Arizona Cardinals’ playoff hopes just about distinguished
By Jim Koch
The grim reality of the Arizona Cardinals’ 2017 campaign has set in thanks to a Thursday night defeat on national television
As Arizona Cardinals’ fans, we wanted to believe. Despite the absence of our two best players, we held on to the belief that a playoff appearance was possible. But a 22-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks has put a dagger into the faith of Cardinals’ backers.
The defeat on Thursday night showed that losing both running back David Johnson and quarterback Carson Palmer was far too much to overcome. In front of a national television audience, the duo’s substitutes were proven to be inadequate. The pair that played so well against the San Francisco 49ers four days before, were exposed when facing a playoff contender like Seattle.
Adrian Peterson looked lethal when facing terrible opposition such as San Francisco and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The burst of speed that a running back needs to break away for long-gainers was missing versus the Seahawks, however. The 32-year old was constantly stopped in his tracks, many times for no gain or for a loss of yardage.
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Drew Stanton started the Seattle matchup in a positive way. The quarterback’s passes, for once, were on target early on. Unfortunately, the wide receivers struggled, dropping far too many of Stanton’s offerings.
As the contest progressed however, the passer we have gotten to know so well resurfaced. Stanton’s throws started sailing, a problem that has been all too familiar for him throughout his professional career. A couple of the misfires, if they had found their mark, quite possibly could have changed the complexion of the game.
A putrid performance by the offense wasted a gallant effort by the Cards’ defense. Still, Seattle signal-caller Russell Wilson could only be corralled for so long. He pulled off a Houdini act in the fourth quarter, finding wideout Doug Baldwin for a big-gainer down the sideline that turned out to be a back-breaker.
Though Arizona is mathematically still alive for the postseason, the loss for all intents and purposes has put out the pilot light on 2017. With the key players currently on the injured reserve list, thinking that the Cardinals could make any kind of run this year was probably unrealistic anyway. If it wasn’t time to start looking forward to next year before this latest defeat, it certainly is now.