Chargers-Cardinals Review

[Fleet]

Rivers has an easy TD if not for the penalty. That was a nicely drawn up play to Woodhead.

[Den60]

I find it a bit worrisome that we gave up 120 yards on the ground to a team that ranked dead last running the ball last year. Mendenhall and Smith averaged over 8.25 yards per carry. On offense a lot depends on the health of Mathews. I don't walk away from this game looking at Rivers stats and think a 3.9 ypa average and a 41.7 QBR is going to beat a lot of teams this year.

[Thunder Thighs]

One thing I noticed is they started the game in a 4-3, with JJ and Freeney at DE with their hands on the ground, and Reyes and Thomas as the DTs. Liuget didn't start and his absence in run defense was obvious.

On the first snap, Freeney's hand was off the ground at the snap while the other three were still down. Freeney is so quick at the snap.

I'm not sure I like JJ playing so close to the tackle with his hands down. I think he is more effective if he has a little bit of space to work with. On the second snap, he got handled by the right tackle pretty well. On the sack, he lined up wider and got to Palmer.

On the second defensive series, English came in for JJ. English had his hand off the ground, while Freeney played with his hand on the ground. 3 and out.

On the third defensive series, English moved to the other side and put his hand on the ground. It looked like JJ was at OLB . Freeney was out of the lineup to start the series. Reyes moved from DT to DE, opposite English. Gaithers came in at DT alongside Thomas. The Cards were able to move the ball against this unit, but kind of shot themselves in the foot when Palmer and their WR misconnected on 3rd down. The WR appeared to give up on the ball, but on the other hand, the Cards were stopped when Freeney came back in and it appeared Palmer threw the ball in a hurry. Freeney definitely makes an impact even if he is not making a sack.

I thought English looked pretty good on the 3rd series. He forced a holding penalty with one of his pass rushes. He also did a great job reading the play and shedding to make a tackle on the sideline. But I also thought on Mendenhall's 13 yard run that he should have covered the gap to the other side of JJ, but he over ran it and crashed into the same gap that Thomas was in. Bird had the gap covered but was flat footed and got taken out easily by the FB.

Johnny Patrick looked a little clueless on that pass completion to Fitzgerald. He never saw the ball coming. Cox made a great play deflecting a pass to Fitz.

[Formula 21]

5219dab3b6e3b.preview-620.jpg
San Diego Chargers defensive back William Middleton, right, loses his helmet as he tackles Arizona Cardinals running back Alfonso Smith, left, during the first half of a preseason NFL football game, Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)


Not sure if this picture paste worked, but the caption is funny.

[ArtistFormerlyKnownAsBKR]

They obviously didnt look at the name on the jersey LOL

[Beerman]

Our rushing defense is a legit concern, but also of note is that we were in the nickel till the third defensive series. Think McCoy wanted to work on some things there.

[homeless simpson]

I find it a bit worrisome that we gave up 120 yards on the ground to a team that ranked dead last running the ball last year

preseason.

[Den60]

preseason.

Yes it is. Just wanted to temper the good with the bad to provide a balanced review. But it does fall under my concerns that losing Luiget would be devastating to this defense. KC can run the ball and has a better o-line. Denver won't be as good running the ball as KC but their o-line is better than Arizona's. I don't worry about Oakland's offense save for McFadden.

[Beerman]

RunDMC should be injured by the time we face them. That guy has been such a disappointment.

[thelightningwill]

just finished watching it again.

QB:

- Rivers was solid again. I'm liking how he's not hesitant to step into the pocket. On the interception the lineman stripped it out of rivers hand as he was throwing it. Can't put that one on Rivers. Two 80+ yard drives? Yes please

- Whitehurst was alright, nothing really good nothing really bad

- Sorensen same thing but he's a rookie and I love his composure.

RB:

- Mathews continues his impressive preseason. The fumble ruined a perfect night. Didn't have two hands on the ball, which to me is a must at the goaline.

- Fozzy made some plays. Looks better than Ronnie Brown who looks done to me.

- Baker was the more impressive than Fozzy to me. Showed speed and power. 6:21 4th quarter put a defensive lineman on his ass with a stiff arm then showed speed to get outside. Would have loved to seen Baker get time with the twos. Maybe Thursday.

- Rivers is gonna love those dumpoffs to Woodhead

- McClain put whoever the Cards punter is on his ass on Allens long return, then made sure to shove his head into the dirt too. Loved it.

WR:

- Nothing good, bad or new to report here. Meachem still sucks. Allen is going to be a weapon on screens. Goodman can be cut tomorrow for all I care. Team needs to find a KR/PR ASAP.

