WEEK 15 Gameday Thread - ARI (4-9) @ DEN (3-10) 2:05 MT

[AKRNA]

3 minutes ago, Griff254 said:

5 sacks in a half. I understand not firing Hackett in season. But the Oline coaches must go. What can you possibly do on offense when your line is revolving doors. Understand all the injuries but goodness. It looks like a pro defensive line vs amateurs 

6 sacks, 7 TFL and 7 QB hits.

[paul-mac]

Well this is boring 

[Griff254]

Luke wattenburger looks like a highschool JV player out here

[paul-mac]

Is Latavius Murray genuinely our best player on offense this season?

[AKRNA]

Did we just call a TO with 2:01 on the clock or is ESPN messed up?

[AnAngryAmerican]

Amazing what can happen when you have a QB who can play within the offense, is selfless, his teammates play for him and the offense is structured in a way that takes advantage of what the defense gives them. 

There are a lot of problems with team/organization/franchise, but Russell Wilson tops the list. 

[germ-x]

I’ve underestimated how bad this OL is, but a lot of that is just bad luck with injuries.

I get you have to try and plan for it, but when you’re down to 5 backups at 1 point, you’re going to be bad, they’re backups for a reason. 

[germ-x]

8 minutes ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

Amazing what can happen when you have a QB who can play within the offense, is selfless, his teammates play for him and the offense is structured in a way that takes advantage of what the defense gives them. 

There are a lot of problems with team/organization/franchise, but Russell Wilson tops the list. 

Agreed.  That looked a lot like the offense Wilson spent most of his 10 years in Seattle in.  Run first, play action, get the QB out of the pocket and take care of the football.  

Wilson would take that to another level because he’s more athletic and stronger armed than Rypien and can challenge teams vertically.  Sadly, that’s not what he wants to do. 

[AKRNA]

22 minutes ago, AnAngryAmerican said:

Amazing what can happen when you have a QB who can play within the offense, is selfless, his teammates play for him and the offense is structured in a way that takes advantage of what the defense gives them. 

There are a lot of problems with team/organization/franchise, but Russell Wilson tops the list. 

Also pretty amazing when your offense makes critical adjustments at the half when what you're trying to do isn't working. 

[Broncofan]

6 hours ago, AKRNA said:

6 sacks, 7 TFL and 7 QB hits.

 

5 hours ago, germ-x said:

I’ve underestimated how bad this OL is, but a lot of that is just bad luck with injuries.

I get you have to try and plan for it, but when you’re down to 5 backups at 1 point, you’re going to be bad, they’re backups for a reason. 

 

7 hours ago, Griff254 said:

If they drafted OL every pick this draft I would understand completely. 

To be fair, both Risner and Meinerz left in-game - which is bad enough, but it also means all 5 guys had ZERO time together this week.

But yeah, OL is absolutely abysmal.    Bolles & Risner Meinerz have guaranteed spots, and that's really about it.   Wattenberg's rookie status means he'll have a TC spot next year - but really, no one else should get any guarantees.     

I think the final tally was 7 sacks, 10 pressures and 10 QB hits.    And to be clear, Watt's the only true difference-maker on that DL.   There's a reason why the Cards D has been getting boat raced in the last 2 months - teams with decent OL's and run games (SEA, SF & MIN) put up 30+ pts without any trouble.  MIN/LAC/LAR "only" put up mid-20's because their OL's were decimated when they played the Cards.    It cannot be stressed how brutal our OL play is right now.

Having said that, the other 2 areas were our 1H O, and McManus missing very makeable FG's.  For us to have had 2 scoring opps in the first 2 drives of the 1H and only have 3 pts - man, it was looking like a redux of so many winnable games our O let our D down.

Having said the above, not only did we get the W, but we can take several positives:

-The run game showed up in the 2H.   There was also more variety in the run game - it wasn't just a straight dive on 1st down - the pitch play that changed the game was a perfect call for ARI's D pinching down.   

-Jeudy had a flawless game - no drops, and every time we needed a 1st, he beat his guy.    If anything, we should have likely targeted him more in the 1H - it's no coincidence targeting him more in the 2H had more success.     The move to X 2/3 of the time, and going slot 1/3, and moving around, it's amazing it took 14 weeks for the coaches to realize it...but better late than never.

-Gregory was on a pitch count, but he/Browning/Cooper combined really did add more pressure.   Obv ARI isn't a great team, so we want to see it when we face KC & LAC (LAR I expect we'll see success).   But positive signs all around

-Simmons was a total ballhawk, and PS2 really neutralized Nuk Hopkins (no surprise, but just another great week in his facing-the-best-WR career CV).    Mathis again showed flashes - such a sure tackler, but his jump on the out to AJ Green and near-pick, you see the ceiling and progress.   Encouraging. 

-We actually won important field-position exchanges in ST's.   Waitman's still been below-average, but today was progress (sigh on McManus).

With LAR still unclear if they're going to be playing Aaron Donald, we have a very winnable matchup next week.   It would be great to see Sutton return and see how our O functions with him and Jeudy/Dulcich.      It would be even better if our OL could show some signs of life in pass pro - that was embarrassingly bad, no matter the W.   But hey, it's still a W (and paid off nicely for the wallet lol - too bad on Dulcich's great matchup not materializing).   I figured this would be a 2-week gig, and maybe even 3 as GDT starter - happy to be a multi-week task. 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Broncofan

[Broncofan]

I know there’s a segment of fans who think Hackett might get a 2nd year.   Don’t see it with this level of fan apathy towards the team.  

[germ-x]

10 minutes ago, Broncofan said:

I know there’s a segment of fans who think Hackett might get a 2nd year.   Don’t see it with this level of fan apathy towards the team.  

I wasn’t a Hackett fan when he was signed but I think he deserves another year.

[AKRNA]

2 hours ago, Broncofan said:

 

 

To be fair, both Risner and Meinerz left in-game - which is bad enough, but it also means all 5 guys had ZERO time together this week.

But yeah, OL is absolutely abysmal.    Bolles & Risner have guaranteed spots, and that's really about it.   Wattenberg's rookie status means he'll have a TC spot next year - but really, no one else should get any guarantees.   

 

 

I think you mean Meinerz. 

[AKRNA]

2 hours ago, Broncofan said:

 

 

To be fair, both Risner and Meinerz left in-game - which is bad enough, but it also means all 5 guys had ZERO time together this week.

But yeah, OL is absolutely abysmal.    Bolles & Risner have guaranteed spots, and that's really about it.   Wattenberg's rookie status means he'll have a TC spot next year - but really, no one else should get any guarantees.     

I think you mean Meinerz.

[Broncofan]

2 minutes ago, AKRNA said:

I think you mean Meinerz.

yes (doh), fixed

Edited December 19, 2022 by Broncofan