Connect with us

Arizona

Despite Record, Cardinals Know Falcons’ Offense Has Weapons

Published

on

Despite Record, Cardinals Know Falcons’ Offense Has Weapons


When making ready for the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph was capable of get some inside intel on quarterback Desmond Ridder. 

Ridder, a rookie out of Cincinnati, will likely be making his third profession begin in opposition to the Cardinals later at this time. His teammate in school and present Cardinals move rusher Myjai Sanders was capable of feed some Joseph some intel that Bearcats followers already knew: Ridder can ball.

“I did. Effectively, he [Sanders] stated Desmond’s an actual dude … I stated, Yeah, you are proper. Desmond’s clearly poised, he is received to play six years of school soccer. He is making his third begin in opposition to us. Arthur [Smith]’s doing job of making performs for him to have completions and it is a run-first offense, they’re averaging 160 [yards] a recreation speeding,” Joseph instructed reporters this week. 

Advertisement

“They received two backs who common 4.9 a carry, [that’s] like third or fourth within the league. So it is going to be a run-first night time for us, so we received to deliver our big-boy pads and defend the run and make him throw as a lot as we will. 

“But it surely’s unit. They received three first-round o-linemen up entrance, and so they’re all prototypes for this exterior zone scheme. So it is going to be a tricky outing to get the run recreation stopped. Each recreation you watch: They’re in it. Baltimore’s a one-score recreation. New Orleans was a one rating recreation. So it is a robust younger group. They have been coached the suitable method. O-line sensible man they’re robust and well-coached so it is gonna be a tricky out.”

12 of Atlanta’s 15 video games performed have resulted in one possession. They’re 4-8 in these matchups. 

Solely the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens run the ball for extra yards per recreation than the Falcons, who make the most of each Cordarrelle Patterson and Tyler Allgeier out of the backfield effectively. 

By means of the air, Drake London has flashed what he may very well be for the Falcons throughout his rookie season. Joseph says he is simply certainly one of many larger our bodies on Atlanta that can pose issues for a Cardinals group that hasn’t fared properly in bringing cumbersome opponents to the bottom. 

Advertisement

“He is an enormous man who could make contested catches. He isn’t tremendous quick. So guys sort of cowl him and lay on him slightly bit, however he is making a tricky catch. He is an awesome blocker and after the catch he can break tackles and make RAC yards,” Joseph stated on London.

“So between him and [Cordarrelle] Patterson and you realize, No. 25 [Tyler] Allgeier, man they received huge guys who can carry the ball. So getting these guys tackled, that is going to be a problem. Now we have to gang sort out these guys [and] take them low. Final week, we had bother with [Leonard] Fournette and that is an enormous again, so it will not change this week with these three guys, getting them tackled, and that is my greatest concern.”

We’ll see how ready Joseph and the remainder of Arizona’s protection is right here in just some hours. 

Observe All Cardinals on Fb

Subscribe to All Cardinals on YouTube

Arizona Cardinals High Tales

Report: Michael Bidwill Hasn’t Knowledgeable Kliff Kingsbury of Future

Three Prop Bets for Cardinals-Falcons

Advertisement

Recreation Preview: Can Cardinals Upset Falcons?

NFL TV Protection Map for Week 17



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Arizona

College Football Playoff odds: Penn State, Texas, Ohio State, Georgia favored in 2nd round

Published

on

College Football Playoff odds: Penn State, Texas, Ohio State, Georgia favored in 2nd round


play

Who is favored in College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds?

Advertisement

Check out the point spread, moneyline and over/under (point total) for all four quarterfinal games on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook.

No. 3 Boise State faces No. 6 Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31.

On Wednesday, Jan. 1, No. 4 Arizona State takes on No. 5 Texas in the Peach Bowl, No. 1 Oregon plays No. 8 Ohio State in the Rose Bowl and No. 2 Georgia opposes No. 7 Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.

The lower seed is interestingly currently favored in betting odds for three of the four CFP quarterfinal matchups, with Arizona State the biggest underdog as almost a 2-touchdown underdog against Texas.

