The Cardinals are tough...but overrated

[ZigZagRam]

I will say I think the Rams match up much better with the Cardinals this year.

I don't care that they got Veldheer to play LT, Robert Quinn dominates everybody there. Our DL will still dominate their OL.

When we're on offense, they got worse at LB so our run game should cause problems.

 

[RamsFan14]

I said that it would be unwise to overlook them before the season began last year.
And I'll say it again this year.

I agree, they have a great defense with a pretty solid offense. They are getting back Johnathon Cooper at OG and they signed Jared Veldheer to protect Palmers blind side, so there OL should be a lot better all the way around. They scare me too, not gana lie. Arians seems like a great coach (unfortunately).

 

[bomebadeeda]

Some of the Cardinals D-Line suggested that Dansbys success was because of them.

Well...Dockett is somewhat like Sapp...He has a lot to say but probably shouldn't....Oh...and he didn't play as well as Sapp did either....but other than that....pretty close....
But we'll see... I kind of thought if it didn't make him mad.....he probably wouldn't have said anything. Now his position (Dansby) will probably be filled by a rookie.....

 

[LesBaker]

I think the separation on defense is fairly wide. They were #5 overall last year, much higher than our guys.

On O I think it's fairly close, at least if we just compare starting units.

 

[Cardncub]

I dont think the Cardinals are overrated in the least. If anything, I still think they are underrated.

The Cardinals beat Seattle IN Seattle which not many teams managed to do last year.

Actually the only team to beat them at home in the last 2 seasons.

 

[Cardncub]

I will say the NFC West is the toughest in football. All teams will fear playing any team in this division.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Not to mention that Palmer is gonna get Kolbed... I mean Killed when we play the cards this year.

LOLZ

Kolbed... LOL. Nice!

 

[CGI_Ram]

I said that it would be unwise to overlook them before the season began last year.
And I'll say it again this year.

I ignored you last year.

And... I'm ignoring you again this year...

 

[Mojo Ram]

I agree the gap is negligible. It has been for the last couple seasons IMO. AZ got caught with their pants down when Warner retired and despite building a good defense and having some good pieces at the skill positions they were inevitably doomed by bad QB and OLine play....and didn't do enough in the draft to address it. Arians has turned it around quickly with help from a comeback season from Palmer and the arrival of Michael Floyd and Ellington.

I think that they could be one injury away from being 5-11 again though because offensively Palmer is on borrowed time(no backup), the OLine has finally been addressed but as we all know here, there are no guarantees that it will get better. I really like the RB Ellington but there isn't anything behind him. The WR core is very good but there is no threat at TE(unless the rookie Niklas lights it up immediately).

Defensively they are well-coached and talented overall but...their front seven is very thin depth-wise, they can't cover TE's, their best player is facing a suspension, and the loss of Dansby will hurt. I think they're kind of hanging their defensive hat on the secondary this season. It will be their strength to be sure, but again...Mathieu is recovering from a nasty injury, Cromartie isn't the long term answer and from where i'm standing that secondary will be tough to throw on but doesn't look very physical at all. They're counting on a rookie Deone Bucannon to hit people i guess. Not a lot of depth anywhere on D to be honest.

AZ finished last season with a -1 turnover ratio(17th). Good for last in the division and it wasn't even close. AZ gave it away 31 times(5th worst in the NFL).
Seattle was +20 (1st)
SF +12 (5th)
STL +8 (10th)
I realize that Palmer played better as the season progressed, but the fact is he still tossed 22 INT's to only 24 TD's and fumbled 6 times. AZ is going to need better than that to break through. I just don't see it coming from a 34 yr old QB.

I thought they easily had the worst draft among the division teams. Reaches, head scratchers, and need picks. This after a pretty good draft in 2013. I would've put more emphasis on drafting a legit QB and re-stocking the defensive groceries.

