s extremely lacking in talent and everyone knew it going into the day. Shocking we haven’t gone and tried to add one of the mercenary defenders available. 
What was surprising was the ineptness of the offense. The schedule here at the start of the year is brutal and the season could get sideways quick. I wasn’t too optimistic going into the year but that game didn’t help

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8 hours ago, UncleAdamz said:

This is just sad…

not one flash of competitiveness through 6 quarters

4 hours ago, UncleAdamz said:

And then 2 great quarters

What a terrible start and what a great comeback.

The Cardinals absolutely MUST upgrade the CB room. Mullen might end up being okay, and Murphy is solid, but they are letting good QBs wreck them so far. I know Mahomes is Mahomes, but Carr was really efficient and made them look silly for most of the game, and he floats between 10th and 12th best QB in the league.

The Cardinals need to be able to limit good QBs if they want to win in the playoffs. 

Chris Harris, Xavier Rhodes, Kevin King, Ross Cockrell, Donte Deayon, Pierre Desir, Desmond Trufant, Joe Haden, AJ Bouye, Bashaud Breeland, and Robert Alford are all still free agents at the cornerback position. Has Keim been unable to convince any of those guys to come and play for the Cardinals? None of them are world beaters, but several of them would instantly be the best cornerback on the team, and they all would add quality depth to a corner group sorely in need of that.

Sheldon Richardson and Linval Joseph could both be upgrades over Rashard Lawrence/Leki Fotu. Landon Collins, Alexander Johnson, Jamie Collins, and Dont'a Hightower could be solid veteran depth.

Edited by HoboRocket
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Treyvon Mullen’s healthy this week so CB room will get a little bit of a bump with him. I think it’s more important to get another body in the front 7. Suh would make a big difference in the middle. But I mean the defense is just pretty garbage in general. Probably need a Suh and any of the free agent corners to bring it up to a respectable status 

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