Arizona Cardinals Need Their A-Game to Ward off a Carolina Panthers Attack

This game for the Cardinals is down right scary. It has classic let-down game written all over it.

Arizona has had a long, painful past of underachieving once expectations have risen. Remember, this team became media darlings when they bolted out to an impressive 7-3 record last season, only to go 2-4 the rest of the way once they were expected to win.

Now they are high from the afterglow of having beaten the Giants on their turf when hardly anyone gave them a chance—well of course I pegged them to win —but they were seven point underdogs coming in. The Cardinals sit atop their pedestal in first place in the NFC West, primed to have their smirks slapped off of their faces.

To make matters worse, the Cardinals have reversed their field location fortunes from last year. Now they can only seem to muster away-field advantage and are only 1-2 at home.

The Panthers are not playing good ball. Their $42.5 million investment in Jake Delhomme has proved to be a horrendous decision to date, and now the consensus is coach John Fox is on one of the hottest seats in the game.

The Carolina defense is not what it once was. Although they are an impressive first against the pass, this stat is slightly misleading. They have been thrown against the least amount of times in the league.

Their rush defense is where they have really slid downhill, ranking 26th currently. Not to mention starters FS Charles Godfrey and LB Thomas Davis are banged up.

Sure, on paper this looks to be a lopsided victory for the Cardinals, and it very well may be. I am expecting, and hoping for complete Arizona domination.

However there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed.

January 10th, 2009. The Cardinals embarrassed the Panthers in their house, where Carolina had been undefeated en route to their 12-4 2008 regular season record. They were heavy favorites, yet Arizona hammered them so badly it sent Delhomme into a tailspin he has still not recovered from nine months later.

I believe this year's Cardinals have turned the corner, and they are on their way to becoming not only a playoff team for this season, but also a mainstay as one of the best teams in the NFL for the foreseeable future. I think Ken Whisenhunt is building something really special in the desert.

Even then, no opponent should be taken lightly. These Cardinals need to be warned repeatedly: it is exactly this kind of situation, a team playing poorly with an agonizing memory fresh in their minds, that can propel a bad team to suddenly play well.

The Panthers are out for redemption, and Arizona needs every bit of their A-game to ward off the surprise attack.