Packers-Cardinals Analysis
I’m not sure if this quote from Cardinals QB Kurt Warner shows the high level of their execution, the inability of the Packers to disguise their defense, or both:
“I knew early on it was going to be a good day,” he told me as he drove home. “Sometimes I know when I’m on, when I’m going to play well, and there were specific things I knew they were going to have trouble stopping. Like the touchdown to Steve Breaston [that gave Arizona a 45-38 lead in the fourth quarter]. From watching tape, we knew how we could get a matchup of Steve isolated on a linebacker.”
That way was to line up Breaston wide left, with another receiver in the slot, then motion Breaston in toward the formation, and at the snap of the ball have him jet upfield. The corner wouldn’t follow him all the way inside, tape study told Warner, and a linebacker would pick him up. That’s exactly what happen. Nick Barnett was no match for the speed of Breaston, particularly when Barnett had to turn and run with him. Touchdown.
