Preseason Means it's Matty's Time to Shine Baby!
As has been noted repeatedly on this site – the NFC Champions opened their preseason slate on Thursday with a battle against the evil gun-toting Pittsburgh Steelers. Since I was generally incapable of watching this on live TV for fear of a freak-out when they showed various clips from SB43 I was fortunate enough to enjoy this one with the help of my trusty TiVO remote. The idea of throwing together a running diary on a preseason game seemed exhausting so I just watched the thing and jotted down a few notes. If you’re looking for hard-hitting football analysis you should probably just click over to Revenge of the Birds right now – but if you want the thoughts of a guy who knows a somewhat average amount about football then you’re in luck. And unlike azcentral I won’t force you to stare at any pictures of Santonio Holmes‘ stupid feet all day -
- Kurt Warner was 6 of 10 for 53 yards and he didn’t die on the field. I’m going to go ahead and call this one a success. He looked a touch inaccurate on a few passes but judging Warner on a couple of preseason passes is a little ridiculous so let’s stick with “he lived.”
- Warner nearly hit Steve Breaston on a first quarter bomb as it trickled just off of Breaston’s finger tips – you better believe that won’t be the case in a month.
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Breakout Player of 2009
It was great to see Calais Campbell break through the line and make a few plays with the starting defense. This guy is the reason I won’t miss Antonio Smith at all – and you should feel the same way. As a sophomore at Miami, Campbell was a huge prospect – projected by many as having top 10 ability. After a relatively mediocre junior season and a disappointing pro day he slipped into the second round and into the hands of the Cards. I think we’ll see how good the Cardinals fortune was during this season.
- It’s difficult for me to be sold on Tim Hightower. Position re-defining ability or not I need to see him prove something – which he couldn’t really accomplish in the preseason opener no matter how well he did. He gained 24 yards on 6 carries (4.0 ypc).
- Mike Gandy spent this game much like he spent the last game – getting his destroyed all over the field by James Harrison. Man I hate James Harrison.
- One general positive about the game is that the teams are wearing the opposite uniforms that they did during the Super Bowl. For some reason this fact calms me – I’m a psychological experiment waiting to happen.
- Antrel Rolle, Michael Ray Garvin, and Steve Breaston returned punts. Rolle is an interesting case because I do not know that there is a Cardinal outside of Fitz or Q that has a nose for the endzone like this guy – yet he fumbled his 2nd attempt so maybe he’d just be better off concentrating on defense and appearing as a wideout in random playoff games (see Falcons). Garvin is an SoD favorite and he showed great speed in both the punt and kickoff return game. If he has any shot to stick he has to catch every single punt and kickoff. Finally, there’s Breaston who does catch everything. While he may not be the sexiest of punt returners I’d rather have consistency than utter fear every time back.
- A quick quote from Con- a friend of SoD : “Beanie looks great in a hat.” That is both funny and sad at the same time. Let’s hope he’s back in action soon.
- Matty Leinart was a bit of a mixed bag at the beginning of his appearance – coming on in the 2nd quarter and throwing a few bad incompletions and even a few inaccurate completions. At points I forgot that he was a 65% passer at USC. Leinart eventually settled down and threw more than a few decent completions, including a pretty sideline ball to Jerheme Urban, led a couple good drives and finished 8 for 14 with 83 yards. I’ve certainly seen him look worse.
- As for the other end of the battle for the #2 QB spot – Brian St. Pierre looked pretty bad. He went 4 for 10 with 42 yards and a bad pick. Most of his passes were off the mark and he looked uncomfortable in the pocket. St. Pierre should get a little break due to the fact that he mostly played with the third-team that could not protect him if their lives depended on it – but he still didn’t look good.
- First time I can remember seeing LaRod Stephens-Howling even though I watched my share of Pittsburgh games where he was LeSean McCoy’s backup. All reports indicate the coaches absolutely love this guy and from a speed/shiftiness perspective I can see why. He did average 4 yards per carry on his 6 carries but he got destroyed anytime he tried to block and didn’t get any opportunities in the return game (you’ve got to wonder if that changes in the coming weeks). He’ll be an interesting case to watch as the preseason progresses.
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Who's the Scrappiest White Guy in Camp!
Lance Long – a camp darling two years running – had a strong game as he reeled in 5 balls for 48 yards including a 19 yard catch. Ron Wolfley has compared him to Wes Welker and I’ll give you one guess why…he’s white and short. That’s mostly it. Although Long looks good I’m just not sure how he makes this team – the numbers do not work and he isn’t returning kicks.
- Herman Johnson is freaking huge. I don’t have a cute quip here or really anything clever to say at all – the guy is just a giant.
- Mainly a special teamer – Michael Adams gets torched by Limas Sweed in the first half but manages to break up a bomb attempt to Mike Wallace in the third quarter. Um ok…I’m supposed to be impressed by his shutting down this guy?
Less than Impressive Michael
- Fourth-round pick Greg Toler showed a few flashes. I’m a little partial to this guy for some reason, I think it’s DRC’s fault.
- Former Rams third rounder and USC tight-end Dominique Byrd looked good on a couple late catches. He’s the kind of guy who has loads of ability that he’s just never cashed in on. He’s another case to watch as the preseason progresses but he will have to jump more than a few other tight ends to make the roster.
- My favorite moment of the night came when Suzy Kolber interviewed Big Ben. Clearly having just discovered she wouldn’t be allowed to ask Roethlisberger about his sexual assault charges she opened the interview with this line: “Ben’s attorney advised him that a civil suit does not obligate him to talk about his private life on camera, so we’re gonna talk about football.” I can’t quite understand why she was so keen on talking about the charges but her unprofessionalism was pretty funny.
- Although he was playing against all third and fourth teamers I really liked how good Tyler Palko looked. Obviously it’s a numbers game and he stands zero shot at making the team – but he showed good athleticism and threw several good balls. Palko seems like the type of player who takes chances and has enough accuracy to succeed when he does so. He was 8 for 15 with a TD and a INT (that went off Garvin’s hands) and should have a firm spot on the practice squad.
The Cards lost the game 20-10 and nobody really cared. That game was pretty boring and not well played – but what can you really expect from the first game out.
We do this together (cheesy but I can’t get enough – that billboard on I-10 gives me chills everytime I see it).
