Die Anpflanzler [DA] » The new-look Arizona Cardinals looked a lot like the

GLENDALE Replica Christian Kirk Jersey , Ariz. (AP) — old ones with a desert dud of a debut under coach Steve Wilks.Pushed around all afternoon, the Cardinals were dominated in nearly aspect on Sunday to open the Wilks era with an ugly 24-6 loss to the Washington Redskins.“Obviously, you don’t want to start the season like this,” Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford said. “We felt like we were in a much better position and felt like we were going to come out and play much better than we did.”Coming off an 8-8 season, the Cardinals were hoping to rebound quickly with a new coach and quarterback.Wilks, the former Carolina defensive coordinator, was hired to replace the retired Bruce Arians. Bradford signed a $20 million contract to replace the retired Carson Palmer and, hopefully, teach the NFL ropes to Josh Rosen, the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft.Bradford was mostly ineffective, unable to find receivers downfield or move Arizona’s offense. He threw for 153 yards with an interception on 20-of-34 passing — most of that after Arizona fell behind 21-0 and had to start passing.David Johnson, signed to a three-year contract extension the night before, found little room to run and became an afterthought when the Cardinals had to start passing, finishing with 37 yards on nine carries. Arizona had 213 total yards and went 1 for 8 on third downs.“You saw early on we were running the ball well Stitched Christian Kirk Jersey ,” Wilks said. “When you get in a situation where you get behind, it sometimes gets you out of what you really want to do. All night we were playing catch-up and that was really the issue, that we were never really able to get into a rhythm when we go behind.”Arizona’s defense played on its heels all day, missing tackles and assignments as Washington had one long drive after another.Alex Smith threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-30 passing in his first game with Washington. Adrian Peterson ran for 96 yards and scored in his first game in his Washington debut and the Redskins racked up 429 yards to win their opener for the first time in five tries under coach Jay Gruden.“There’s no reason to panic, but this is not OK, this is not acceptable,” Cardinals defensive tackle Corey Peters said. “We have to take a good look in the mirror and point the finger at ourselves.”The Redskins pushed the Cardinals defense around throughout the first half, reeling off small-chunk plays on scoring drives of 80, 73 and 92 yards.Smith hit Chris Richardson on a 13-yard pass for the first score and Jordan Reed on a 4-yard TD to put the Redskins up 21-0. Peterson scored on a 1-yard run in between. Washington had 261 yards and controlled the ball for nearly 23 minutes in the first half.Arizona’s offense spent the first half sputtering in neutral, leading to boos from the home crowd.Bradford was unable to throw anything down the field, hitting 3 of 7 passes for 11 yards. Outside of a couple of decent Johnson runs, the Cardinals had no running game to speak of, finishing the half with 36 total yards — one less than they had in penalties.“We can’t run 13 plays in the first half and expect to win,” Bradford said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to get points early Baby Christian Kirk Jersey , figure out a way to convert third downs.”The Cardinals’ offense finally got something going late in the third quarter, but Bradford overthrew Ricky Seals-Jones and was intercepted by Quinton Dunbar.Johnson scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with about six minutes left in the fourth quarter. After the failed 2-point conversion, the Cardinals were down 24-6 — well on their way to losing their first game under Wilks. Just as no one has written the ultimate book on love---no one has written the ultimate book on the best case scenarios for NFL rookie QBs.Wait a minute.These days, pretty much every NFL pundit...The Revenge of the Birds podcastBest Case Scenarios and Conditions for Rookie QBs?New,30commentsMDTJust as no one has written the ultimate book on love---no one has written the ultimate book on the best case scenarios for NFL rookie QBs.Wait a minute.These days, pretty much every NFL pundit and analyst has been lauding Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs for the manner in which they have handled and groomed QB Patrick Mahomes, the gunslinger from Texas Tech and current NFL MVP who is now entering his 3rd season.Even Mahomes himself has stated that it was an ideal scenario for him to sit a year behind the incumbent veteran QB, Alex Smith, so that he could learn Andy Reid’s offense and be all the more prepared to run it in commanding fashion by year 2.But...could the Chiefs have actually