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Week 3 Game Recap: Arizona Cardinals 23, Baltimore Ravens 26
What you need to know
| Arizona Cardinals |
A change of pace at quarterback nearly secured an improbable come from behind victory for the Arizona Cardinals. Starting signal caller Matt Leinart was benched for five offensive series (the third drive of the game and the final four) in favor of veteran backup Kurt Warner, and the results were astoundingly lopsided. While Leinart appeared at times confused, overwhelmed, and frustrated, Warner looked confident, running a no-huddle offense with surprising efficiency that jump started the Cardinals' passing game. Warner produced nearly five times more offense than Leinart with less game time and equivalent attempts. He led the team on scoring drives that earned 23 of their 26 points, including 17 on their last three series of the game. The move to use Warner was said to be a "change of pace" by the television announcing crew, but the dramatic discrepancy between the two quarterbacks' production indicates that Arizona is either looking to use a quarterback by committee approach or has a full-blown quarterback controversy, despite head coach Ken Whisenhunt's post-game proclamation that Leinart is the starter next week.
Wide receiver Anquan Boldin had a fantastic game, and while both Leinart and Warner looked to him often (he was the most targeted receiver by both quarterbacks). But it was with Warner where he truly blossomed. He had the vast majority of his yardage and both of his scores with Warner in the game. Larry Fitzgerald also benefited from Warner's presence, as he has no production at all with Leinart in the game, yet still managed to finish with 80-plus yards.
Despite playing catch up throughout the game, running back Edgerrin James was very effective against a stout Baltimore rush defense. He averaged 5.7 yards over his ten carries, but was limited in his overall numbers by both the game situation and play calling.
Injury notes: defensive end Bertrand Berry was reported to have left the field with an undisclosed injury, but returned to the game and was effective.
| Baltimore Ravens |
The Baltimore Ravens held off a furious rally by the Arizona Cardinals to get their second straight home win, 26 to 23. The Ravens showcased a balanced, efficient offensive attacked that delivered two straight 14 play drives to open the game. Both of them ended somewhat disappointingly in field goals. Veteran signal caller Steve McNair was very sharp and completed 74.1% of his passes for 198 yards. His favorite target was long-time teammate Derrick Mason, who scored the only Baltimore offensive touchdown of the game on a 13 yard second quarter pass. Running back Willis McGahee had another solid outing, posting 98 rushing yards while averaging 4.7 a clip.
The defense played an important role, as they both allowed Arizona to score 17 straight points to tie the game, while also holding tight on the Cardinals' last drive, forcing a field goal instead of a touchdown. The pass rush was very effective at disturbing Cardinals' second year quarter Matt Leinart. While only sacking him once, they were constantly in his face and were clearly affecting his timing and decision making while on the field. They had a much harder time adapting to Kurt Warner and his no-huddle offense, which they allowed to explode for huge chunks of yardage and the aforementioned 17 points.
Rookie punt returner Yamon Figurs scored on a nice second quarter 75 yard punt return for a touchdown, which put the Ravens up by 17 at the half.
Ultimately, the game was decided on the strength of Kyle Boller's late game play and the foot of Matt Stover. Boller quarterbacked the final three series of the game when McNair rested his injured groin. After a slightly rough start, Boller settled in nicely and led the team on its game winning drive at the end of regulation. Stover's last second 46 yard field goal was true and the game was won for the Ravens.
Injury notes: Trevor Pryce missed the game with his injured arm; left tackle Jonathan Ogden missed the game with his injured toe; starting cornerback Samari Rolle didn't play due to illness--he was replaced by Corey Ivy.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Leinart, Pass: 9 - 20 - 53 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Leinart had a rough game. He was flustered by the Ravens' defensive schemes and pass rush, which led to a bevy of inaccurate passes and obvious frustration. Leinart was pulled for backup Kurt Warner on Arizona's third drive of the game. It was announced by the television commentators as a "change of pace" move, but it was also clear that Leinart wasn't getting the job done. Leinart returned for the next four drives, but continued to suffer from inaccuracy, drops by his targets, and an intense Baltimore pass defense. Whisenhunt pulled the plug on Leinart for good towards the end of the third quarter. Warner led the team all the way back to a tie and played well enough for Leinart's job security to come into question. This should be an interesting week for the Cardinals' quarterback situation.
