Arizona Cardinals Play as Expected, Get a Vikings Beatdown 21-14
By Scott Allen
Oct 21, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings defensive end Brian Robison (96) celebrates a sack during the second quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at the Metrodome. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-US PRESSWIRE
I won’t say I told you so, but I told you so. The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Minnesota Vikings today 21-14 in a game that turned out to be closer than I expected it to be. The end result doesn’t tell the whole story. This was another beatdown. Seven more sacks against. The end result though was totally expected. With John Skelton at quarterback for the Cards and Bobby Massie still sitting on the offensive line, it was a lethal combination with Vikings defensive end Jared Allen on the other end of things. Skelton started off pretty good but ended up playing much like I expected him to, horrible.
It was a shame too because the defense, who started out slow with some bad penalties, really held their ground in the second half. They even gave the Cards great field possession twice in the first half, only to come away with just seven points.
They found a way to get to Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder in the second half. Ponder didn’t play well but they have a guy named Adrian Peterson, who was fantastic once again. The penalties didn’t help either.
The star of the game for the Cards by far was running back LaRod Stephens-Howling, who rushed over 100 yards for the first time in his career. He ran all over the field today. It was nice to see. Meanwhile, the Cards have far from a star at the quarterback position. Far from it.
Skelton and the Cardinals left a lot of opportunities to score out there today. Skelton by far is not the only one to blame but we can start there. He turned out to play maybe better than I expected to start but in the end he is who I thought he was….not an NFL quarterback. Now, it’s San Francisco next week on Monday Night Football. It won’t be pretty.