made a first year mistake with Mahomes?Sure, it’s risky to play rookie QBs as they are prone to making rookie mistakes some of which could cost their teams valuable wins and chances for the playoffs. However, what I would argue is that the Chiefs had such a good offense in 2017 that Mahomes could have won his fair share of games---and---by season’s end---he could have given the Chiefs a better chance to win in the playoffs than Alex Smith did. Here the Chiefs were, 10-6, winners of the AFC West, and playing the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium in the wild card round of the playoffs---and what a colossal failure of a game this 22-21 loss at home was for the Chiefs.With 6 minutes left in the game Best Christian Kirk Jersey , the Titans took the 22-21 lead and here is the play by play of the Chiefs’ final offensive possession with the game and the season on the line:1st & 10 at KC 27(5:58 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith pass short right to D.Harris to KC 40 for 13 yards (J.Brown; T.Smith).1st & 10 at KC 40(5:20 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith right end pushed ob at TEN 42 for 18 yards (J.Cyprien). PENALTY on KC-D.Harris, Offensive Holding, 10 yards, enforced at TEN 49.1st & 9 at KC 41(4:50 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith pass incomplete short middle to T.Hill (J.Casey).2nd & 9 at KC 41(4:46 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith sacked at KC 41 for 0 yards (B.Orakpo).3rd & 9 at KC 41(4:46 - 4th) (Shotgun) PENALTY on TEN-J.Casey, Neutral Zone Infraction, 5 yards, enforced at KC 41 - No Play.3rd & 4 at KC 46(4:01 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith pass short right to D.Harris to TEN 45 for 9 yards (J.Brown).1st & 10 at TEN 45(4:01 - 4th) (Shotgun) K.Hunt up the middle to TEN 44 for 1 yard (J.Casey; W.Woodyard).2nd & 9 at TEN 44(2:56 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith pass incomplete short left to D.Harris (J.Cyprien).3rd & 9 at TEN 44(2:51 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith sacked at TEN 44 for 0 yards (D.Morgan).(2:15 - 4th) Timeout #2 by TEN at 02:15.4th & 9 at TEN 44(2:09 - 4th) (Shotgun) A.Smith pass incomplete deep middle to A.Wilson.Game and season over. To me, playing Alex Smith in front of Patrick Mahomes was like the Cardinals playing veteran RB Chris Johnson in front of rookie David Johnson. There is really no question as to which player is more talented and more dynamic. Plus, there is something to be said about players whom everyone knows are lame ducks, as QB Alex Smith was. Smith and everyone in the NFL universe knew the exact moment Smith became a lame duck when the Chiefs surprisingly came out of nowhere to trade up for QB Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft. To that point it was looking like Smith had found his niche and groove in KC.Furthermore, it can be argued that had the Chiefs gone with Mahomes in the playoffs in year one, that experience may have helped him perform better in this past year’s playoffs, where the Chiefs, this time as the #1 seed in the AFC Adult Christian Kirk Jersey , lost for the second straight year at home, 37-31 to the Patriots. Not only was the NFL deprived of a whole year in 2017 of watching one of the most brilliant young QBs to come into the league in quite some time---the Chiefs squandered a golden opportunity to make the Super Bowl in 2018. The Chiefs’ home playoff losses in both the 2017 and 2018 are particularly frustrating because as opposing teams will tell you, playing at Arrowhead Stadium amidst that raucous atmosphere and deafening crowd noise is a daunting task, as the Chiefs have achieved a 13-3 there during the past two regular seasons. One has to wonder whether Andy Reid way have been tempted to go with Mahomes down the stretch in 2017 the way Jim Harbaugh was when he went with Colin Kaepernick over Alex Smith in 2012. Kaepernick took the 49ers to the Super Bowl and actually led a furious comeback in that game versus the Ravens, passing for over 300 yards and a TD, plus rushing for 62 yards and a 15 yard TD that got the 49ers within 29-31 with 9:57 left in the 4th quarter---before losing the game 34-31.Kaepernick was a 2nd round pick in 2011, unlike Mahomes who was a top 10 pick in 2017. Yet, in his 2nd season, Kaepernick led his team to the Super Bowl. All of this begs the question---what is the best case scenario for rookie QBs in the NFL? What conditions give young QBs the best chances to succeed at the highest levels?Before I explain my theory about the best case scenarios, I would be very interested to hear yours. To make this a tad more interesting, I am going to award a brand new Arizona Cardinals frosty beer mug to the fan whose theory that Seth Cox and I find the most cogent and compelling.