Cards Shoot Blanks on National TV Again, Get Whipped 31-10
By Scott Allen
Should I even try to write a good wrap up of tonight’s game? I don’t know. Maybe I should just call it in. The Arizona defense felt that was good enough tonight. However, I’m better than that, at least I will still try, no matter how little the Cards do these days.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning dismantled the Cardinals secondary. He consistently torched them. He threw for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns. I don’t know, is that good?
On the flip side, Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner had a rough night. He threw 52 times, which is way too many, even for this offense. He consistently held the ball too long, overthrew his receivers, and ran for his life because his offensive line just couldn’t keep up. I’d like to call out Levi Brown. On one play, he just stood there like he was a statue and allowed Warner to get mauled. That either looked like a guy who didn’t care or doesn’t know how to block like an offensive lineman in the NFL. It’s one of the two. I’d hate to think he doesn’t care about his quarterback getting killed on missed blocks.
Turnovers were key. I mentioned earlier about Cards running back Tim Hightower’s crucial fumble at the 5. The interception at the end of the first half was a killer too. Finally a cap was put on the night with the 28 yard sack of Warner with just minutes remaining.
I’m interested to know why Warner feels the need to hang onto the ball for so long. They aren’t throwing deep. That is this team’s strength. I think we found out where this team stands. They can’t beat the good teams. They had the same issue last season. They’ve now lost their first two games at home. It’s going to be a rough road and now with the bye week ahead before facing the Houston Texans at home in two weeks, the Cards will have time to think, plenty of time to decide how they want the rest of the season to play out. Look for the first local blackout of a home game in two weeks. I’d be surprised if the stadium is three fourths full. I won’t make any rash predictions of 3-13 like I did after the loss to the 49’ers two weeks ago, but I will say this. If the Cards continue to play this way, continue to be lax on defense, refuse to block, refuse to make smart play calls, this team is destined to watch itself follow in the footsteps of previous Super Bowl losers, not making the playoffs and become another mediocre Cardinals team.
Scott Allen