Expect A Physical Game Friday

     
       This Friday the Arizona Cardinals play the Oakland Raiders. The past two weeks have not been what fans have expected, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Ray Horton has said that he takes the blame for not "watering down" the hype on the defense this offseason. Horton says, "I think we were a little full of ourselves, I really do. That was the discouraging thing, but now hopefully they have refocused." It is understandable that the defensive unit would be cocky, they were the main reason for the Cardinals 6-2 stretch over the last eight games of the season.
       This week in practice Ray Horton has continually said to his players "not some of the time, all the time." He is talking about how the defensive unit is trying to pace themselves this preseason, and turn it on during the regular season. One of the reasons the defense has struggled is because they have felt that the preseason has been lengthy, and the regular season needs to get here so they can start proving themselves.This of course is not good, when a team tries to pace themselves through preseason they start out slow in the regular season. They find problems that could have been fixed easily if they would have gone all out during the preseason.
      With that being said, this week the defensive unit has been going all out, they are mad, and they feel like they have something to prove this week against the Raiders. So when the cardinals go out against the Raiders, expect a dominant defense that is looking to show that they are even better than what they were last year.

-Skelton favored?

      This morning ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Skelton was the favorite to win the competition. Schefter has usually been right. Everyone has been going off about this today, and a lot of people think it means that Skelton has won the job. Skelton is the favorite right now because he has been able to stand in the pocket and make necessary throws when under pressure. Kolb has not. Kolb always runs away at the first signs of pressure and is forced to throw on the run, usually resulting in an incompletion. The Cardinals need someone who stands tall in the pocket and is wlling to make throws under pressure, someone who can control the game.

     So who is the favorite? Self explanatory.

     Kolb needs to have a big game if he wants to gain ground on Skelton. If he doesn't, then expect this to be Kolb's last start in a game for a long time.