azdad1978
Championship!!!!
by: Mike Jurecki
Observations
Sunday’s game isn’t going to go down in the record books as the best game ever played but somehow the Arizona Cardinals did enough in the end to break a 17-game losing streak on the road with a 24-23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
It was a game that came down to a couple of different plays and could have gone either way. The officiating was questionable on both sides of the ball and I can’t see how that crew would earn a high grade. With that being said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and on Sunday the Cardinals finally caught some breaks. They took advantage of it by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. Even though the perception with this team is that they need to learn how to win, my feeling is that they need to learn how to finish by making plays at crucial times when they need it.
There is such a thing as winning ugly versus losing pretty. The Redbirds can make a case that the outcome in San Francisco or Atlanta could have been different, but it can’t be changed. Instead, they take the wins as they come. At the end of the season, it only matters how many wins a team has, not how they won.
Offensively, the running game was pretty much nonexistent, taking away running back Troy Hambrick’s 62 yard run. Without it, Arizona averaged 26 carries for 59 yards which is about two yards per carry. The interior of the offensive line has a lot to be desired when it comes to pass protection for quarterback Josh McCown. He doesn’t get a chance to set his feet when he’s at a five step drop. This has a lot to do with this team lacking big plays down the field. On Sunday when he had a chance to set up and throw he connected on a 48 yard completion to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald that set up the winning score.
At the halfway point this team is 3-5 with a favorable home schedule in the second half of the season and an opportunity to possibly build some momentum in the next two games.
Let’s not talk about the “P” word until this team reaches 500.
Birdseed:
Update Time…. After nine weeks……………(overall record)
When a team’s quarterback throws 300+ yards in a single game… 16-22
When a team’s wide receiver has 100+ yards in a single game… 34-51
When a team has a 100+ yard rusher in a single game… 70-14
When a team rushes 30+ times in a football game… 80-20
Miami’s secondary
Miami has not allowed a 100-yard receiver in 19 games in a row. It’s the longest active streak in the league. Cardinals first round pick wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald came close with five catches for 92 yards on Sunday. (Last player 10-19-03, Troy Brown- New England- 6 receptions- 131 yards- TD)
One Liners
The Cardinals defense batted down ten balls on Sunday including one by defensive end Peppi Zellner, who tipped a pass that Duane Starks returned for a touchdown to change the game. The defensive line accounted for seven of those passes defensed and the defensive backs had three.
On Sunday Cardinals left tackle Leonard Davis probably played his best game this year. He did a nice job blocking Miami’s speed rush defensive end Jason Taylor.
Nice call by Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast on the first play of the fourth quarter when he called for a Karlos Dansby blitz that ended in a sack on Dolphins quarterback A.J. Feeley for a six yard loss which forced Miami to punt.
For the second week in a row, the Cardinals still had way too many penalties. They had nine penalties, at least this week it only cost them 45 yards. Some of the penalties were mental mistakes.
Arizona’s remaining opponents and their records:
November 14-New York Giants-5-3
November 21-at Carolina Panthers-1-7
November 28-New York Jets-6-2
December 5-at Detroit Lions-4-4
December 12-San Francisco 49ers-1-7
December 19-St. Louis Rams-4-4
December 26-at Seattle Seahawks-5-3
January 2-Tampa Bay-3-5
The Cardinals opponents combined record is 29-35.
Currently these are all the 3-5 teams in the NFC:
Arizona
Chicago
Dallas
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Washington
Emmitt Smith
Most Rushing Yards, Career
1.Emmitt Smith- 17, 983
2.Walter Payton- 16, 726
3.Barry Sanders- 15, 269
Most Rushing TDs, Career
1.Emmitt Smith-161
2.Marcus Allen- 123
3.Walter Payton- 110
Most 100-Yard Games, Career
1-Emmitt Smith- 78
2-Walter Payton- 77
3-Barry Sanders- 76
Most Combined Yards, Career
1-Brian Mitchell- 23, 330
2-Jerry Rice- 23, 205
3-Walter Payton- 21, 803
4-Emmitt Smith- 21,169
Since we are at the half way point let’s take a look at next year’s schedule:
Home Schedule
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Philadelphia
Washington
Jacksonville
Tennessee
NFC South Tampa Bay (Inter-conference by position)
Road Schedule
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Dallas
NY Giants
Houston
Indianapolis
NFC North Green Bay or Detroit (Inter-conference by position)
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/col_details.html?iid=285
Observations
Sunday’s game isn’t going to go down in the record books as the best game ever played but somehow the Arizona Cardinals did enough in the end to break a 17-game losing streak on the road with a 24-23 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
It was a game that came down to a couple of different plays and could have gone either way. The officiating was questionable on both sides of the ball and I can’t see how that crew would earn a high grade. With that being said, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and on Sunday the Cardinals finally caught some breaks. They took advantage of it by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. Even though the perception with this team is that they need to learn how to win, my feeling is that they need to learn how to finish by making plays at crucial times when they need it.
