Photo: Tom Mihalek/AP

If you’re a Cardinal fan, and you were worried about feasting a little too much while preparing to watch your team play on Thanksgiving for the first time since 1985, you’re not worried anymore.

That’s because the Arizona Cardinals played so badly Thursday night in a 48-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, you probably upchucked everything you ate before kickoff anyway.

The Cardinals sleepwalked through a completely uninspired “effort” in Philly. They turned the ball over, they missed tackles, they continued to struggle in the running game, they dropped passes. In other words, they team did nothing right.

Even following a 37-29 loss to the World Champion New York Giants last Sunday, there was optimism surrounding this team. It’s hard to find any optimism just 4 days later.

Here’s some observations from Thursday night’s debacle…

• I guess we’ll start on offense, which was, in a word, offensive. This team can’t run the football. Of course it doesn’t help when you dig yourself a 21-0 hole, and have to play catch up for most of the game. But let me say it this way. KYLE FREAKING ECKEL OUTRUSHED THE COMBINATION OF J.J. ARRINGTON AND TIM HIGHTOWER! Hightower has carried 42 times in his last 4 starts for 85 yards. That’s a little more than 2 yards per carry. I know earlier, I wrote that Edgerrin James belonged on the bench. I was wrong. James needs to be in the lineup for the Cardinals, if they truly want to have any sort of commitment to running the ball. Hightower worked as a change of pace back, but hasn’t cut the mustard as a starter.
• Kurt Warner will not win the MVP. He’s had a great season, but he was not good on Thursday night, and that’s putting it mildly. He’s not the sole reason why Arizona lost this game, but throwing picks on each of the first two possessions set the tone for the whole night.
• Anquan Boldin is human. While looking like he should be wearing a cape and fighting crime in Metropolis for most of this season, Boldin had maybe his most forgettable game as a pro on Thanksgiving night. Boldin had at least three dropped passes, and two fumbles. The second fumble was the final nail in the coffin for the Cardinals, who had cut the Eagles’ lead to 14 early in the fourth quarter, and had forced a punt. Warner hit Boldin on 1st down for 19 yards, but Q coughed it up, and Philadelphia recovered on the Arizona 19-yard line. Five plays later, Donovan McNabb hit DeSean Jackson on a 5-yard touchdown pass to increase the bulge to three touchdowns. It was a spirit-crushing potential 14-point swing.
• Now, we can concentrate on defense, which is something the Cardinals haven’t done for the last two weeks. This team can’t tackle, plain and simple. I’d love to see some sort of stats on missed tackles, and yards Eagles’ players gained tonight after first contact. Actually, on second thought, I wouldn’t.
• Eric Green and Ralph Brown may give the Cardinals the most colorful cornerback combo in the league, but if they’re pressed into duty, you’re defense is in big trouble.
• In the last two weeks, the Cardinals defense has allowed 758 yards and 85 points. They have had two quarterback sacks, and forced zero turnovers (the Eagles one fumble occurred on special teams). The Eagles, keep in mind, came into the game riding a streak of 21 consecutive drives without scoring an offensive touchdown.
• I thought last week after watching Eli Manning play, that he was the MVP of the NFL. He played a flawless football game for a very good team. A week later, I still think Manning is great, but this defense has the ability of making a lot of quarterbacks look like MVPs. Donovan McNabb was benched last week for the first time in his career in a 36-7 loss to Baltimore. Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid had to actually make an announcement at his weekly press conference that McNabb would start on Thursday. It’s pretty clear his skill level has eroded, and that his days in Philadelphia are numbered. But Thursday, the Cardinals defense made McNabb look like an MVP. McNabb completed 27 of 39 passes for 260 yards and 4 touchdowns. This season, Brett Favre, Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb have gone a combined 77 of 106 for 789 yards with 13 touchdowns and only 1 interception–a combined QB rating of 129.28.
• By the way, in his career, McNabb is 5-2 vs. the Cardinals, and has thrown for 16 touchdowns and run for 2 in 7 games.
• In their three losses to the Jets, Giants and Eagles, the Cardinals have given up a total of 141 points.

Leading up to this game, there was a lot of speculation of whether or not the Cardinals were a contender, or a pretender who were in first place due to the weak division they play in.

I think we’re starting to find out the answer to that question.

November 27th, 2008 10:36 PM

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