Advertisement

College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds: Point spreads

  • Penn State (-10.5) vs Boise State (+10.5)
  • Texas (-13.5) vs Arizona State (+13.5)
  • Ohio State (-2.5) vs Oregon (+2.5)
  • Notre Dame (+1.5) vs Georgia (-1.5)

College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds: Moneylines

  • Penn State (-450) vs Boise State (+340)
  • Texas (-550) vs Arizona State (+400)
  • Ohio State (-130) vs Oregon (+110)
  • Notre Dame (+105) vs Georgia (-125)

College Football Playoff quarterfinal odds: Over/unders (point totals)

  • Penn State vs Boise State: 52.5
  • Texas vs Arizona State: 52.5
  • Ohio State vs Oregon: 53.5
  • Notre Dame vs Georgia: 44.5

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Advertisement





Source link

Continue Reading

Arizona

Tommy Lloyd Giving Arizona Wildcats Mandatory Break During Holidays

Published

on

Tommy Lloyd Giving Arizona Wildcats Mandatory Break During Holidays


This season has not gone as many expected for Arizona.

After coming into the year ranked No. 10 in preseason polls, the Wildcats quickly dropped out of the picture following losses to Wisconsin and Duke which were a precursor of what was to come.

Arizona went into the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament as one of the favorites, and after beating Davidson in their first-round matchup by over 30 points, it looked like they had gotten things back on track and were ready to play like the team many expected them to be.

But, alarm bells went off when they lost back-to-back games against Oklahoma and West Virginia that pushed them under .500 for the first time in the Tommy Lloyd era, and also the first time in 14 years.

Advertisement

Since then, Arizona has taken care of business against the lesser opponents on their schedule but failed to win against UCLA despite being in control for the majority of that contest.

The Wildcats closed out their non-conference schedule in style following that loss, bludgeoning Samford and Central Michigan to head into the holiday break feeling more positive about what they can accomplish going forward, while also having a lot to think about.

Lloyd and the players know this wasn’t the early-season stretch they wanted, but he gave his team a clear directive during this break; take time away from basketball.

“Rest, relax, love your family, hang out. That’s the homework,” the head coach said per Bruce Pascoe of The Arizona Daily Star.

That’s probably a good approach.

Advertisement

There’s nothing anyone can do about what has already taken place, but they can certainly get burned out if they’re not careful and lose confidence if they dwell on mistakes.

“I mean, this nonconference was rough. I think we all need a little break and a reset,” KJ Lewis said.

Lloyd is giving his players that time to reset, sending everyone home for the holidays or somewhere with either friends or family.

This time away should hopefully allow Arizona to put the non-conference schedule in the past and get ready for the daunting challenge that will come by playing Big 12 opponents until Selection Sunday.

Lloyd is also hoping this let’s his team get motivated for their return to the court.

Advertisement

“Get hungry. Get hungry because we know when we come back — we’re excited to be starting this Big 12 thing we’ve been talking about for about 20 months. We’re fired up,” he added.

Arizona welcomes TCU into the McKale Center on Dec. 30.



Source link

Continue Reading

Arizona

Instant Grades: Cardinals Sabotage Playoff Hopes

Published

on

Instant Grades: Cardinals Sabotage Playoff Hopes


The story since the bye week has largely been the same game after game. The Arizona Cardinals had two chances to beat the Seattle Seahawks and fight for first place in the division. They failed both times.

Today, they needed to beat the Carolina Panthers to stay in the hunt with the LA Rams beating the New York Jets. They failed.

The underlying issues of why this is happening is another issue for another article, but the fact is that the Arizona Cardinals are out of the playoff hunt and already looking forward to 2025.

In the meantime, what happened today and how did the various position groups perform? Let’s take a look.

Advertisement

Quarterback – C-

No, Kyler Murray didn’t put the entire team on his back today to force a win, but it also can not be argued that he had much help from the team around him other than James Conner. That is not an excuse though for a player in his sixth NFL season with a massive contract that comes with high performance expectations.