Leinart's favorite targets were Anquan Boldin (eight) and Larry Fitzgerald (six). His other eight targets were spread around five other Cardinals. He threw no touchdowns and no interceptions, and only led them team on one scoring drive (a Rackers 40 yard field goal in the third quarter).
| QB Kurt Warner, Pass: 15 - 20 - 258 - 2 TD / 0 INT |
Warner made a surprise entrance on the Cardinals' third series, and instantly invigorated a stagnant offense. He led Arizona on their first scoring drive of the game on his first series, and was replaced by starter Matt Leinart for the next four. As Leinart continued to struggle, Warner was put in the game for good late in the third quarter. He ignited the Cardinals' offense, leading the team on three straight scoring drives to end the game, including two touchdown passes to his favorite target, Anquan Boldin. Warner produced nearly five times more offense than Leinart with one less pass. He was primarily running a no-huddle offense while in the game, which wasn't run at all with Leinart in the game. In this way, it could be spun that head coach Whisenhunt was truly only going for a "chance of pace", but the difference in production was simply too significant to concede that Leinart will remain the starter. It appears that there will be talk of a quarterback controversy in Arizona this week.
| RB Edgerrin James, Rush: 10 - 57 - 0, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
James ran the ball well against a tough Baltimore run defense, but wasn't given enough carries to produce significant numbers. His 5.7 yards per attempt average was great, although a bulk of his yardage came on a 27 yard first quarter scamper. Once the Cardinals got down by multiple scores, they abandoned the running game despite James' production. His only target in the passing game came from Kurt Warner.
| RB J.J. Arrington, Rush: 2 - 3 - 0, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (2 targets) |
Arrington had a few touches spelling Edgerrin James. His only targets came while Leinart was in the game. Arrington also saw action as a kick off returner.
| RB Marcel Shipp, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (1 targets) |
Shipp had one rush and one catch, both coming in the second half. He was also flagged for a personal foul that gave the Ravens' great field position on their only touchdown drive.
| RB Terrelle Smith (2 targets) |
Smith had two throws go his way on Arizona's first series of the game. He dropped them both and wasn't heard from again.
| WR Anquan Boldin, Rec: 14 - 181 - 2 (17 targets) |
Boldin had a fantastic game. He ran crisp routes, made tough catches, and broke plenty of tackles. He was the most targeted receiver by both quarterbacks (Leinart -- 8; Warner -- 9), although most of his yards and both of his scores came off the arm of Kurt Warner. Boldin's physicality and heart were on display in this game, and he proved to nearly be the difference maker in an unexpectedly close contest. If there is a quarterback controversy (or even a quarterback by committee approach) in Arizona, Boldin seems to have confidence from both signal callers and shouldn't be negatively affected. That said, his production was dramatically better with Warner than it was with Leinart.
| WR Larry Fitzgerald, Rec: 5 - 85 - 0 (11 targets) |
Fitzgerald was the second most targeted Arizona player, but didn't seem to get on track until Warner got in the game. The left-handed Leinart predominantly kept the ball on the left side and middle of the field which caused some frustration for Fitzgerald. The looks he did receive from Leinart were off target, and a couple of them were even interceptable. Warner's entrance in the game immediately changed Fitzgerald's fortunes, as all of his production can be attributed to the second string quarterback. His first catch of the second half was a 27 yard hookup that Ravens' cornerback Corey Ivy ripped from his hands during the tackle.
| WR Bryant Johnson, Rec: 1 - 18 - 0 (5 targets) |
Johnson's looks almost exclusively came on medium and deep routes down the field. He struggled with some drops, and his only catch came from Warner on a short route that he took for 18 yards. Leinart targeted him once while Warner threw four balls his way.
| WR Sean Morey (2 targets) |
Morey had two looks from Leinart on the Cardinals' fifth offensive possession. The first he dropped and the second was well off target.
| TE Troy Bienemann, Rec: 1 - 6 - 0 (3 targets) |
Bieneman had his first multi-target game as a professional. All of his looks came from Warner.
| PK Neil Rackers 3 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 11 points |
Rackers made field goals of 48, 40, and 41, while missing a 47 yarder wide right. He made both of his PATs. Rackers also had a potential touchdown saving tackle on Baltimore kickoff returner Yamon Figurs.
| ARI Rush Defense |
Arizona's rush defense gave up 129 yards on 29 carries for a 4.3 average. They didn't allow any scores, and didn't produce any touchdowns. Baltimore's primary runner, Willis McGahee, earned 98 yards on 21 carries for a 4.7 average, with a long burst of 37 yards on the opening drive of the game. The rush defense stiffened as the game went along, only giving up 49 yards in the second half after 80 in the first. This was particularly crucial as the team attempted to come back from a multi-score deficit.
| ARI Pass Defense |
Arizona's pass defense gave up 281 yards on 28 of 37 passing for an average of 7.6 yards per attempt. They allowed one touchdown but had no interceptions. The pass rush generated four sacks, including a fumble by McNair that eventually turned into three points for the Arizona offense.
