Cardinals Preseason week 1

First off, let me start off by saying let's take everything in the first preseason game with a grain of salt.  Nothing is more annoying then fans over reacting to something they see in an early preseason game.

That being said, let's see how the offense did early on.

Kolb in two drives went 4-7 with 68 yards.  43 of them came on a nice deep ball to Fitzgerald which he caught by pinning the ball against his helmet with one hand.  In a strategy that I loved, they went right back to the same play but ended up with an incomplete pass.  Kolb seems to be looking to Fitzgerald early and often and why can you blame him?  No other first string WRs really stood out as they had very limited time with Kolb.  Roberts fumbled once again on a punt, but I doubt he'll be doing that in the regular season anyways.  Doucet was able to make some catches but more importantly stay healthy.  Heap made a few nice catches, but left the field with a finger injury but it doesn't seem serious.  Beanie had a few nice runs early on but was stuffed numerous times on the goal line resulting in a turnover on downs. The biggest disappointment no surprise was the offensive line.  This group will definitely need to improve if the Cardinals are to be successful this year.  Kolb was under pressure but was able to make the only play and throw the ball away.

John Skelton went 6/10 and threw a nice 18 yard touchdown pass to Stephen Williams who continues his impressive preseason stats from last year.  Skelton like Kolb, was under major pressure early on, but on the touchdown he got good protection and stood in the pocket long enough to allow the route to develop.
Ryan Williams looked very effective in his limited work.  Granted it was against 3rd string players, but he seems to have a strong desire to continue moving the pile and carry defenders.  He also had a nice catch out of the backfield for 24 yards.  DeMarco Sampson continued his strong off-season getting 2 catches for 47 yards including a jump ball. He also had a nice block which allowed Isiah Williams to score on a touchdown late.  Bartel had some nice throws early, and some absolute ducks later on that were begging to be picked off.  Ironies of irony, Max Hall ended the night with the best passer rating of the bunch, which is hilarious to think about but is meaningless.  On a side note, I was really impressed with Lutui's spirit out there.  Despite getting stuck on 2nd and 3rd string duties, he was out there giving it his all and cheering and celebrating with the guys who made big plays.  I can't explain why, but I was just really impressed by it.  Other than that, not much else to report on for the offense.

On the defensive side of the ball the biggest standout had to be AJ Jefferson.  He had some really impressive plays early on, but he did get burned on a 3rd down pass across the middle.  He was able to rebound the very next play showing impressive closing speed to break up a pass.  Richard Marshall also got beat deep, but then came back and made a nice deflection to break up a touchdown.  Once again the D showed their "bend not break" mentality in giving up decent chunks of yards but keeping the opposing team to FGs.  This team needs to improve on getting off the field early on in drives.  Long drives will gas a defense as last season clearly showed.  Washington looks faster and stronger, they were even using him as a gunner on punts.  Campbell made a very intelligent play, sniffing out a reverse early on and extending the running back out far enough to let Porter finish him off.  I liked the fight this defense showed early on, not shying away from getting into a scruff despite it being the preseason.  Early on Dan Williams received a late cheap shot getting tossed to the ground after the play, and who was there to back him up?  None other than Darnell Dockett rushing to the pile to pick people up and shove them away. I would like to get a chance for O'Brien Schofield to see more playing time then he did, hopefully some with at least the first stringers if not the second.  I primarily only saw him on a few plays and on punt returns rushing the kicker.  Patrick Peterson had a relatively quiet night but did have a solid 25 yard kickoff return.  He got beat on a couple of quick short routes, but that's to be expected from a rookie.  I did see him give a nice hard jam to a receiver on a play that was called back due to a false start.  Hopefully he is as physical in pass coverage as rumors state.

 Other than that, nothing much to report from a week 1 preseason battle.  It is usually weeks two and three where the starters see extended playing time so I'll be able to give a more in-depth analysis next week.