Arizona Cardinals’ Bye Week

As we hit the mid-year point of the NFL season, appropriately enough our Cardinals have a bye week. And what better time to see where they stand as they cross the Atlantic back into the states from their atrocious week overseas.

Question of Carson

Unfortunately, we have to start with Carson…Carson, Carson Carson. Have we seen the last of number three? Palmer broke his left arm in London and will have to undergo surgery and miss eight weeks. If you asked me this a week ago, I would have had a high letter for the veteran QB but now…I’ll settle on a B. On the field, with everything that he’s had to put up with this season, from the lack of an O-Line to an almost non-existent running game, it was a trying year that potentially came to an end last week. More importantly, I gave Carson a B because he made us all B-elieve and if this is the end of him under center, thank you, Carson!

Offense

On to the offensive line. Bloody ugly. Ugh, sorry that must have carried over from London. Anyhoo, not only have they allowed the most sacks, they haven’t been able to stay on the field. They are going to have to improve on this greatly and now protect Drew Stanton if they hope to return to their top 10 form of a year ago. We have seen flashes of brilliance recently from this O-Line but we need to see a lot more consistency in the second half. Right now they are barely passing with a D. Health will be a great factor in their final grade.

Onto the backfield…. a giant “I” for Incomplete: How am I supposed to grade something that isn’t done? That would be like grading a peanut and butter and jelly without the jelly. We are two weeks into the AP era and so far, one week great…one week, not so much. In this post-Palmer land, AP is going to have to be a factor in the upcoming weeks.

As far as the receiving, I want to give them a J. As in JJ Nelson. If the Cardinals are going to be successful in the second half, JJ has to be the Robin to Fitzs‘ Batman.

Defense

Moving on to the Defense, I give them a C. As in I need to seeeeee more out of them. Seeeeeee, what I did there?! Yes, Tyvon Branch leads the league in tackles at 55, but there have been way too many games that opponents have come back to win or made contests too close for comfort. The defense needs to stay consistent.

That’s all I’ve got, how about you?!

[NFL-Cardinals-footer] [NFL-Crucial-Catch]

Photo Credits:

• Arizona Cardinals on Wikimedia Commons by Moe Epsilon
• Carson Palmer on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Bealle
• Flag of the United Kingdom on Wikipedia
• Drew Stanton on Wikimedia Commons by Jeffrey Beall