The Keys to Beating the Cards (Part 4 of a pre-game
series)
This is part 4 of a pre-game
series.�� Part 1 (the initial key versus
the Cards) can be read here; Part 2 (a position by position breakdown of the
Cards) can be read here; Part 3 (The Shortcomings of the
Stillers) can be read here.�
���
This segment will focus on
the overall keys to this game.��
Stiller Offensive Keys:
- The #1 key on offense is, of course, Bruce
Arians extracting his head from buttocks sometime prior to kickoff.� If this were to occur, the Stillers have a fighting
chance.�� If it doesn�t
-- and if Arians� head remains firmly implanted in his rump -- you can expect a
long afternoon of lethargic slop n� slather of the highest magnitude.�
����� Regardless
of profession, when you have no idea what you�re doing and what you wanna do, you�re bound to inevitably stumble aimlessly in circles.� Such is the lot cast by Bruce �The Airhead�
Arians.� Armed with a franchise QB, a
stable of RBs, a gifted TE, and a very deep corps of WRs, Arians managed to bog
the offense down throughout the entire season.�
The offense all season long has mustered barely what was needed on the
scoreboard.� Only once against a quality
opponent did the offense muster more than the bare minimum,
and that was against
����
Arians, for once, needs to keep this offense uptempo, and FRESH in its
approach and its attack.� Variety and versatility
should be the name of the game on Sunday.�
Attack a flank, then attack a gut, then attack
another flank.� Isolate a weak spot and
then exploit it.� Once overpursuit starts, attack it with a reverse or
misdirection.� Don�t plow headfirst into
the enemy�s strength; rather, attack the enemy where he is weakest.� Never allow the enemy a comfort zone where he
is 98% sure as to what the next play will be and where it will be
conducted.�
����� No
media source covering the Stillers has been harsher and more persistent in its
criticism than has Stillers.com.� We
maintain, once again, that the biggest obstacle to the Lombardi Trophy is not
the AZ Cardinals, but Bruce Arians himself.�
- Anticipate heavy run blitzing and the walking
of SS Adrian Wilson up to the box in non-3WR/4WR formations.�� Arians� dry, bland offense has become so predictable
a toddler could guess correctly on most plays as to whether it�ll be a pass or
a plunge.� And because
Arians rarely, rarely ever runs wide, any runs pretty much means a
gut-plunge between the tackles.� This
will allow the Cards to run-blitz between the Center-Guard gaps on apparent
running plays, as well as to walk SS Adrian Wilson up to the box to chip in on
run stuffing as well.�
- TE Heath Miller must get involved in the
passing game as a pass-catcher, not as a sidecar blocker.� Quick pop passes and taking advantage of
Gerald Hayes� slowfootedness and Adrian Wilson�s
over-aggressiveness on play-action should be a staple this Sunday.� Hayes cannot cover Miller and
- Mewelde Moore must
be involved in the passing game and a change-of-pace runner.�
- Production from the WR corps outside of
Holmes.� Since we know Comar will be isolated on Holmes, this will essentially
remove Tonio from the passing attack.�
Yes, Cromar is that good and there is no sense
attacking a strength when there are far weaker
coverage-men in the AZ secondary.� Ward,
Nate, and even Limas Peed must contribute to offset the loss of Tonio�s production.�
Stillers Defensive Keys:
- Get out of the base defense.� As noted here,
this
is the largest key of this game.��
The Stiller base defense is wholly incapable of defending the AZ offense
when it goes to 4-wide.� Other than true
short-yardage plays, Dick LeBeau should be prepared to go with a 5 DB
alignment, with Hampton and Foote taking a seat and Larry Timmons in heavy use throughout
the game as a combination rusher and cover �backer -- sometimes rushing, sometimes
dropping into coverage.� The 6 DB alignment, which should sport both Townsend and Gay, should also
see a tonload of work in this game.�
���� It should
be noted that the Stillers finished #1 in pass defense each of the past 2 years
under Tomlin, a feat they never once accomplished under the supreme leadership
