Elias says...

[abomb]

The Cardinals suffered a 31-26 loss to the Vikings, but they left Minneapolis with some lovely parting gifts, including a share of the NFL record for fewest rushing attempts in a game (six).

The Cardinals became only the second NFL team to score two touchdowns of 99 yards or longer in the same game. J.J. Arrington scored on a 99-yard kickoff return, and Adrian Wilson scored on a 99-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter. The only other team to do that was the Dallas Cowboys against the Eagles in 1962 (Amos Marsh on a kickoff return, Mike Gaechter with an INT).

Arrington was the first Cardinals player to return the game's opening kickoff for a TD since Ollie Matson did it in 1958 (101 yards against the Steelers). Here's a strange one: 21 of the last 40 teams to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown went on to lose the game.

Matt Leinart passed for 405 yards in the Cardinals' loss, breaking Jake Plummer's NFL rookie record. Jake the Snake passed for 388 yards for the Cardinals against the Giants in 1997.

 

[Pariah]

I'm okay with not running the ball so long as we can move the ball like we did through the air.

 

[Billy Flynt]

I'm okay with not running the ball so long as we can move the ball like we did through the air.

Unfortuntely in the NFL you need a little more balance than that. That's why we got the L instead of the W.

 

[devilfan02]

I love how everyone's on our ass for not running the ball. The Vikings rush D is one of the best in recent history and we can't run the ball against the worst rush d in recent history. You can't fault Green one bit for the 6 rushes, we damn near won the game and Leinart proved he can carry us with his arm. F'in media, I guess when your bad they pile it on no matter what

 

[Pariah]

Unfortuntely in the NFL you need a little more balance than that. That's why we got the L instead of the W.

Oh. I thought it was because we gave up 31 points. Scoring 26 ain't bad--especially when you didn't run the ball...literally.

 

[D-Dogg]

Unfortuntely in the NFL you need a little more balance than that. That's why we got the L instead of the W.

We got the L instead of the W because the defense couldn't stop anybody in a vikings uniform.

 

[NEZCardsfan]

We got the L instead of the W because the defense couldn't stop anybody in a vikings uniform.

We got the Loss because we are the Arizona Cardinals...and that is what we do. Find ways to lose on the road.

 

[D-Dogg]

We got the Loss because we are the Arizona Cardinals...and that is what we do. Find ways to lose on the road.

But uncharacteristically we were trying to find a way to win. Color me shocked, but we almost pulled off a late road upset...that is very anti-cardinal.

 

[Faithful]

But uncharacteristically we were trying to find a way to win. Color me shocked, but we almost pulled off a late road upset...that is very anti-cardinal.

Or as I see it...the way the Cardinals will be from today forward!

 

[Duckjake]

I love how everyone's on our ass for not running the ball. The Vikings rush D is one of the best in recent history and we can't run the ball against the worst rush d in recent history. You can't fault Green one bit for the 6 rushes, we damn near won the game and Leinart proved he can carry us with his arm. F'in media, I guess when your bad they pile it on no matter what

 

[az1965]

Unfortuntely in the NFL you need a little more balance than that. That's why we got the L instead of the W.

The "L" was due to turnovers and penalties than not running the ball. Though I agree that a little more running could have helped overall plays.

 

[Ryanwb]

Is AW the first player to return a 99 yard fumble and a 99 yard Int in the same season?

 

[kerouac9]

Unfortuntely in the NFL you need a little more balance than that. That's why we got the L instead of the W.

I agree that we didn't win because we didn't run. We almost definitely lost because we turned the ball over 4 times. I don't know if you can win that way no matter how many yards you rush for.

Unless you're playing the Arizona Cardinals. Then you can turn the ball over 6 times and still win.

 

[CtCardinals78]

We didn't get the W because there is a suck butt coach on the sidelines that couldn't coach a pop warner team.

 

[gusmahler]

Amazing that we have a game where Edge had 36 carries for approximately 36 yards, in the same season as another game where he had only 4 carries.

 

[Duckjake]

Amazing that we have a game where Edge had 36 carries for approximately 36 yards, in the same season as another game where he had only 4 carries.

Wasn't that the game where people were bashing Green for trying to run the ball too much?

 

[gusmahler]

Wasn't that the game where people were bashing Green for trying to run the ball too much?

Yes. The Bears game. His actual totals for that game was 36 carries for 55 yards.

And that's exactly my point. We've had one game where we obviously were running even when it was obvious we weren't having any success doing so. And later in the same season, we don't even bother trying to run.

Interestingly enough, even though Edge ran the ball 36 times that game, that game also featured Leinart's second highest attempt total all season--42.