Cardinals Own Worst Enemy in Loss to Seahawks
By Scott Allen
I can hear the critics now, the Arizona Cardinals have a quarterback issue and for that reason the Cards are no good. Ok, sure, the Cards have a quarterback issue, but I would be careful about trying to make excuses for the reason the Cards failed to grab hold of the NFC West today by losing to the Seattle Seahawks 22-10.
First of all, starter Max Hall looked every bit a rookie today. It had nothing to do with the noise. He didn’t have any false starts. The weather played a part, but that was more an issue for Andre Roberts who muffed a punt and played his part as a rookie when Seattle recovered it and eventually scored a touchdown.
Hall once again was let down by his offensive line at times. Offensive lineman Brandon Keith lets pass rushers right by like they have a golden ticket to the chocolate factory, except there is no Willy Wonka at the end of the candy trail, just a rookie quarterback who, to the defender, looks like that piece of candy on top of a lollipop stick.
However there were times Hall did have time to throw and just looked bad. At times he held the ball too long. At times not long enough. He looked like every bit a rookie. Those are growing pains you have to go through with a new quarterback though. Backup Derek Anderson cam into the game in the third quarter and did an ok job after Hall took a clean shot on one of those free passes the offensive line was giving out and had to leave the game for good.
It was the mistakes though, the ones that were created by nothing more than a lack of focus, that did in the Cards. Take nothing away from the Seahawks because they took advantage of the mistakes by putting points on the board. However, fumbles again did the Cards in. Tim Hightower’s fumble on a drive that started deep in their own territory in the second quarter, was demoralizing. Roberts fumble was very costly. Hall turned the ball over on the play that knocked him out.
This is not time to panic though. The Cards still can take control of the division. This wasn’t a game I had chalked up as a win on the schedule anyway, no matter who was behind center. Seattle is always a tough place to play and as bad as the Cards were on offense, they still had their chances to take control in the second half and just failed to do so. There are still 10 games left, six of them at home. There are still four divisional games left, three at home, including these same Seahawks. So, plenty of time to right the ship. They just need to figure out if they want to stick with Hall while doing it or give Anderson another chance.