There is such a thing as winning ugly versus losing pretty. The Redbirds can make a case that the outcome in San Francisco or Atlanta could have been different, but it can’t be changed. Instead, they take the wins as they come. At the end of the season, it only matters how many wins a team has, not how they won.
Offensively, the running game was pretty much nonexistent, taking away running back Troy Hambrick’s 62 yard run. Without it, Arizona averaged 26 carries for 59 yards which is about two yards per carry. The interior of the offensive line has a lot to be desired when it comes to pass protection for quarterback Josh McCown. He doesn’t get a chance to set his feet when he’s at a five step drop. This has a lot to do with this team lacking big plays down the field. On Sunday when he had a chance to set up and throw he connected on a 48 yard completion to wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald that set up the winning score.
At the halfway point this team is 3-5 with a favorable home schedule in the second half of the season and an opportunity to possibly build some momentum in the next two games.
Let’s not talk about the “P” word until this team reaches 500.
Birdseed:
Update Time…. After nine weeks……………(overall record)
When a team’s quarterback throws 300+ yards in a single game… 16-22
When a team’s wide receiver has 100+ yards in a single game… 34-51
When a team has a 100+ yard rusher in a single game… 70-14
When a team rushes 30+ times in a football game… 80-20
Miami’s secondary
Miami has not allowed a 100-yard receiver in 19 games in a row. It’s the longest active streak in the league. Cardinals first round pick wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald came close with five catches for 92 yards on Sunday. (Last player 10-19-03, Troy Brown- New England- 6 receptions- 131 yards- TD)
One Liners
The Cardinals defense batted down ten balls on Sunday including one by defensive end Peppi Zellner, who tipped a pass that Duane Starks returned for a touchdown to change the game. The defensive line accounted for seven of those passes defensed and the defensive backs had three.
On Sunday Cardinals left tackle Leonard Davis probably played his best game this year. He did a nice job blocking Miami’s speed rush defensive end Jason Taylor.
Nice call by Cardinals defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast on the first play of the fourth quarter when he called for a Karlos Dansby blitz that ended in a sack on Dolphins quarterback A.J. Feeley for a six yard loss which forced Miami to punt.
For the second week in a row, the Cardinals still had way too many penalties. They had nine penalties, at least this week it only cost them 45 yards. Some of the penalties were mental mistakes.
Arizona’s remaining opponents and their records:
November 14-New York Giants-5-3
November 21-at Carolina Panthers-1-7
November 28-New York Jets-6-2
December 5-at Detroit Lions-4-4
December 12-San Francisco 49ers-1-7
December 19-St. Louis Rams-4-4
December 26-at Seattle Seahawks-5-3
January 2-Tampa Bay-3-5
The Cardinals opponents combined record is 29-35.
Currently these are all the 3-5 teams in the NFC:
Arizona
Chicago
Dallas
New Orleans
Tampa Bay
Washington
Emmitt Smith
Most Rushing Yards, Career
1.Emmitt Smith- 17, 983
2.Walter Payton- 16, 726
3.Barry Sanders- 15, 269
Most Rushing TDs, Career
1.Emmitt Smith-161
2.Marcus Allen- 123
3.Walter Payton- 110
Most 100-Yard Games, Career
1-Emmitt Smith- 78
2-Walter Payton- 77
3-Barry Sanders- 76
Most Combined Yards, Career
1-Brian Mitchell- 23, 330
2-Jerry Rice- 23, 205
3-Walter Payton- 21, 803
4-Emmitt Smith- 21,169
Since we are at the half way point let’s take a look at next year’s schedule:
Home Schedule
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Philadelphia
Washington
Jacksonville
Tennessee
NFC South Tampa Bay (Inter-conference by position)
Road Schedule
San Francisco
Seattle
St. Louis
Dallas
NY Giants
Houston
Indianapolis
NFC North Green Bay or Detroit (Inter-conference by position)
http://www.azcardinals.com/news/col_details.html?iid=285
