Week 15 Playbook: Offense

Today we are going to break down each team’s offense for this weekend’s CRITICAL, MUST-WIN matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints. Simply put, the winner of this game will still have a shot at the playoffs, the loser is out.

So how do the teams stack up?

Arizona Cardinals:

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt and Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley have really opened up the passing game over the last 5 weeks, with Kurt Warner posting three games with over 300 yards passing and 2+ TDs in that timespan. But where this team can truly thrive is if it has a balanced attack, with equal rushes and passes. The key is to score early and keep the game close. As evidenced by last weekend’s beatdown, the Cards will air it out at all costs to attempt to get back into the game while completely abandoning the run. New Orleans has a strong running defense, but the offensive line is healthy and is looking to redeem itself after a poor showing in Seattle, especially rookie OT Levi Brown. Running the rock effectively with Edgerrin James will open up the play action passes for the deep ball. If Anquan Boldin can’t go and if Larry Fitzgerald is still slowed by a nagging groin injury, then guys like Jerehme Urban and Bryant Johnson will have to step up again. One of the biggest hits we took last week was the loss of Leonard Pope, our red zone scoring TE. Now rookie Ben Patrick will have to have a big week and make those key catches when it matters the most.

Bottom Line: The offense has to used a balanced attack and control the clock, keeping the ball out of the hands of a dangerous Saints offense.

New Orleans Saints:

The Saints have definately been bitten by the injury bug on offense as well, losing both their No 1 & 2 RBs for the season with the injuries to Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush. But that hasn’t stopped them from still being ranked in the top 10 in total offense in the league. That is all thanks to the play of pro bowl QB Drew Brees, who passed for 328 yards and 3 TDs last week against the struggling falcons. Brees’ favorite target has once again been WR Marques Colston, who has 8 TDs on the season to go along with over 900 yards receiving. The passing game is ranked 5th in the league, and the Saints offensive line has only given up 11 sacks all year (#1 in the NFL). They are great at sliding protection to pick up the blitz, and Brees is equally great at recognizing the blitz and going to his hot reads to get the ball out. Head coach Sean Payton has probably learned his lesson with the trick plays after giving away the game against the Bucs two weeks ago, and with Bush out of the line-up I would anticipate a more straightforward approach. I’m not buying Aaron Stecker as a legitimate RB though, despite his 100 yard performance against the Falcons because………well it was against the Falcons! He’s a third down kind of back, not a workhorse and only saw that many carries and yards on Monday because the Saints were just trying to run out the clock in the run game.

Bottom Line: The Saints want to do their damage through the air and that is where they will attack the Cards on Sunday.

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the defenses, GO CARDS!!

Mike Duggan
AZCardsfan4life