Things couldn’t have started any better on Saturday for the Arizona Cardinals. On the first play from scrimmage, Tim Hightower took a handoff from Kurt Warner, busted through the line, and went 70 yards into the end zone for a touchdown and an early Cardinals’ lead just :19 into the game.
That’s where the highlights ended for Arizona, as they were dominated 45-14 by the New Orleans Saints in an NFC Divisional Playoff game at the Superdome in Louisiana.
And the word dominated doesn’t exactly do justice to what transpired on the football field. The Saints answered the Cardinals fast start by scoring touchdowns on five of their first six possessions to take a 35-14 halftime lead.
So ends a nice season for the Cardinals. Their 10 regular season wins were the most since the team relocated from St. Louis in 1988. They won their second consecutive NFC West title–the first time that’s happened since the mid-1970′s. And they beat the Green Bay Packers 51-45 in overtime in an NFC Wild Card game that will go down as one of the best games in franchise history.
But realistically, a lot of the Cardinals accomplishments from this season are washed away by such a disappointing performance in New Orleans.
Here’s six things that stood out from Saturday’s loss in the Big Easy…
1
Kurt Warner’s future in doubt. Warner was decent against the Saints–certainly nowhere near where he was last week vs. Green Bay, but decent. Warner completed 17 of 26 for 205 yards and one interception, and that interception by Will Smith and a blindside block by Bobby McCray may have made up Warner’s mind for him.
McCray blasted Warner on a clean hit as Kurt made an attempt to tackle Smith, and literally took the quarterback off his feet. Warner missed the remainder of the first half, but valiantly returned in the 2nd, although I didn’t think he should have.
Warner was deeply affected by the brutal hit suffered by teammate Anquan Boldin last year against the Jets, and considered retirement then. Earlier this season, he suffered a concussion against St Louis and missed the next game, a loss at Tennessee. McCray’s shot on Warner may have sealed the deal.
Selfishly, as a fan of football and the Cardinals, I hope Warner comes back for the final year of his contract, and plays one more year in Arizona. But for a guy that has so many other things on his plate (family, faith, etc.), a part of me wants to see Kurt walk away while he still can.
2
Has anybody seen the defense? And you thought the Packers made the Cardinals defense look bad. At least against Green Bay, the Cardinals forced 3 Packer turnovers, sacked Aaron Rodgers five times and of course, scored the winning touchdown to propel them into the next round of the playoffs. Yes, Green Bay hung 45 points and 493 yards on the Cardinals defense, but at least they made plays.
Quick…name one play made by a Cardinals’ defender Saturday in New Orleans. Bet you can’t. Because they didn’t make any. The Cardinals allowed 38 points (the Saints’ special teams got one touchdown), allowed 418 yards, and failed to force a turnover or sack Drew Brees. The official stats showed that Arizona actually hurried Brees 3 times in the game, but I’ll be damned if I can remember them.
Injuries were a factor, as Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie missed most of the game, forcing rookie Greg Toler and the much maligned Michael Adams into action. But with the way the Saints did whatever they wanted offensively, I doubt Rolle and DRC being out there would have made much of a difference.
3
Poor tackling–again. Last week, I gave the Cardinals’ defense a little bit of a break, thinking that their struggles were a product of a red-hot Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense. I was wrong.
The biggest problem last week and this week with the Cardinals’ defense was their tackling. Look at the replay of Reggie Bush’s 46-yard touchdown run and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
4
Hate to pile on the defense but… My final point on the ‘d’–Darnell Dockett did play in this game, despite what the stat sheet says. Dockett didn’t register a tackle, an assist, a quarterback hurry…nothing.
If your emotional leader and best defensive lineman is neutralized to the point where he can’t register any statistics, you’re in for a long day.
5
Time for a new kicker. Neil Rackers had a nice run in Arizona. The former Bengal arrived in the Valley in 2003, and has made 171 field goals in a Cardinal uniform. Fans love that he tries to get involved in special teams tackles and is one of the best on sides kickers ever in the NFL. But if you can’t be counted on in the playoffs (or other big games), there’s no place for you on an NFL roster.
The Rackers watch kicked into high gear last week, when he was late getting on the field for a potential game-winning 34-yarder with :14 left, and then shanked that kick, sending the contest into overtime.
This week, Rackers was short on a 51-yard attempt right before halftime, and then booted the second half kickoff out of bounds, giving the potent Saints offense the ball at their own 40-yard line.
The Cardinals need to add a left tackle, a pass rusher and a quarterback this offseason, but it’s time to add kicker to that list of needs for 2010.
6
And he should have kicked the ball out of bounds -…while we’re talking about special teams, I guess we can add the punter and the punt coverage team to the blame list.
For as good as Ben Graham was punting the football for the Cardinals this season, he was equally bad in the playoffs. His lone punt against Green Bay traveled 26 yards.
Saturday, Graham averaged 43.5 yards on six punts, put zero inside the 20, and trailing 38-14 in the third quarter, lofted a 45-yarder to Bush, who caught it, and weaved through would-be tacklers on his way to an 83-yard touchdown that sealed the deal even though there were still over 21 minutes to play in the game.
Bush averaged 18.1 yards every time he touched the ball–no need to let him touch it more than he has to.
