Cardinals show weakness and strength versus the Saints

 

The Arizona Cardinals has some bright spots during Saturdays Hall of Fame game, unfortunately for them most of the bright spots were 2nd and third unit players.

Kevin Kolb under pressure last season in Seattle

The first unit offense was anemic at best. They couldn’t even manage a first down versus the Saints first unit defense. Kevin Kolb started the pre-season just like he played last season, terrible and then he got hurt. His first pass was intercepted due to his inability to read a defense. He did make one good play when he found a target as he was falling to the ground in the end-zone but that is also the play where he got a rib contusion and left the game.

In all fairness to all three quarterbacks who played for the Cardinals they got no help from their offensive line. The Cardinal offensive line appears to be implementing the Swiss cheese blocking scheme.

Defensively they looked decent although they need to work on tackling and they showed a weakness against miss direction plays. They need to learn to be a bit more patient to avoid getting suckered out of position.

As far as the rookie go; undrafted free agent wide receiver Trey Grey muffed a punt but overall they got a good performance from their rookie class. Fellow undrafted free agent wide receiver LaRon Byrd had a very solid game using his body to shield defenders from the ball and using his 6’4″ height and long arms to go up and high point the pass. This kid looked very good in his first live action as a pro. 6th round pick Ryan Lindley looked like a 6th round rookie quarterback, very inconsistent and missing high a lot (very well could be nerves). Defensive rookie defensive backs 6th round pick  Justin Bethel and undrafted free agent Eddie Elder gave the Saints all they could handle. Bethel delivered a big special teams hit and had a blocked field goal while Eddie Elder had a couple nice hits including a crushing blow on Saints receiver Andy Tanner causing him to fumble.

 

T.O. to Seattle?

Dave “Softy” Mahler (KJR-950 Radio host in Seattle) originally broke the news that Terrell Owens was planning on a trip to Seattle. Later in the evening the Seahawks confirmed that he was coming in for a workout. The Seahawks released Antonio Bryant during the weekend but brought in a kicker so the roster is at 90 without Owens.

The last time Terrell Owens played was for the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League. At the time I was covering the Everett Raptors of the same league and according to Raptors personnel Owens was released due to his failure to attend team meetings. His contract with the Wranglers gave him partial ownership in the team on top of the salary that is the same for every player in the league. According to this raptor employee his contracted stated that he was not required to attend away games but he was required to attend team meetings and practice. Failure to comply would lead to his release and forfeiture of his ownership in the team. Owens could not be bothered with living up to his responsibilities outlined by the contract and was released from the lowest level of professional football.

Now the Seahawks want to give him a chance? I see no reason to think this guy has changed and think the risk of his attitude being a cancer in the locker room is far greater than what he can bring to the team. A Seahawks employee told me just last week that T.O. was a guy who teammates can’t stand and went to the extent of saying “T.O. is the definition of narcissistic” those are pretty strong words from a current Seahawks employee who has been in the league for decades.