I really don’t have enough time in my day to explain what just took place in New Freakin Jersey. No seriously, I really don’t have the time, nor do I have the patience to relive the natural disaster at the Meadowlands.
Where do I begin? In fact, the list of possibilities are so long, it may never end.
Ok, so I think I need to break it down by categories.
Turnovers:
The Cardinals committed six turnovers and realistically could have committed a couple more had they not recovered the ball. You can’t go into New York and play the Jets and commit 6 turnovers. You can’t commit six turnovers against a Pop Warner (no pun intended) team and expect to win.
Defense:
Supposedly Brett Favre was hobbled. Supposedly he was old. Supposedly he should have stayed retired. Forget it. Brett Favre threw for 6 touchdowns. SIX TOUCHDOWNS in case you thought you misread it. That by the way Cardinal fans is a career high for him. How does this team come out and give up 56 points? To the Jets?? You will have people who say the Cardinals should have come home between games last week. This had nothing to do with that, I honestly believe that. This is just a team that gave up early and left themselves in a hole. A huge 34-0 halftime hole. The Grand Canyon doesn’t have a hole that big. Say what you will. Injuries, road trip, field posession, whatever, the fact is the defense is just no good. Not one bit. After this performance, I have a hard time believing they could stop St. Louis from scoring.
Mistakes, Mistakes, Mistakes:
I’m already tired, but the beat goes on.
- Oliver Celestin‘s 15 yard face mask on a kickoff return.
- Neil Rackers blocked field goal
- After getting a gift running into the kicker penalty after an extra point, instead of either kicking an onside or kicking it out of the end zone, the Cardinals pooch kicked the ball and it ended up getting returned to the point of the kick anyway. Ridiculous.
- Getting burnt on a 40 yard pass from Favre to Jerricho Cotchery on a 4th and 1. Cardinals never saw it coming.
Ok, that’s enough. Like I said, not enough time.
Bottom line: The Cardinals came out flat. They showed no emotion until the recovered an onside kick in the third quarter. Too many mistakes. This Cardinals team had reverted to it’s old traditions. Losing. Losing big. Losing big on the road. This team has turned no corners. The offense put up 35 points. You should win every time doing that.
I only fear what lies ahead the next three weeks before the bye. Buffalo and Dallas come to town the next two weeks. This was the easiest game on their schedule between now and November. Cardinals might be 2-6 before you blink an eye and start making holiday plans. Sad. Just plain sad. I feel really bad for all the fans that truly thought this team had turned the corner.
So, chances the Cardinals can forget about this and move on – not good. In fact Dean Wormer in Animal House said it best – zero point zero!
Scott Allen
AZScott