Still, Murray is supposed to be a special player and he did not look special today. There was a flash of the special quarterback in the fourth quarter with a 20-yard rushing touchdown, but it was too little too late.

Most concerning, late in the fourth quarter Murray made a boneheaded mistake throwing to a spot of the field without an obvious receiver and the Panthers picked off the floater and held the ball till the very end, effectively ending Arizona’s season. There has not been a game since the bye in which Murray has not made a similarly mind-bogglingly bad play.

Offensive Line – B-

There were certainly concerns about the offensive line going into this game with left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. out with a knee injury and center Hjalte Froholdt suffering from an illness.

Thankfully, Froholdt was able to play through illness and Kelvin Beachum plugged in at left tackle and played another decent game.

Advertisement

Overall, the offensive line played a fine game and were one of the few position groups that showed up and simply did their job althought their performance was noticeably impacted after Jonah Williams went to locker room with a knee issue in the third quarter.

Tight End – C

Hard to really grade this position since, in a major switch from previous weeks, Trey McBride did not feature heavily for the Cardinals offense.

McBride caught three of the four balls that came his way, but only for a gain of 20 yards and once again was kept out of the end zone to extend his scoreless streak.

Running Back – A

James Conner is every coaches dream power back. After Petzing belatedly figured out that the Panthers possess the worst run defense in the league, Conner truly took over the offense.

Sadly, Conner hurt his knee in the third quarter and did not reenter the game leaving Michael Carter and DeeJay Dallas as the remaining active running backs.

Advertisement

Without Conner’s special gifts the Cardinals offense was not the same and the Panthers took advantage of that fact.

Wide Receiver – C-

The reader would be excused for not believing the Cardinals have any wide receivers on the roster considering the lack of impact they have had in several games this season.

Petzing has faced severe backlash for not finding ways to get the ball to the No. 4 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft, Marvin Harrison, Jr, and for good reason. Still, trying to force the ball to Harrison, Jr. has not worked out and the connection between Murray and his rookie receiver is still not there.

Michael Wilson has shown up in big moments several times this year and did have a major 38-yard grab in the third quarter that gave the Cardinals some life.

Defensive Line – C-

The Cardinals defensive line failed in the two areas that were criticial to helping their team succeed this afternoon; contain Chuba Hubbard and put pressure on Bryce Young.

Advertisement

Naquan Jones was the only defensive lineman to actually get to Young but otherwise the young, second-year quarterback had time to do what he wanted and even saw multiple gaps open up through the defensive line and broke off some major runs that put the Cardinals in a hole early.

Hubbard really started to have his way in the second half and on several drives basically controlled the entire Panthers offense, often getting through the first line of defense untouched.

Linebacker – C+

The most that can really be said for this group is that Baron Browning flashes occasionally and did manage to get Young on the ground today for a sack.

Otherwise, the linebackers did not have a significant impact on this game after being one of the most consistent position groups all season. That being said, Kyzir White’s sack in overtime gave the Cardinals much needed hope and forced a punt, but again, too little too late.

The problems containing Panthers running back Hubbard might have started with the defensive line but the linebackers are supposed to stem the bleeding and they failed consistently in that effort in the second half.

Advertisement

Secondary – B-

Young did not have an inspired passing game today at all, and that is largely thanks to a sticky Cardinals secondary that did not allow him many easy downfield passes.

Rookie Max Melton had some rookie moments, but he continues to show some flashes that indicate a bright future in the league. It was second-year cornerback Garrett Williams that had some coverage issues.

Budda Baker did Budda Baker things but a big coverage whiff in the fourth quarter put the Cardinals in tough position. Fellow safety Jalen Thompson teamed up with Baker to clean up a lot of mistakes.

Sean Murphy-Bunting has struggled in big moments all season and today was not an exception. Needing a big stop early in the fourth quarter he allowed a corner of the end zone touchdown that put the Panthers up by ten and effectively ended the Cardinals season. A bad individual performance but not necessarily indicative of the entire position group’s performance.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending