Clayton Tune: The Fateful Path of an NFL Legacy by Walter Mitchell photo: @azcardinals.com via Instagram During the second night of the 2023 NFL Draft, Clayton Tune received a call from the Green Bay Packers. The Packers wanted to assure Clayton of their interest in drafting the University of Houston quarterback at some point on day three. When the Arizona Cardinals selected Clayton Tune with the #139 pick a day later, he was surprised, given that the Cardinals had not expressed any significant interest in him during the pre-draft process. The Cardinals were not one of the six teams that brought him in for 30 visits (Texans, Saints, Browns, Steelers, Bucs, Giants). Tune had also been given a private workout by the Rams. The eventual link the Cardinals had to Clayton Tune was that Israel Woolfork was one of his coaches at the Senior Bowl. At that time, Woolfork had just finished his second year of a Bill Walsh/Bill Willis coaching fellowship with the Cleveland Browns. A...
At this point, I have major concerns on both sides of the ball, particularly after the injuries to our corners and since the level of competition we are facing is about to increase in a significant way.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'm more frustrated with the offense right now. We are a run-first offense by design as well as necessity, because the passing game is frustratingly inconsistent. If we are not running the ball frequently and with some success, our passing game is not going to bail us out in most games.
With this in mind, explain to me how it is that yesterday the Cardinals had only FOURTEEN rushing attempts between Conner and Benson, in a game where we led 27-3 into the third quarter?? Yes, the run blocking has been bad, but how can you abandon the run when you obviously need to drain the clock? You're also not allowing Conner or Benson to build any momentum whatsoever, and allowing Kyler to turn the ball over. We are going against our own offensive philosophies and nearly lost both of these games as a result.
That's a great question, TMatty. Part of the 4th quarter issues were penalties which made running the ball more difficult in order to convert long down and distances. For right or for wrong the focus of the game plan this week may have changes some when it became clear that Tip Reiman was going to be inactive. Plus, there is a horde of AZ pundits who have been screaming for two years now for Petzing to throw the ball more. Up until the 10:49 mark of the 4th quarter the Cardinals' passing game was looking sharp and more diversified. But seeing as Kyler was spreading the ball around, the fact that Marv wasn't targeted more was infuriating for the horde. Fact is though, Kyler tries to hit Marv on a red zone fade, that Marv, for some reason, did not high point. And Kyler threw a very good sideline pass to Marv that he dropped. Meamwhile, Trey McBride hits a big one up the seam, Wilson catches a perfectly times and thrown skinny post TD with under 10 seconds left in the half. And Higgy Bear catches two passes that with strong RACs amount to 45 yards (22.5 avg.) --- but again, to the horde, Petzing is terrible.
DeleteAll good points, Walter. The penalties were certainly stifling in the second half and prevented them from really getting going on the ground at that point. It was nice to see the passing offense come alive for a bit, especially by spreading the ball out to more than just McBride, MHJ, and Conner. Always good to see Dortch get a shot, and he took advantage with a nice gain.
DeleteIt'll be interesting to see, especially with the post-game from Gannon, what adjustments we make next week on both sides.