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Unbelievable. The way this game was going we were heading straight for our 3rd loss. But a win is a win.
The Good
11 Wins Back To Back-First time in our history we've won 11 games in 2 consecutive seasons. Let that sink in. This team is a charter member of the NFL and this is the 96th season of the NFL and the Cardinals and this is the first time the Cards had back to back 11 win seasons.
Clinched A Playoff Spot-Win and we're in. Well, we won and we're in. Again, in 96 seasons this is the only 3rd time in our history we went to the playoffs in back to back seasons. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that started 0-26 doesn't have that level of futility. Tell you something about the change in philosophy of this franchise.
Dwight Freeney-Somebody said in the Game Day thread during the last drive that Freeney needed to earn his money. Well, he earned it and more. The old man still has it.
Carson Palmer-All time leading passer when it comes to TD's in a season. The guy has found a fountain of youth and has been a rock.
Mike Iupati-He didn't have a great game blocking wise but good enough but his catch of a batted pass and running for a 1st down was huge on the game winning drive.
David Johnson-With CJ being out, the kid has filled in admirably. too bad BA didn't give him a chance to cash in when he got us to the 2 yard line which is strange considering it was his job when CJ would get us close.
Big Plays-Floyd, Smoke, and Fitz. The best WR combo in the league hands down. Fitz is embracing the Q role like the winner that he is. It's been a privilege watching this guy's career.
The Bad
Play Calling-I could swear Whiz was calling plays at times tonight. 1st and goal from the 2 and BA takes DJ out, puts Taylor in, and we go...backward. Scoring a TD there just might have been the dagger we needed. That's just one example of the questionable play calling tonight.
Defense-Because of the 3 turnovers and how the game ended I'm refraining from putting them in the Ugly category but the defense, with the exception of Matheiu, Peterson, and Freeney, the rest of the defense was putrid. The Vikings offense was 28th in scoring, 30 in yards and 31st in passing yards. Absolutely horrible. Tonight they didn't really improve on their scoring but they had 389 total yards with 335 passing yards. The defense allowed this mediocre offense far too many big plays and only a bit of luck helped us win as this defense couldn't stop a cab tonight and better get their act together because as bad as Philly seems to be, they can have bouts of lucidity offensively and can pile up the yards on you in a heartbeat. And the inability to cover the tight end reared it's ugly head tonight. That needs to be fixed.
Too Many Purple Jerseys In The Stands-Makes me want to live back in AZ all the more. Saddens me that there are so many opposing fans in our house. The GB game isn't going to be any different I fear.
The Ugly
Not Much, Really-We're in the playoffs. Nothing ugly about that.
That's pretty much it. Onto Philly. If anyone is coming east for this game, let me know. I'd love to meet up with you all.
The Good
11 Wins Back To Back-First time in our history we've won 11 games in 2 consecutive seasons. Let that sink in. This team is a charter member of the NFL and this is the 96th season of the NFL and the Cardinals and this is the first time the Cards had back to back 11 win seasons.
Clinched A Playoff Spot-Win and we're in. Well, we won and we're in. Again, in 96 seasons this is the only 3rd time in our history we went to the playoffs in back to back seasons. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that started 0-26 doesn't have that level of futility. Tell you something about the change in philosophy of this franchise.
Dwight Freeney-Somebody said in the Game Day thread during the last drive that Freeney needed to earn his money. Well, he earned it and more. The old man still has it.
Carson Palmer-All time leading passer when it comes to TD's in a season. The guy has found a fountain of youth and has been a rock.
Mike Iupati-He didn't have a great game blocking wise but good enough but his catch of a batted pass and running for a 1st down was huge on the game winning drive.
David Johnson-With CJ being out, the kid has filled in admirably. too bad BA didn't give him a chance to cash in when he got us to the 2 yard line which is strange considering it was his job when CJ would get us close.
Big Plays-Floyd, Smoke, and Fitz. The best WR combo in the league hands down. Fitz is embracing the Q role like the winner that he is. It's been a privilege watching this guy's career.
The Bad
Play Calling-I could swear Whiz was calling plays at times tonight. 1st and goal from the 2 and BA takes DJ out, puts Taylor in, and we go...backward. Scoring a TD there just might have been the dagger we needed. That's just one example of the questionable play calling tonight.
Defense-Because of the 3 turnovers and how the game ended I'm refraining from putting them in the Ugly category but the defense, with the exception of Matheiu, Peterson, and Freeney, the rest of the defense was putrid. The Vikings offense was 28th in scoring, 30 in yards and 31st in passing yards. Absolutely horrible. Tonight they didn't really improve on their scoring but they had 389 total yards with 335 passing yards. The defense allowed this mediocre offense far too many big plays and only a bit of luck helped us win as this defense couldn't stop a cab tonight and better get their act together because as bad as Philly seems to be, they can have bouts of lucidity offensively and can pile up the yards on you in a heartbeat. And the inability to cover the tight end reared it's ugly head tonight. That needs to be fixed.
Too Many Purple Jerseys In The Stands-Makes me want to live back in AZ all the more. Saddens me that there are so many opposing fans in our house. The GB game isn't going to be any different I fear.
The Ugly
Not Much, Really-We're in the playoffs. Nothing ugly about that.
That's pretty much it. Onto Philly. If anyone is coming east for this game, let me know. I'd love to meet up with you all.
