What to think about the Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals will be making the playoffs despite tonight’s ugly win that dropped them to 7-5 and delayed their clinching of the NFC West by at least another week. However, the blowout loss against the Eagles tonight prompted a very serious question, one that will tell us if the Cardinals will be an actual threat capable of making a run in the playoffs: are they really a good team with their offensive firepower, or simply a product of a ridiculously weak division?
Seeing tonight’s game, I might have to go with the latter, an opinion I didn’t have just three weeks ago. I doubt they can beat any of the NFC East teams; with the last two games against the Giants and Eagles, I’m going to bet that most NFC playoff teams believe the same.
Sure, they obviously have the big weapons on offense. Regardless of the struggles tonight, Kurt Warner is still a very good quarterback with very good receivers. The problem is, though, the lack of a running game. They don’t have a good back, as Tim Hightower won’t be gaining very many yards when facing defenses like the Eagles. Overall, they seem kind of soft compared to other teams in the NFC. Being one-dimensional and winning in the playoffs don’t go hand and hand very often.
And on defense, they have far too many breakdowns and get punched in the mouth too many times to stop offenses like the Cowboys, Giants or Saints.
Lastly, look at the teams they’ve beaten on the road: the Rams, 49er’s and Seahawks, obviously benefitting from the weak division. I understand that they may be playing at home in the playoffs, which possibly helps them to win a game. But, they won’t be the top seed, and once they are forced to go into an opponent’s stadium, their lack of big away wins and the offensive and defensive deficiences will stop them from doing much.
I could be wrong, but again, the Cardinals really do appear to be a decent team in an awful division that is looking better than it really is, a misconception that is revealed when they face better competition.. And no, I won’t be changing by mind after they beat up on the Rams next week.
Max Jean-Gilles fractures ankle
With a big win tonight came some bad news for the Philadelphia Eagles. Right guard Max Jean-Gilles, filling in for the injured Shawn Andrews, had his ankle rolled on and fractured it, forcing him to get carted off the field and most likely ending his season. It is not known if Andrews will even be able to come back this season, as his back surgery had complications a few weeks ago.
The inexperienced Nick Cole will now fill in at the spot, creating a possible problem on the offensive line for Donovan McNabb. We’ll have to see if the offense worsens because of the injury.
Eagles 48, Cardinals 20
The third and final game of the day was another blowout featuring plenty of scoring, with the Eagles topping the Cardinals 48-20.
Many of Philadelphia’s questions were answered with two players that were struggling, Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook, having very good days. Westbrook, who hasn’t been himself this season because of injuries, got four total touchdowns, two on the ground and two from McNabb. McNabb was absolutely outstanding, not turning the ball over, throwing for a lot of yardage and four touchdowns, and even showing off his speed again. He definitely bought himself some more time as the starting quarterback; maybe last week’s benching got him motivated to remain in place. Arizona had no answer for the Eagles’ offense, as they weren’t getting any pressure on McNabb and not playing aggressive enough.
Arizona wasn’t as good as usual on offense, mostly because of bad games from Kurt Warner and Anquan Boldin. Warner had as many picks as he did touchdowns, three, because of pretty solid pressure and inaccurate throws all game. Many went high, including his first two interceptions. Boldin dropped two passes, was unspectacuar in the passing game, and fumbled the ball after a first-down catch in the fourth quarterback, eliminating a possible comback from his team. Defensive Coordinator Jimmy Johnson had a good plan in mind to stop Warner and the Cardinals’ offense, which had been great up to this point. When you turn the ball over four times and only get one yourself, you won’t win in almost all cases.
With this big win that got the team back on track and their fans back on the bandwagon, the Eagles will go to 6-5-1, still in the playoff hunt. Although it seems very doubtful that they’ll be able to make their way into the playoffs, they are a dangerous team and will be playing all teams in their division in the final month, giving them the oppurtunity to sneak their way in. They will certainly have confidence after this one.
Ware, Barber Updates
Although they won, the Dallas Cowboys did experience two injuries to players that they need in this last month and possibly the playoffs, DeMarcus Ware and Marion Barber (both had to come out of the game). The Dallas Morning News has an update on both of them.
Ware has a hyperextended knee that will require an MRI, but it appears as if he’ll be fully ready to play next week against the Steelers. He was pretty confident in that prospect:
“I’ll be ready for this big game in Pittsburgh,” Ware said.
As for Marion Barber, on the other hand, it isn’t known if his dislocated pinkie toe on his right foot will need more time. Jerry Jones said this:
“I don’t want to speculate,” Jerry said when asked about Barber’s availability against the Steelers, “but there’s no way I’ll rule him out.”
It doesn’t seem very optimistic in Dallas that he’ll be playing. They might need him in that game, though.
I think all Seinfeld fans are reminded of this when they hear of an injury to the pinkie toe. No one knows better than Barber that it is a very valuable appendage.
The fact that they have ten days off until the big game against Pittsburgh could be huge for both of these guys, mostly Barber. We’ll see if they suit up.
Cowboys 34, Seahawks 9
In a predictable blowout with the winning team finishing with a high score, the Cowboys knocked off the Seahawks 34-9 in Dallas to go to 8-4 and get the lead, at least until Sunday, over the Redskins for second place in the East and a wild-card spot.
Dallas’ offense was outstanding, getting back into the prosperity that we all thought they would have at the beginning of the season with all of that talent. Tony Romo had all day to sit back in the pocket because of great protection, leaving a weak Seattle secondary with absolutely no chance. Jason Witten had a nice day, the first in a while, with over one hundred yards and a touchdown. Terrell Owens and Martellus Bennett also caught touchdown passes. The running game was unspectacular, possibly the reason why the Seahawks were able to stick around, still with a small chance until the fourth quarter, but the passing game offset that.
The Cowboys’ defense also played well, getting to Matt Hasselback and not allowing the Seahawks’ ground game to get going. He was sacked an unacceptable seven times, with DeMarcus Ware getting three before he got injured. What an unbelievable player he is.
This was a game, as I explained last night, that Dallas needed to play well in. They have a rather difficult stretch of games coming up in December, and need to gain the most confidence possible. They pretty much did that tonight, and have to be feeling good with a long week coming up.
For Seattle, this just continues a dreadful season, falling to 2-10. Something tells me that Mike Holmgren isn’t regretting his decision to retire.
Titans 47, Lions 10
What can you really say for the Lions after their 47-10 loss, the ugliest game on Thanksgiving for them? Honestly, it would be doing us all, including them, a favor to strip them of the tradition.
Tennessee, meanwhile, certainly bounced back from their first 2008 loss last Sunday against the Jets with a dominant performance on both sides of the ball.
The two-headed monster combination of LenDale White and Chris Johnson was very successful today against a weak Detroit defense that couldn’t tackle and bought on nearly every fake the Titans did. Both had over one hundred yards with two touchdowns, showing that their running game is still strong and that Johnson can still produce late in his first NFL season. They did just what they wanted to do- run the football and barely need Kerry Collins (he attempted just eighteen passes). The key for the rest of the season is if they can do it against better defenses than the Lions.
The Titans’ defense, however, can simply not be overlooked, as they were fantastic. Kevin Smith couldn’t even get to two yards a carry, and Daunte Culpepper had a pretty frustrating game. His numbers weren’t exactly horrendous, but he all but took his team out of the game with an awful first-quarter pick-six. Drew Henson saw some snaps late in the game. His offensive line, though, didn’t exactly make it easy for him to make plays in the air.
So, the Titans go to 11-1, while the Lions fall to 0-12, now looking at the real possibility that they will not win one single game this season and probably putting a local TV blackout in place next week against the Vikings.