of Billy Cowher. �We can only hope that Tomlin�s oversight and influence
will produce a pass defense game-plan capable enough of limiting the Cardinal
offense.�
�
- Lack of speed at ILB.�� Foote and Farrior represent the very slowest
set of starting ILBs in the NFL.� The Redbirds will try to isolate James and
Hightower on outs and wheel routes to take advantage of the slowfootedness
of Farrior/Foote.��
- Batting the ball by rushers.��� Warner likes to go 3/4 sidearm on the
short, blitz-beating slants that he loves to throw.�� This means that Aaron Smith and especially
Bret Keisel -- the best �batter� on the team -- must be prepared to anticipate,
read, and then get their hands up to bat these short sidearm passes.�
�
- Collapsing the middle of the pocket.� Against mobile, athletic QBs,
a defense must always concern itself about not giving the mobile QB an easy
escape route around end.� Against the slowfooted Warner, no such concern exists.� Rather, Warner prefers to keep his eyes on
the target and step directly up into the center of the pocket.� This is why collapsing the middle of the
pocket is so very critical.� But, please,
spare me any blather about Fat Casey Hampton �collapsing the pocket� and �pushing
in the middle�.�
- Woodley on Levi Brown.�� This is the one matchup
that I really, really like when the Stillers are on defense.� Woodley tooled Brown when they were
collegians in the Big 10, and this season Brown gave up more sacks than the
rest of the AZ line combined.� Woodley
should be well rested with the 2-week layoff, and he�s got a full array of brawn
and speed that should allow him to beat Brown 4 or 5 times on Sunday.�
- Crisp tackling by the LBs
and secondary.�� AZ gets a lot of its
yardage on RAC after short slants and drags.�
Fortunately, the Stillers are a very strong-tackling team, with its top
6 DBs all being decent tacklers.� Sure, there is an immense problem with
Farrior and Foote making tackles, but otherwise the LB and DB personnel are
sure-handed in the tackling department.� They
need to punish AZ pass catchers and they need to limit RAC in order to extend
AZ drives. �
- Beware the trickeration
(as Cowhard used to call it).�� Cheezenhut always loved
the trick play and he stlll does. You can expect at
least one trick play, if not 2, this Sunday.�
- McFadden on Larry Fitz.��� So-called conventional wisdom says to place
Ike Taylor on Fitx, since Ike has adroitly carried
out solo coverage on other high-profile WRs with decent success.� While Ike has done a nice job in the past,
his total lack of vision, ball skills, and ball reading makes him woefully
inadequate for this assignment.� Fitz can high-point the ball better than anyone in the
league, and if covered by Ike, all the Cards would have to do is lob the ball
straight into the air, then allow Fitz to easily �out-rebound�
Ike for the cake-easy reception.� McFadden
has much better instincts and ball skills than Ike and should draw this
assignment.� Ike won�t get the day off,
of course, because Anquan Boldiin
still needs to be covered.�
- Lack of speed at FS.� Rest assured,
Spec Teams:
- Don�t over-run the coverage on punt coverage.� This is what killed the coverage last week on
the long return by Leonhard, and it is precisely what
allowed the long return by Jax in last year�s playoff loss.�� It is okay to give up a 5-yard return.� A coverage man should never, ever be
positioned parallel with the return man as the return man catches the punt.� Rather, the coverage men should be at least
2-3 yards �short� of the return man, so that they can react and make a
tackle.�
Synopsis:
The
Stillers are correctly favored.� They�ve
had the tougher schedule and endured it with a far better record.� The Stillers, pound for pound, are deeper,
tougher, and are a better all-around team.�
However, because of the prolific ability of the Cards� offense, this is
no gimme.� If
the Stillers can address the 2 biggest keys -- overcoming Arians on offense and
getting out of their base on defense -- they stand a solid chance of securing
victory.�� Stay tuned for in-depth Postgame
coverage on Monday and the days following �the day after�.�
(Still Mill and
Stillers.com -- when it comes to the analysis of the