| QB Steve McNair, Pass: 20 - 27 - 198 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 14 - 0 |
McNair had a great game, but only played the first three quarters because the team wanted to rest his already sore groin, and head coach Brian Billick didn't want to risk further injury to him. While he was in the game he was very effective, throwing the ball with a high degree of accuracy and generally running the offense efficiently. His favorite target was far and away his longtime teammate, wide receiver Derrick Mason. It was Mason that McNair hooked up with for the lone offensive touchdown of the game, a 13 yard strike in the second quarter. The hamstring tweak was reported to be minor, but is something to note as he was forced to leave game action despite Arizona's ongoing (and successful) bid to make a comeback.
| QB Kyle Boller, Pass: 8 - 10 - 83 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Boller had to shake off some rust when he was inserted in the game in the fourth quarter, but he recovered well to lead his team to victory. His initial drive was a three and out, followed by a series where he took a couple of sacks, but it was the last drive of the game that everyone will remember. He hit his preferred targets of tight end Todd Heap and wide receiver Derrick Mason for crucial yardage that ultimately staged Matt Stover's winning field goal. Boller is a good fit as the backup quarterback in Baltimore.
| RB Willis McGahee, Rush: 21 - 98 - 0, Rec: 4 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
McGahee had another good game on the ground, gaining 98 yards on 21 carries for a 4.7 average. His yardage was somewhat inconsistent though, as he had a long of 37 yards, but was also tackled for a loss on a few occasions. McGahee continues to see a few looks in the passing game, and he turned all four of them in this contest into receptions totaling 23 yards.
| RB Musa Smith, Rush: 5 - 15 - 0, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (3 targets) |
Smith saw some action on third down and to occasionally spell McGahee. He caught all three balls thrown his way.
| RB LeRon McClain, Rec: 1 - 1 - 0 (2 targets) |
McClain primarily served as a blocking fullback, but found himself the target of a couple of McNair's passes.
| WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 8 - 79 - 1 (13 targets) |
Mason was heavily targeted throughout the game, and was the primary focus of McNair during his three quarters of work. Mason mostly worked short and medium length routes and finished with 79 receiving yards while having a long of 18. He scored Baltimore's lone offensive touchdown on a 13 yard pass from McNair in the second quarter.
| WR Mark Clayton, Rec: 5 - 34 - 0 (6 targets) |
Clayton seemed to finally be fully healthy, as he got the start and had his best numbers of 2007 so far. He was McNair's second most targeted pass catcher, and saw a couple of looks from Boller as well. Clayton made some nice catches, using his hands to snatch the ball out of the air. His catches went mostly for short yardage gains, as he was second on the team in receptions, but only fourth in receiving yardage.
| WR Demetrius Williams, Rec: 3 - 52 - 0 (4 targets) |
Williams continued to solidify his role as a deep threat, as he caught three passes for a 17.3 average gain (best on the team). McNair targeted him three times and Boller once. Williams had the longest catch of the game, a 26 yard hookup from McNair on the Ravens' sole touchdown drive.
| TE Todd Heap, Rec: 4 - 60 - 0 (5 targets) |
Heap seemed to be a bit of an afterthought to McNair, although his production picked up during Boller's three series at the end of the game. He still managed to finish second on the team with 60 receiving yards, with 24 coming on one play. Heap was flagged for a false start on the opening drive of the game.
| PK Matt Stover 4 - 4 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 14 points |
Stover had a great game, as he made all four field goals (from 21, 28, 43, and 46) including the game winner as time expired. He also made both of his PATs. He was unexpectedly forced to handle kick off duty and was a bit rusty, as his first attempt went out of bounds for a penalty.
| BAL Rush Defense |
Baltimore's rush defense wasn't tested very much, but when they were they gave up a surprising 4.4 yards per carry (61 yards total). Fortunately, they only faced 14 carries, and only ten of them came from Arizona starter Edgerrin James. They allowed no touchdowns and forced no turnovers.
| BAL Pass Defense |
Baltimore's pass defense gave up 311 yards on 24 of 40 passing for 7.8 yards per attempt. They vexed starter Matt Leinart during his time in the game, but allowed second string veteran Kurt Warner light them up for 250-plus yards and two scores to Anquan Boldin, and all this late in the game. They seemed to have a hard time dealing with the no-huddle offense Arizona was utilizing with Warner at the helm. They sacked Leinart once, and Corey Ivy stripped Larry Fitzgerald of the ball after a 27 yard catch.