TE:

- Green needs time with the ones. I didn't see him get any reps with them tonight. He's too good to be standing on the sidelines. His blocking is also much better. 14:23 3rd quarter, his block springs a long run by Whittaker.

OL:

- Dunlap near perfect again in pass protection. Keeps reminding me of McNeill. Sucks in the run game just like he did too.

- Hardwick bodyslammed Dan Williams at the 4:07 mark in the 1st quarter. Best block of the night.

- I'm going to keep saying it, Clary is legit at guard. He had his way with Darnell Dockett all night. 13:04 mark 1st quarter he pancakes Dockett. 3:50 mark 2nd quarter he stonewalls Dockett in pass pro, showing great hand use/punch. 2:13 mark 2nd quarter he stonewalls Dockett in pass pro again. He had numerous other pancakes in run blocking. I just stopped counting. He allowed one pressure all night. I don't know what Clary was ever doing at tackle. He is made for guard.

- Fluker was dominant in run blocking as usual but his pass protection was much much better. 13:06 1st quarter, pancakes Dockett. Very next play he pancakes Dansby. 9:41 mark 1st quarter he collapses the whole right side of the line. Did the same thing on Mathews' TD. 2:37 mark 2nd quarter, clears out Dockett. He was however beat by honeybadger on Rivers' INT. It forced Clary to abandon his guy who ended up getting a hand on the ball. This was Flukers only mistake.

- Ohrnberger or whatever was the backup center, ahead of Molk and looked a lot better than him too. Molk will probably get cut.

- Troutman had a solid all around game. Much better in pass pro. Didn't give up any pressures and moved people in the run game as usual.

- Still don't trust Harris but he had a decent game. Did see him get beat twice however, just didn't cost the team. I think it's interesting that Harris was the one that went in when Dunlap got hurt. Could he make it over Starks? There's $2 million reasons why he could.

- Sidenote: Check out the pass protection at 3:50 in the 2nd quarter. PERFECT. Everyone up front dominated on this play.


DEFENSE

DL:

- Freeney was insane tonight. I counted SEVEN pressures, not including his sack. If he plays like that during the regular season, watch out

- Cam Thomas was a wall. 11:10 mark 1st quarter he blows up the line to stop Mendenhall in the backfield for a loss. Saw him collapse the pocket routinely.

- Scafe has potential. I don't think baby Spanos was completely blowing smoke when he hyped him. 2:44 mark 1st quarter he tackles Mendenhall with one hand. Great show of strength there. He's still inconsistent but he shows an ability to shed blocks. He's been better than Wynn.

- Geathers is hard to move. Didn't really see him penetrate but I also didn't see him get pushed at all and he was going up against starters. Did see him push back Cooper on one play but I forgot to write down the time.

LB:

- English had an excellent game. Numerous pressures and made a great play setting the edge and pursuing at the 12:45 mark in the 2nd quarter.

- Bird gets blown up in the running game easily but is decent in coverage. DJ Smith is better than him though and I think it's only a matter of time before he loses his spot to him on the depth chart.

- Gachkar showed awareness. He's an improving player and is a key special teamer.

- Tourek had momentum going into the preseason games but he hasn't really done anything since. Keiser should be ahead of both him and Beltre. Keiser had a great game. 1:35 mark 3rd quarter with the spin move to get the sack. No doubt he learned that from Freeney. I love his size too. Beltre is a practice squad guy to me right now. He hustles his ass off but his tackling and pass rush need work.

DB:

- Taylor looked a lot more physical than Gilchrist. While Gilchrist was "just there", Taylor was a lot more aggressive and had no problems getting his nose in there in the run game. Nice forced fumble too. Gilchrist is probably better in coverage but I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor is starting ahead of Gilchrist before the season is over.

- Addae is interesting. His awareness/instinct/acceleration at the 7:05 mark in the 2nd quarter was awesome. His tackling? terrible. If he makes that tackle, that's the highlight of the game defensively IMO. Tackling can be taught. Instincts like he has? not so much. Question is, do they put him on the PS or does he make the team?


thats all I got for now. I'll add more in this thread if I think of anything.

Not to be picky, but McNeill did not suck in the run game (not unless you count his last couple games - in which case, he sucked at everything). He's one reason why Tomlinson holds the single-season record for most points.

[Beerman]

McNeil was definitely a pretty good all around LT. Combined with Dielman, our left side was dominant.

[Den60]

RunDMC should be injured by the time we face them. That guy has been such a disappointment.

And you could say the same about Mathews if you'd like to be fair.