Arizona Cardinals: What A Sloppy Win

Sep 29, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson (21) is congratulated by teammates after he intercepted the ball during the fourth quarter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Arizona Cardinals defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

On Sept 29th, 2013, the Arizona Cardinals went into Tampa Bay and played one of the worse games I have seen them play this year. The offense started off slow, very slow and Carson Palmer was sacked on the opening play and set the tempo for Tampa`s defense for three and a half quarters.

Rashard Mendanhall ended up fumbling the ball on one play where he ran into Larry Fitzgerald. He wasn`t touched by anyone, just ran straight into Fitz and dropped the like a little kid at the park saying, you did that on purpose, I`m going home. All jokes aside, he has rushed 52 times for 176 yards and have averaged 3.4 yards a carry while Andrea Ellington has rushed 11 times for 68 yards and has averaged 6.2 yards a carry. Is it just me for does anyone else want to see Ellington take over as the starting back.

Besides Mendenhall`s play, Palmer play like it was his first start in the NFL. He had a hard time connecting with his receivers, over throwing and just not putting the ball in the right spot. Not all the throw were on Palmer, there were dropped passes here and there, but most of the plays that were left one the field was his fault.

I do give credit to Tampa`s D for playing a hard nose game making Palmer feel the pressure, but he could have done a better job making his reads when he did have the time to throw. The offensive line played better than they have the past two weeks and I give them a thumbs up for the game they played. The offense line does need to do a better job with the penalties , but for the most part as a group, they really can`t be blamed for the poor play the first three-quarters.

The Cardinals` D did a good job stopping Doug Martin like i thought they would and making Mike Glennon feel the pressure. they did a good job hanging in their til the end and not giving up allowing the offense to get on the board.

The secondary has a lot of work to do, they still could`nt stay with their man, allowing Glennon to make some nice throws. In my last article, I talked about them needing to play tighter or they would make Glennon look like a starting QB and that`s what happened in the first half. Luckily the D played the whole 60 minutes.

With Glennon starting his first game and the D not giving up, they were able capitalize at the end when Tampa`s offense started to get tired. Glennon did do a good job but with this being his first game, he wasn`t able to manage the game like a starting QB like he`s suppose too and to that, I say thanks.

Even with the game being as sloppy as it was, It was a win and I`ll take it, but if they keep playing as they did these last two-weeks, they will lose every game until they meet up with the Jags. I for one am pulling for them to being able to fix their problems and start playing as they did against the Lions, at home or not. Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles have a lot of work ahead of them and with this win, I going to keep up the hope that they can get this thing fixed and become contenders.