Monday Evening Quarterback
By Scott Allen
Week three edition of Monday Evening Quarterback.
The Arizona Cardinals once again proved the point Kurt Warner made after last week’s win over Jacksonville. They need to play consistently well in order to win. They can’t take a week off and expect to have wins handed to them. The only consistency the Cards have achieved so far is inconsistency. Do we really know more about this team tonight than we did before the game last night? Maybe a few things.
The positives:
- Receiver Steve Breaston showed no ill effects of his injury. Neither did Anquan Boldin.
- Warner escaped the game without a major injury, which is amazing given the amount of times he was hit.
- Neil Rackers made his only field goal.
- Beanie Wells didn’t fumble (ok I know a stretch since he didn’t play much).
The negatives:
- Offensive line. Levi Brown must have been spending more time watching himself on the Jumbotron than worrying about blocking. He left Warner hung out to dry more than once.
- Turnovers. The Cards turned it over two times in the Red Zone, both times inside the 5. You can’t do that against the Colts.
- The secondary. You can’t completely blame them because Peyton Manning hands down is the best QB in the NFL. He decimated the secondary. However, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie needs to intercept that ball in the end zone. The Colts ended up scoring. Also, Chike Okeafor needs to keep the butter off his hands. He dropped a simple interception. I mean, at least DRC’s was a jump ball. Okeafor’s was uncontested.
- The bye week. You could look at it as a positive in order to get people healthy, however after a loss like this, I think it’s better to get that taste out of your mouth right away, especially with the next opponent, Houston coming in. Arizona should be heavy favorites. I’m not a fan of the early byes, though maybe having it this early allows the Cards to regroup and get them focused to get back on track in a still very winnable division. Hey, you have to look for a silver lining somewhere.
Scott Allen