MMQB Spotlights Arizona Cardinals Game Planning

Two-part article highlights how a play goes from concept, to game.

Today and tomorrow Peter King’s MMQB will be spotlighting the installation of the Arizona Cardinals game plan against the Cleveland Browns on November 1st. The first part went live today focusing on Carson Palmer’s preparation for upcoming away game detailing his daily routine, what he has to study, and the amount of data a quarterback must process to be successful in this league.

The evolution of  play, in this case, Pistol Strong Right Stack Act 6 Y Cross Divide, it is fascinating on the amount of instruction and testing that goes in to the play from the concept stage, practice, scout team, Bruce Arians, the staff and Carson Palmer. One of the biggest take-aways is that Palmer is directly involved in the “first 15 passing plays” that the team will call over the course of the first few series in the game, something that’s unique in Arizona.

Seeing how the offensive of the Cardinals is trying to predict the gamesmanship of the defense of the Browns is really a great insight into how teams do this, and then do it 170 more times as Arians and Palmer detailed out 171 plays available for the match-up with the AFC North team three weeks ago.

On this play, Palmer believes one of three receivers, Fitzgerald or Gresham or Brown/Nelson, will be open for a big gain. By watching Cleveland tape, and by using virtual reality later in the week to study the tendencies of his scout team when the play is run, Palmer hopes to be prepared for what he’s likely to face when, or if, the play gets called on Sunday.

As always, Peter King gives all the attention to detail we’ve come to expect over the years, definitely a great read, and something to look forward to tomorrow as well.