RealGM

MadCityBucky wrote:The Cardinals haven't had a great preseason so far but this should be a great test for both the defense and offense as they should see a lot of time from first team players of the defending NFC champions.

Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Time: 9 PM CDT
Date: Friday, August 27

Ill-yasova wrote:

MadCityBucky wrote:The Cardinals haven't had a great preseason so far but this should be a great test for both the defense and offense as they should see a lot of time from first team players of the defending NFC champions.

Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Time: 9 PM CDT
Date: Friday, August 27

Today is the 27th. I know It's my birthday. Quarter century year old. Who wants to throw dirt on me first?

MadCityBucky wrote:-Steve Breaston and Boldin are both likely out due to minor injuries.
-Clay Matthews and Thompson out
-Barnett expected to play
-Sutton to get reps on first team

Ill-yasova wrote:Today is the 27th. I know It's my birthday. Quarter century year old. Who wants to throw dirt on me first?

Ryan5UW wrote:

Ill-yasova wrote:Today is the 27th. I know It's my birthday. Quarter century year old. Who wants to throw dirt on me first?

Happy Birthday! (oh, and she's just not good at math)

Phoenix -- We're now less than eight hours from game time out here in the desert.

While there can be no doubt the Packers have been extremely impressive through the first two exhibition games against the Browns (31st total offense in 2008) and the Bills (25th), as Tom Silverstein wrote today, Green Bay will get a better barometer for itself against the Cardinals at 9 p.m.

It's one thing to shut out the lowly Cleveland Browns and dominate a Terrell Owens-less Buffalo Bills. It's another to beat up the Arizona Cardinals, the defending NFC champions, whose:

Head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, and running game coordinator, Russ Grimm, came from the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, where the system that coordinator Dom Capers is installing with the Packers originated.
Schedule has included two of its last three games against the Steelers.
Offense regularly faces a 3-4 defense in practice and, unlike the Browns and Bills, has a veteran quarterback - Kurt Warner - running the show.
And if anybody needed some perspective, remember how the Packers had their lunch handed to them by the San Francisco 49ers 34-6 last season:


The offensive line fell apart against the 49ers' 3-4 zone blitz scheme and allowed quarterback Aaron Rodgers to be sacked four times. Rodgers, in turn, struggled mightily and completed 9 of 16 passes for just 68 yards.

When the regular season hit, the 49ers, who looked so dominant that night, wound up being a middle-of-the-road defense and ranked tied for 16th in sacks. The Packers, who looked so inept that night, went on to rank eighth in total offense and fifth in points.

The lesson is that offenses don't prepare that much for opponents in their first two exhibition games and therefore usually have considerable trouble against defenses that run complicated blitz schemes.


Also worth keeping an eye on tonight, RB DeShawn Wynn, who has gotten just eight carries so far. Tyrell Sutton will also get a chance to lock up a roster spot by playing some with the first team.

The Cardinals are also using this game as a measuring stick -- for their pass defense, which gave up a league-leading 36 touchdowns last season.

The Cardinals have been helped by getting pretty good pressure up front. They sacked Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers four times, so the newly anointed offensive line of the Packers should also get tested.

Last night, Cardinals star receiver Larry Fitzgerald played nice by going out to dinner with Nick Barnett, Greg Jennings, Ruvell Martin, James Jones and Donald Driver for dinner at Morton's Steakhouse.

Jennings and Fitzgerald worked out in the off-season in Minnesota.

paulpressey25 wrote:I see some similarities with he and Joe Alexander. Both guys just look lost out there at many points.

McCarthy basically said Brohm needs to pick up his play: "He needs to go out there and have some success Friday. Then I think he can take the next step. He's had some tough moments throughout the preseason, both this year and last year, but he's a strong-willed young man. He's working hard and he's doing all of the right things that are necessary to put himself in position to be successful, and I'm hopeful he'll have some success on Friday."