5 Questions with AZ Cardinals' Writer About OLine & Hightower Trade

Or did you possibly mean shootout?

But I’m not expecting a blowout either. It will be close. And we still have to see if the Skins can win the “easy” games.

Their comments on Rex’s mobility are eerily similar to what several analysts said about the Giants vs Rex.

I think so long as Rex holds onto the ball we’ll be fine on this one.

Is Steve Smith really that much better than Santana Moss? They are both the same age and Santana has been more productive in recent years.

If he isn’t held in check, Rex will cough up the ball more than once.

But the prospect of Reed Doughty being ANYWHERE NEAR Larry Fitgerald makes me puke in my mouth.

we win this one 30- 24. That’s if we can hold Mr. Fitzgerald to under 100 yards and only 1 TD.

Skins win big 34-14.

Won’t be easy! But a win. If the D can stand up to their threats I believe the O can get enough points to win.

Our secondary is weak, but the rest of the D is pretty solid. Carolina has a pretty good offensive line and we shut down their run attack. I am a Hightower fan but he isn’t Johnathon Stewart or DeAngelo Williams. We aren’t the depleted and overrated Giants.
I know people are talking shoot out, but I actually see a low scoring affair. I think your defense will give our line (mostly Levi Brown) lots of trouble. From what little I know about your team, it sounds our Dline could do the same to your line.
IMO it will come down to the QB who doesn’t turn it over.

CUZ DA SKINS ARE GONNA WIN!

Steve Smith is prolly the better option alone when comparing receivers, but I’d take our WR core over Carolina’s, definitely.
Grossman might not be the athletic God that Cam is, but I think it’s more about the Cardinals not really having as great a rush as they wish, not Cam’s being mobile. Dockett? Porter? IIIIIIIIIIIIIII donno…
I’m definitely as worried as last week, going into this one cuz I’ve learned as a Redskins fan never to go in thinking you’re better on paper and should win it outright. That goes for the league in general. I definitely think we have some advantages, but that’s not always good enough.
Skins 24
Cards 20
I’m picking Skins for the same reason he picked the Cards above… Blind fanboyness

Unless you’re counting the prediction as #5.

Here’s my take on them as an alternative Cardinals fan perspective.

1. State of the Cards O-line. The tackles are the weak point. They are not strong in pass protection. That is where the pressure will come from. Kevin Kolb needs to step up in the pocket more to help them out. He was dropping a bit too far back on some plays against Carolina. By the second half he was leaving the pocket prematurely due to the poor play at tackle. The interior line is looking sharp. Signed free agent left guard Daryn Colledge (from Packers), resigned our own free agent center Lyle Sendlein and Rex Hadnot has taken over for Deuce (too fat for Cincinatti) Lutui at right guard. (The Cardinals resigned Deuce after the Bengals showed him the door).

2. Cards run & pass defenses. The run defense did look great. The Cardinals have had stellar games versus the run before. I’m not assuming it will remain consistant. New DC Ray Horton’s scheme is to stop the run on the way to the quarterback. You could tell they game planned for Cam Newton specifically last week. The rush was very disciplined and cut off escape routes. It could stand to pick up the tempo a bit.

The secondary got beat up. They played a lot of zone with two first time starters at corner. I expect the secondary to continue to have growing pains as the season progresses. It would benefit them to play more man coverage. It is simpler for the two corners and they are both good at it. When they played man coverage against Carolina Newton had no one to pass to and ended up on the ground.

3. I am more a Kolb fan now than I was at this time last week. He finally had the kind of game I needed to see from him in a Cardinals uniform. A refreshing change from last season. I knew they were going to be put over the barrel for Kolb. Wasn’t too happy about the deal. Didn’t want to give up Rodgers-Cromartie at the time, but accepted it as the price we had to pay.

4. Fan reactions are all over the spectrum regarding the Hightower trade. Some thought Beanie Wells should have been the one to go. Some want to use revisionist strategies to keep Hightower, Wells and Ryan Williams. The simple truth was that Hightower had to be the odd man out. He was a restricted free agent. Beanie has years left under contract. With Williams in the picture someone had to go. Hightower had a serious fumbling problem in Arizona. Other than that he was a good running back. Not great but solid. He will occasionally break off a huge run for you. If he can keep a hold on the ball he should do well in Washington. I think it’s a win-win deal for both teams. The Redskins got a decent running back. The Cardinals got a late round draft pick and the defensive line depth they needed. (BTW Vonnie Holliday has been kicking ass as a rotational player for us). I certainly don’t see it as being fleeced as we had a surplus of running backs to begin with and the trade value of a running back seems to be dropping to an all time low. If Ryan Williams hadn’t torn his patellar tendon in the preseason there wouldn’t have been any doubts remaining in Arizona about trading Hightower. Now we are crossing our fingers that he returns healthy.

Prediction – I’m going to hedge my bet and say that Washington wins a close one. The Cardinals travelling to the east coast is bad news. Skins 28 – Cards 27