The Cardinals Are Who We Thought They Were
Often times it is hard to find good information from a single source. I have subscribed to several periodicals online, listen to numerous broadcast, listen to the opposing teams podcast and all the daily sports. I depend on the ability to reason and listening to the crowd. I am fortunate enough to be a part of a major group that has over 27,000 posters. I will appeal to them for information and they do not disappoint. They give me the wisdom of the crowd.
One of the first comments was, Stop Larry Fitzgerald. This team still has some players who could do major damage on the field and Larry Fitzgerald is one of them. Fitzgerald is one of two wide receivers who has caught a pass from Sam Bradford in this short season. He is still capable of amassing 100 receptions and 1000 yards in a year. Old man river is still flowing along.
Of course from the Cardinals standpoint, the other comment was stop David Johnson. Oddly enough the Cardinals coaching staff has systematically stopped Johnson themselves. They have done that by primarily running Johnson between the tackles. They have been using this player who could easily be a wide receiver almost as a fullback. Traps are sometimes knowingly set or circumstances line up to set a trap. I am concern for the Bears, that this is a trap. We know Johnson can catch the ball out of the backfield, we understand he can run wild on a team if he is let loose, and if you play fantasy football, he is the ideal kind of running back you want on your team. So with so much fire power, why in the world would the coaching staff from the Cardinals run their electrifying running back David Johnson at Ndamukong Suh and Aaron Donald over and over again?
Did Sam Bradford predict the playbook earlier in the week when he said, they need more check down passes to David Johnson? I am wondering why they haven't played to Johnson's strength. His ability is obvious and this concerns me as a Bear fan. If the Cardinals start clicking with Fitzgerald, then they could come back with passes to Johnson making the Bears defense tired and wearing them down. What the Chicago Bears do not want to do is poke the sleeping bird.
There was one fan who made a telling observation, James Little said, "Their receivers get open really fast and Bradford is surprisingly accurate. I re-watched their game against the Rams and the Cardinals are every bit as dangerous at the last two teams we have faced."
The Bears have to hope the Cardinals do not adjust to what they were doing wrong. I think it is most likely they are going to come out differently against the Bears. If they do, it could be a tighter game than most fans expect or want to see. Someone in the crowd said, "Before the season started, the Bears were underdogs in this game." Right now, I believe they are favored by less than a touchdown and Vegas is predicting this game as the lowest scoring game of the week.
However, to look at the conversation evolving, if Bradford should put in a less than stellar performance or if the Cardinals decide to shockingly put in Josh Rosen, the game has all bets off and things will be eerily unpredictable for both the Bears and the Cards. Bradford has been underwhelming to say the least. Many Arizona fans feel his time has come to become the teams second quarter back. He has done a lot of dink and dunking passes. I am under the impression that he would make Dowell Loggains game plan look like a wild man. If Bradford does not get bailed out by David Johnson, we might see Rosen. As limited as Bradford is, may we see Rosen start this game?
