Attempting To Fit All That Went Wrong In The Cardinals' Loss Into One Article

My quiet confidence in Derek Anderson just turned into quiet sobbing. And that’s just my expert analysis of the quarterback position.

First of all, it was one of those notorious East Coast trips, the ones that end well about as often as a movie sequel wins an Emmy. Then, after checking the inactives, I saw Beanie Wells was out again. It really sums up the day to think that Hightower not fumbling was the highlight of the game for the Cardinals.

Derek Anderson was a joke, and showed absolutely no leadership during the game. If it weren’t for Larry Fitzgerald he wouldn’t have completed even one third of his passes. Anderson was only sacked twice, but the pass protection was lousy all game long. I strongly believe their inability to block led Kurt Warner to retire perhaps a year or two early. And to be fair to Anderson, if you take Fitzgerald away, the Cardinals really missed Doucet this week. It looked like we really needed a good second option in the passing game, and nobody really stepped up.

I’m not a big fan of statistics, because they can be misleading, but there’s really no way to “spin” these numbers: The Falcons had 33 first downs, the Cardinals had 11. The Falcons converted 68 percent of their third downs. The Cardinals were 0-8 on third down. That’s Oakland Raiders offense circa 2008 status. I hear JaMarcus Russell is free if we wanted to put a little pressure on Derek Anderson.

For the way our defense saved the game last week, they gave our struggling offense no shot today. Turner thrashed us, when he went down; Jason Snelling came in and took over. Matt Ryan looked calm, probably because he had a line that offered a little protection. Three touchdowns and he commanded his offense, leading them to a healthy conversion rate, and an easy win.

Also, I recommend to the officials that call our games in the future not worry about putting away their flags after a penalty, just keep them in your hands, or on the ground for that matter. I would have thought a Whisenhunt  team would have a little composure and discipline.  

Finally, you can’t have as bad of a game as the Cards had without some bad coaching decisions. I’ll focus on a series right before the half, when Arizona still had a fair shot at a comeback. With a fourth and 3 in Atlanta territory, Whisenhunt elected to kick a 54-yard kick. I think this was a point in the game in which we really could have used a touchdown to stay competitive, and Whisenhunt showed a lack of confidence in his team. We happened to recover a fumble on the following Atlanta drive, but then wasted the second opportunity with questionable time management.

All in all it was an awful performance, but over the last three years of success in the desert, Arizona seems to always have one or two games where everything goes wrong. I’ve learned to accept these “hiccups” in anticipation of the continued success in future weeks, I hope that will be the case for 2010 as well. At the end of the week, it’s only one loss, and if New Orleans roles on Monday night, we will still be on top of the NFC West.