Unbelievable!  The Cardinals were winning 20-0 at halftime and 23-3 with 5 seconds to go in the third quarter….and still found a way to lose this game!  Can’t blame it on QB Matt Leinart.  Leinart completed 24 of 42 passes for 232 yards with 2 TDs.  Leinart drove the team down the field at the end of the game and set Neil Rackers up for a 41-yard FG…..and Rackers hooked it to the left with 53 seconds left in the game!  Edgerrin James had a terrible game, carrying the ball 36 times for 55 yards (1.5 ypc) and had a key fumble in the 4th quarter that the Bears returned for a TD.  WR Anquan Boldin was fantastic, catching 12 passes for 136 yards and a TD.

The defense played a fantastic game and only allowed 3 of the points scored by the Bears.  The Cardinals held the Bears to 34 yards on 16 carries (2.1 ypc).  The Bears picked off 4 Rex Grossman passes and allowed the Bears to complete 14 of 37 passes for 134 net yards passing.  LB Gerald Hayes had 7 tackles, defensed a pass and had an interception.  SS Adrian Wilson had 5 tackles, a sack and defensed a pass.  DT Darnell Dockett, S Aaron Francisco and S Robert Griffith each intercepted a pass.

The special teams was a mess in this game.  The Cardinals missed two FGs and let the Bears’ Devin Hester return a punt 83 yards for the game-winning TD!

This is the kind of game that gets a coach fired!

Larry Fitzgerald will be out 2-5 weeks with a hamstring injury.  This will hurt the Cardinals offense in a big way.  Hopefully Bryant Johnson can step it up and keep teams from double covering Anquan Boldin.  The Cardinals activated WR Carlyle Holiday off of the practice squad and he will serve as the Cardinals #4 WR against the Bears on Monday night.

The Cardinals are having a hard time covering kicks.  Opponents are averaging 12.8 yards per punt return and 23.8 yards per kick-off return.  This needs to get better for the team to get better.

Neil Rackers has only made 6 of 9 FGs (all 3 misses over 50 yards) and all 10 XPTs.  Punter Scott Player is not doing too good of a job.  Player is averaging 42.4 yards per punt, but only 32.0 net yards per punt.  Player has only pinned opponents inside their 20 yard line 24% of the time.

Troy Walters has done a good job returning punts averaging 10.3 yards per return.  JJ Arrington is averaging 22.3 yards per kick-off return.

 

The Cardinals were leading 20-10 at the start of the 4th quarter, but couldn’t hang on against the Chiefs.  Leinart drove the team down the field after the Chiefs took the lead, but Neil Rackers missed a long FG to end the game.  Matt Leinart completed 22 of 35 passes for 253 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT.  Edgerrin James carried the ball 24 times for 71 yards (3.0 ypc) and caught 6 passes for 44 yards.  Larry Fitzgerald hurt his hamstring early in the game, but caught 2 passes for 15 yards and a TD.  Bryant Johnson caught 6 passes for 82 yards, but dropped a couple he should have caught.  Anquan Boldin caught 4 passes for 71 yards and a TD.

The defense played pretty well for the most part on Sunday.  CB Antrel Rolle had 8 tackles and LB Karlos Dansby had 7 tackles and 2 sacks.  The Cards stuffed the Chiefs vaunted running game, holding the Chiefs to 39 yards on 22 carries (1.8 ypc).  They had a little trouble defending the pass as the Chiefs completed 26 of 38 passes for 262 net yards thru the air.

If their was such a thing as a moral victory this would be it, but in the NFL it’s only about wins and losses.  Matt Leinart had a fantastic start to his career, but the Bears are coming to town next week. 

 

 

This game pits two coaches that have been taking alot of heat so far this season.  Herman Edwards has been taking heat for his ultra conservative play-calling on offense.  Dennis Green is taking heat because his team is falling far short of expectations.

Coach Edwards has to be licking his chops after watching game film this week of the Cardinals run defense.  The Cards are allowing 144.5 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry.  Look for Larry Johnson (295 yards rushing, 162 yards receiving) to be the focal point of the Chiefs offense.  Also look for Edwards to let Damon Huard (106.9 QB rating) throw some short passes to Tony Gonzalez (17 rec, 147 yards) and Eddie Kennison (9 rec, 139 yards).  The Chiefs will look to control the clock on offense and keep the potentially explosive Cards offense on the sideline.

Look for the Cards to run Edgerrin James (272 yards rushing) a little more than usual, to protect rookie QB Matt Leinart a bit in his first NFL start.  The Cards will still put the ball up alot with their best players on offense being WRs Anquan Boldin (24 rec, 295 yards) and Larry Fitzgerald (22 rec, 316 yards).  The Cards will try to jump to an early lead and take the Chiefs out of their gameplan.

I see the Chiefs winning this football game, because there’s no way the Cards will be able to stop Larry Johnson.  The Chiefs improved defense could give Matt Leinart some problems in his first NFL start.

Coach Dennis Green is running out of time as coach of the Arizona Cardinals.  He must decide if he should try to continue on with Kurt Warner or give first round pick Matt Leinart his first shot.  Warner was pulled in the Atlanta game on Sunday and their were rumors that Green was going to make the switch for that game, be he resisted.  Warner completed 77 of 123 passes (62.6%) for 916 yards with 5 TDs and 5 INT.  Warner has a QB rating of 81.9 and has been sacked 12 times.  Warner also is having trouble with fumbles.

Rookie Matt Leinart has the support of his teammates.  He has completed 5 of 8 passes for 49 yards and an interception.  Leinart will have great receivers at his disposal, but will the line block well enough for him to be successful?  Only time will tell, but it looks like Green is willing to give him a shot……and soon.

You have to wonder if the Cardinals coaches watched alot of Falcons game film after this game.  Besides Gerald Hayes (8 tackles) and Adrian Wilson (5 tackles, TD on 99 yard interception return) did anyone show up on the defense?  The Falcons ran the ball 40 times for 262 yards (6.6 yards per carry)!  The Falcons completed 13 of 22 passes for 143 net yards passing.

The Cards offense was pitiful.  Kurt Warner completed 11 of 20 passes for 128 yards and an interception.  Warner got pulled in the second half and Matt Leinart completed 5 of 8 passes for 49 yards and a pick-off.  The Falcons stopped Edgerrin James stone cold, as James carried the ball 20 times for 41 yards (2.1 ypc) and caught 5 passes for 31 yards (6.2 avg).  Larry Fitzgerald caught 3 passes for 66 yards and Anquan Boldin caught 4 passes for 42 yards.

Despite all the money the Cards spent in the off-season, it’s beginning to look the same as seasons’ past.