Greetings from the Cardinals

[Cardinal Nation]

Hi there, just came across from forums.azcardinals.com to say hi, and good luck for Saturday night's game. Happy to answer any questions you guys have, if you'd be so kind as to answer mine that'd be grand

But I'd like to start off by saying thank you for not being a fan base of outrageous pillocks like Atlanta had. I went over there, posted exactly the same, and got 5068 replies of 'I don't think we should even play our starters on Saturday, just rest them for the week after'. But I digress...

Anyways, just wanted to say hi, and here's to an excellent game of football on Saturday.

[Kyle82]

Thank you for the classy first post and believe me.....we ALL know what it's like talking to a Falcons fan.....the Saints are the same way.

Looking forward to chatting with you guys this week!

[Darth Biscuit]

ATL fans being douchenozzles, whodathunkit?

[Cardinal Nation]

ATL fans being douchenozzles, whodathunkit?

Lol, one guy honestly told me that Jenkins/White was a more potent receiver combo than Boldin/Fitzgerald/Breaston. I was like 'well, I tried to be nice...'

Anyways, I'll get the ball rolling here, any injury concerns for you guys? Not necessarily official, but did anyone come up gimpy recently that would be a concern. I'm sure you know about Q pulling his hammy after his long TD catch and run, and I assure you it won't keep him out for this game, but he won't be 100%, which is a big blow. Thing is though, I tend to go on the impression that Q would try and play even if he lost one of his arms...

[Kyle82]

We've been without our two starting defensive tackles (Kemo and Lewis) the last couple of games and our starting offensive lineman (Otah) had a toe injury against the Saints but the bye week should have done wonders for all three.....not aware of any more injuries.

[Darth Biscuit]

Well, that's not so bad... I thought you meant that they were being jerks... I can't blame someone too bad for being a homer. There have been a lot of ATL fans on here talking serious sh*t which is fine, but only in the smack forum.

I will say that Boldin and Fitz impressed me greatly in our regular season game against you guys. They are very good. Injury wise, the only one I'm really concerned about it Kemo at DT. I haven't heard much about him, although I'm sure we will once they start practicing this week.

[peculiarpanther]

Looking forward to the game, especially the Smith vs. DRC matchup. But, the Panthers should win the game. They play well at home; they are built for the playoffs; the defense is healthy; and they are a more veteran group.

I also really like Fitzgerald! He is my second favorite WR in the league.

Panthers 31 Arizona 24

[SCP]

There was another Cardinals fan that posted on here prior to our regular season game this season and he was a pretty cool dude.

The Cards running game is not my concern.

Warner + Bolden + Fitzgerald / Ken Lucas the last four weeks = My Concern

[joemac]

I cant believe that the line for the game is almost 10 points....thats crazy big for a playoff game. We are excellent at home this year though, and AZ is pretty bad on the road. I think that we should win this one pretty handidly.

I say Cats: 31

Cards: 17

[SCP]

Looking forward to the game, especially the Smith vs. DRC matchup. But, the Panthers should win the game. They play well at home; they are built for the playoffs; the defense is healthy; and they are a more veteran group.

We struggled against them earlier at home. The key is #90 getting to Warner all night long. Warner is great at getting the ball off to avoid sacks and the Cards O-Line just shut down Abraham.

The health of our Defense has not been officially announced. We need Kemo and Lewis to create pressure.

Otah and Hangartner need to be healthy as well.

[cookinwithgas]

The good thing about this game is that we have the capability to get into a shootout when necessary, and we going to be better at clock control and grinding down the defense (where they can just wait our defense out till they start blowing up as usual). The bad thing about this game is that the Cards can get lucky and put up points throught the air in a hurry, but that will lead to a turnover or two, even against us.

[Cardinal Nation]

We went back to the run last week, and we have a refreshed Edge, which helped, but I think our success there came mainly from the fact that Atlanta was bricking themselves about our passing game, which was a mistake IMHO. Basically, unless you have an awesome defensive unit, we WILL pass all over you, and Atlanta didn't have a good enough unit, so they were caught in no man's land, unable to truely stop either the run or the pass. You D scares me though, because you generate such big pressure with your front 4. If you blitz Warner he will tear you apart, but he struggles when you can rush 4 and drop 7 into coverage. I have a feeling we will try the run out, but if it isn't working early, Whis will drop it.

I think Carolina has a clear advantage here, but I have to say I was amazed by how well our D played against Atlanta, they literally blew them out of the water. That along with the fact that our O-line man-handled Abraham all day was enough to give us a win.

The road scares me, because our team plays so well at home. Apart from the giant egg we laid against Minnesota, we have hung tough and beaten some of the best at home under Whisenhunt. I hope that our D has the same intensity that they had last week against you guys, because it was a joy to watch.

[SCP]

Your D played lights out. I attribute that to the home crowd a little. Sounded loud as hell in the dome. Hopefully you guys peaked yesterday, because shutting down Turner was pretty impressive.

I expect Arizona to get their yardage through the air, that is almost a no brainer. The key will be establishing our ground game and taking control of Time of Possesion; keeping Warner, Bolden, and Larry off the field.

[Cardinal Nation]

Your D played lights out. I attribute that to the home crowd a little. Sounded loud as hell in the dome. Hopefully you guys peaked yesterday, because shutting down Turner was pretty impressive.

I expect Arizona to get their yardage through the air, that is almost a no brainer. The key will be establishing our ground game and taking control of Time of Possesion; keeping Warner, Bolden, and Larry off the field.

Man, it brought a tear to my eye to here the Nest rocking like last weekend. Yeah, I think a decent amount of the intensity showed by our D was due to crowd noise.

And you nailed it, a good ball control offense is the best defense against Warner, Boldin, Fitz and Breaston. I just really hope that our mental toughness can show through on the road. I really believe the reason that we shut Turner down was relentless gap control. That and Dansby was just all over Turner's backside all day long. Or at least long enough for us to rack up some score, and make dear old 'Matty Ice' start slinging the ball around.

DRC on Smith should be a good match-up. The rook is crazy talented, but has been schooled a number of times by crafty vets. Lee Evans gave him one shoulder fake and blasted past him for an easy 74 yarder against Buffalo. But he has matured over the season, and if he gets his hands on one, watch out, he is crazy, crazy fast. He took one back 100 yards against St. Louis, and 4/5 players had the angle, but he kicked it into about 9th gear, and flat out gassed them along the sideline.