Thoughts on Max Hall Starting

I must say I’m absolutely thrilled we made the change at quarterback.  I’m ready for the Max Hall era to begin in Arizona.  Maybe it will fizzle out.  I remember being excited for the Matt Leinart era to begin as well as the Josh McCown era too, so I may not be a good judge.  Whiz has proven to be a good judge though, and it got very hard to watch a game with DA.  Whiz said DA was pressing and trying to be perfect and that makes sense to me.  DA did make some big plays for us to get us to 2-2, but we really needed to make the change.  He just couldn't get a rhythm going, so we might as well see what we have with the kid. 

Why am I so excited about Max Hall?  He’s smart, he’s tough, he shows passion, he’s accurate, and he believes in himself.  He has everything you look for in a quarterback but the height.  Drew Brees is short too, and he just won a Super Bowl.  He is going to have his struggles for sure as a rookie, but I think he brings an instant upgrade.  The biggest problem is he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. His biggest advantage is that he's learning from Whiz. He comes from an NFL pedigree.  His Grandpa Wilford White played running back for the Bears, and his uncle was Danny White, the famous Cowboy quarterback.   

It’s too bad his first start is against Gregg Williams of New Orleans who is one of the best defensive coordinators in the league.  He is going to have to face some of the craziest blitzes and schemes that he’ll have to face all year.  We also don't know if Early Doucet or Stevie B will be back.  We can’t judge him on this game if he does poorly, but if he does well against Williams then that is a great sign.  If he can pull out a win against the Saints then I'm thinking Super Bowl as a rookie.  If he struggles I will still think anything is possible. 

It really doesn’t matter how he does if the defense doesn’t finally stand up and stop the other team from running the football.  It would be a waste for Kurt to come back with a defense that gives up 40 points against good teams.  They really have to get it together, so hopefully we can do that this week against the Saints.  They are the defending Super Bowl Champs, but I expect the Birdgang to have a shot against every team we play. 

Ideas to Fix the Defense

Moving On

I don't even want to talk about that last game.  This team is not in trouble yet, and we have too much talent to worry just yet.  We can still win the division and get it together by the playoffs.  We are still tied for first place right now, even after that debacle.  We have a lot of injuries right now and we need to make some scheme changes.  If you have read this blog before you will know that I have a lot of faith in Whiz.  I don’t have a lot of faith in Billy Davis though, and he has given me no reason to have any faith in him yet.  We have given up 40+ points in 4 of our last 6 games including last year’s 2 playoff games, because of that I have some tips for him from what I've seen.  Hopefully, this gets into the right hands, because I really think its what we need to do on defense to help the team.     

Defensive Suggestions

The problem with our defense isn’t the players, it’s the scheme.  We have a lot of talented players that aren’t being used in the right places.  Our talent isn’t suited to run a 3-4 base defense, especially without Gerald Hayes.  We need to install a 4-3 base scheme.  That’s where we are loaded on talent.  We are really deep on our d-line and not so deep at linebacker.  If Billy Davis doesn’t adjust his scheme to fit the talent he has he should be fired.  A good coach has to adjust the scheme to the talent he has, and not try to force the talent he has to play his scheme. We play the Saints next and then we have a bye, so we have a lot of time to work on the new base scheme and get it going for the rest of the season. It's not too late to make a change in the first week of October when you are 2-2.

Why we can’t run a 3-4

I hate to be negative, but we are missing the linebackers to stop the run in a 3-4.  We are missing our former captain Gerald Hayes and Dansby who were our 2 inside backers last year.  Hayes is out from injury and he is our strong side inside backer and our run stuffer.  Since we are missing Hayes, Paris Lenon has to play that spot, but he was really brought in to be the weak side inside backer to replace Dansby.  He is doing an admirable job, but he’s a fish out of water over there and it’s not capitalizing on the talent we have.  Daryl Washington was forced into the lineup early to fill that weak side spot, and while he can run as fast as the wind, he is having trouble shedding blocks like the scouting report said.  Joey Porter is more of a pass rush specialist on the outside then an every down outsider backer, and he is having trouble stopping the run.  That’s too many holes in our front 7 to stop the run.  If you can’t stop the run then the offense is going to have a lot of 3rd and shorts, and that’s the last place the defense wants to be. 

Why we should run a 4-3

We are loaded on our d-line, and we need to take advantage of it.  We are stacked and we should be getting more of them on the field than we are.  We all know about Dockett and Campbell, but our two backup defensive ends, Kenny Iwebema and Alan Branch, could be starting on any other team in the league.  The problem is they have Dockett and Campbell in front of them for playing time.  If we move to a 4-3 we can get one of them on the field at left end, and we can move Dockett to under tackle which he is more suited to play.  At that spot he is right next to Big Gabe Watson or the rookie Dan Williams, and they eat up blockers for him.  Dockett would probably be the best under tackle in the NFL right now if they played him there.  The role of that job is to penetrate and that’s what he does best.  It’s why Albert Haynesworth was so angry about moving to tackle in a 3-4 from under tackle in a 4-3, the tackle in a 3-4’s job is to eat up blocks which is a waste of Albert Haynesworth’s talent and not what he wanted to do. 

Teams would have a hell of a time running on us with a front four of Calais, Big Gabe, Dock, and Branch or Iwebema; and that's without even bringing the linebackers into it.  Those 5 can eat up 6-7 blockers on every down.  Then Daryl Washington isn’t going to have to be shedding blocks from pulling guards and his speed can be utilized as the weak side backer.  He can cover a lot of ground and help in coverage, and that would be the best way to utilize his talent.  Paris can play middle and Haggans can man the other outside.  This needs to be our base scheme to best utilize our talent.  Then we can put Joey in on nickel and dime packages to get to the quarterback and that is capitalizing on his talent.    

That is the best way to utilize all of the talent this team has.  If Billy Davis can’t figure that out then Whiz needs to get rid of him and bring in someone who can.  Maybe Billy has another idea, but if we continue to give up 40 points a game he shouldn't last as the defensive coordinator.  It's tough to give up 40 points a game a win, especially without Warner.  A good coach utilizes the talent that he has, and he builds the scheme around that.  He doesn’t force his scheme on to the players.  That is what Whiz did on offense when he came to Arizona.  Everyone knew he preferred a power running scheme, but he adjusted his scheme around Warner and all of the receivers that we had.  That is what a good coach does, so that is what we better do on defense soon.  Otherwise it’s going to be a long season watching teams run all over us. 

No Need To Panic     

There is no need to panic yet as fans.  We are 2-2 and tied for first place, and we have a lot of talent on this team.  We just need to utilize it right.  We have the Saints and then we have the bye, and after the bye we should get Early and Stevie B back from injury.  We may even get Hayes back as well.  The next 12 games are yet to be played, and the football season is a marathon and not a sprint. The Pats went 16-0 and the Colts could have if they didn't bench the starters, and neither team won the Super Bowl.