Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Watching The Next Opponent: 49ers Over The Cardinals

I didn't watch the entire game but I didn't see many good things from the Cardinals on Monday night. I've watched parts of their last two games, against the 49ers and the Vikings, and if anything, QB John Skelton looked better against the 49ers. His raw stats looked decent in both games (32 for 52, 290 yards, 1 INT against the 49ers; 25 for 36, 262 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT against the Vikings) but he looked lost against the Vikings.

In Skelton's defense, his offensive line is terrible. The Cards' offensive tackles can't block, and the possible return of RG Adam Snyder isn't going to solve that problem. You can see it in their league leading 39 sacks allowed (the Packers are a distant second at 28), but also in their 31st ranked run offense (79 per game). Most of Skelton's 290 yards passing came in second half, when the game was well out of hand. It's a brutal offense.

Their defense was terrible against the 49ers (Alex Smith set a completion percentage record by completing 18 of 19 pas attempts) but it's been better than that this season. They completely owned QB Christian Ponder the week before (which might not be a big deal) and their defense was ranked No. 5 overall by Football Outsiders coming into the 49ers game. WR Jordy Nelson is close to returning, and despite what you saw against the 49ers, they'll need him to keep ahead of the Cardinals.

No comments: