Cardinals Establishing An Identity For The Second Half Of Season
By Earl Burnett
Nov 10, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum (7) is sacked in the second quarter by Arizona Cardinals line backers Matt Shaughnessy (91) and Marcus Benard (59) during a game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-USA TODAY Sports
Cardinals could not have asked for a better start to the game on Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium as the defense picks up where they left off before the bye week. John Abraham strip sack and caused a fumble on the first play of the game, that was part of the Cardinals game plan to get off to a fast start, cant get no faster than the first play causing a turn over that results in a instant seven to nothing lead and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Cardinals offense is starting to get consistent with moving the ball and also stays consistent with quarterback Carson Palmer getting his usual interception. Nevertheless the Cardinals come away with a 27-24 win and it should have not even been that close, but running back Rashard Mendenhall decided to make things a bit more interesting for the defense. The defense seems to be up for the challenge as they held the Texans attack down in the second half after getting torched threw the air by Case Keenum and his wide receivers in the first half, the defense found their grove and got the job done again.
I like what I saw in the response to the Mendenhall fumble, the defense holding and also the offense picking up key first downs to run the clock out, this again is the recipe for the Cardinals winning games. Palmer threw the ball better today completing 20 of 32 for 241 with 2 touchdowns and of course the pick, but looked pretty efficient apart from that.
With a hard nose defense that are not afraid to mix it up with any team at any moment in the game, and an offense able to put up at least 24 points per game spells victories for this team.
A very good win for a team that seems to have found its identity on both sides of the ball, and if they can keep this up they will be in the thick of things in the race for the wild card, knowing that they have the tie breaker with both the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers.