Checking in on the Cards

The St. Louis Cardinals haven't done anything so far this offseason, other than continue to try and idiot-proof the coaching staff to protect Matheny from himself. As for the Arizona Cardinals, David Johnson probably isn't coming back for this lost season. Carson Palmer's arm was broken, bringing on Drew Stanton. Which can work against the 49ers, but not against the Seahawks.

Bruce Arians is still 3-2-1 against Seattle when he has Palmer, and now 0-3 when he doesn't. Although the 22-16 loss this week was much closer than the two previous attempts. Probably says more about how much Seattle's declined/in transition than Arizona.

The Cardinals, desperate for any running game, traded for Adrian Peterson. Who managed to become team leader in rushing yards after exactly one game. The team's yards per carry has risen a full three-tenths of a yard over the last 5 games, from 2.7 to 3.0. Like the team in general, Peterson ran well against the lousy Niners and Buccaneers, and poorly against the Rams and Seattle. You know, competent franchises.

I, against my better judgment, watched a little of the game against Seattle. Enough to get really down on JJ Nelson. I came in at two different points, and each timed watched him let a ball sail right through his hands that could have been a big play. And he was open enough both times, they weren't particularly difficult catches by NFL standards. He just fucked up.

The sad thing is, according to Pro-Football Reference, still the second most reliable wideout the team has in catch %. Nelson has a 55.3%; Fitzgerald has a 68.2. John and Jaron Brown have 39.0 and 47.9% respectively. Andre Ellington and Jermaine Gresham, the only other players with more than 10 catches, both have Catch % around 66%. So I'm letting a couple bad plays overly impact my perspective, but it's still irritating.

Phil Dawson has missed 6 field goals, 4 of them from 30-39 yards, which is lousy. No one other than Chandler Jones gets any sacks (he has 10 of the 23). They are - surprise! - not a good team. They might be able to beat the Texans next week (if they keep starting Tom Savage), and probably the shitbag Giants. I suppose there's always a chance Blake Bortles could hand them a win, although the Jags seem aware enough of his limitations to avoid that. The Cards will probably end up with 5-7 wins, a situation I'm pretty familiar with.