They will be tough to contend with no doubt, but i very much question that teams sustainability over the next few years in contrast with teams like ourselves and Seattle...SF to a lesser degree.
JMO

 

[mr.stlouis]

They lost Dansby and replaced him with who? That's a pretty big deal...

I think the Cards will be really tough with Cooper and Vehldeer manning the left side. However, our OL is nasty if our starters stay healthy. We couldn't run against them the second game but I think it's a different story with Bradord playing.

It's a tough challenge but we did beat them last year.

 

[HometownBoy]

What do you mean overrated, they won a World Series just 3 years ago. :snicker:

 

[The Rammer]

I will say the NFC West is the toughest in football. All teams will fear playing any team in this division.

I agree. Thinking we are going to be thumping the NFL pretty good this year. I go every year to watch the rams play in AZ and hope to see them win against you folks at home with half the stadium in Blue and Gold

 

[scifiman]

I will put it this way. Not much separates the teams in the nfc west overall. All it takes is a few key injuries to a team and a couple of bad breaks and you have a losing season. The rams could get just as fortunate as some of the other teams have lately and go all the way. Or maybe the team has more bad luck. You never know that's why you play the games and let it all sort out.

 

[PhxRam]

I agree. Thinking we are going to be thumping the NFL pretty good this year. I go every year to watch the rams play in AZ and hope to see them win against you folks at home with half the stadium in Blue and Gold

If you dont bring any green chilies stay home.

 

[Ramrasta]

I think the NFC West teams are all built around the same model. However, the Cardinals don't have a power running game like the rest of these teams and our secondary has gotten both stronger and deeper. I think these are all great teams but we should own the line of scrimmage this year and win because of it.

 

[RustyRay]

I think the separation on defense is fairly wide. They were #5 overall last year, much higher than our guys.

On O I think it's fairly close, at least if we just compare starting units.

Cards D 317 ypg - 6th in the NFL
Rams D 345 ypg - 15th in the NFL

Only 28 yards less a game and 9 spots in the rankings..Rams had an awful start to the season on D and an O that couldnt support them most of the year.

Cards O 23.7 PPG 346 YPG - W Palmer all year
Rams O 21.8 PPG 305 YPG - Spread to Ground n Pound w Clemens for 9 games..Surprised at the points..skewed by a couple of games..Colts n Bears.

I just dont see a huge difference. Getting a better Oline and Sam back should be good for 40 yards. The Rams D is going to be nasty.

 

[The Rammer]

If you dont bring any green chilies stay home.

LOL! YOu like hot chili or med hot?

 

[Rams and Gators]

I'm not scared of any team in our division, I think we can hang with them all, over the last two seasons with a healthy Sam we've split with the 49ers (1-1-1) split with the Seahawks (1-1) almost beating them at home with Clemens as QB and I think we would have done had Zac not been injured on that final drive and are 3-0 against the Cardinals.

That said I don't think any of them are overrated, we're just really good too. Has any division ever ended with all 4 teams with a winning record?

 

[Rams and Gators]

Our last 4 divisional games:
Seahawks: Conceded 14 points
49ers: Conceded 23 points, 7 points came on a failed 4th down attempt deep in our own half, gave the 49ers the ball on our 17 yard line, so call it 16.
Cardinals: Conceded 30 points, 7 came from a Clemens INT, 7 came from a Clemens INT giving Arizona the ball on our own 27, 2 came from a safety, so call it 14/16 if Sam was the QB.
Seahawks: Conceded 27 points, 7 came from a Clemens pick 6, so call it 20.

2 questions:
1. Has our D gotten better?
2. Does anyone think our O could score 14, 16, 16 and 20 against our division opponents?

 

[-X-]

2 questions:
1. Has our D gotten better?
2. Does anyone think our O could score 14, 16, 16 and 20 against our division opponents?

That's the question. 16-20 seems to be about the most those teams are willing to give up, so we'll have to create and capitalize on turnovers ourselves.