Week 13 Is The Return Of The Kolb

I hadn't really thought of it a few minutes ago, but Arizona's now won 4 of their last 5, after beating the Dallas Cowboys 19-13 in overtime today. It doesn't make up for the 1-6 start, but it's a better stretch than I might have expected. There was some luck involved, since Dallas' kicker missed two field goals, when he'd hit 25 in a row or something. But they were like 53 and 49 yard tries, which are hardly chip shots. Of course, he hit the 49 yarder at the end of regulation to win it, but it wound up not counting because his own head coach called a time out. Then he missed the next try, allowing the game to go into overtime. Ha! I love that. Dallas shot itself in the foot. If I can't have Arizona whupping their asses, I'll take Dallas beating itself.

Patrick Peterson did not return a punt for a TD this week. He did get matched up against Dex Bryant, with mixed results. Bryant didn't have a big game, but he did have 86 yards on 8 receptions, with one TD. The Cardinals didn't force any turnovers, but neither did the Cowboys, which is a nice change of pace for the Cardinals offense. The Cardinals actually outrushed their opponents, getting over 100 yards, at a 4.1 ypc clip. The Cowboys mustered only 75 yards on the ground, at 3.8 ypc. Felix Jones had some good results, but the Cards' defense largely corraled recent rushing beast DeMarco Murray.

Kevin Kolb was back in the lineup, and he had a quietly effective game, kind of like the one Sam Bradford had against Arizona last week. 16 of 25 for 247 yards, with 1 TD. 52 of the yards came on the game-winning screen pass, so perhaps more credit there should go to LaRod Stephens-Howling and his legion of blockers on the play. Still, the QB has to get the ball there.

Both defenses collected 5 sacks. I'm not too surprised Kolb was sacked that often, since the Cowboys have a good pass rush (it's their secondary that blows), but I thought the Cowboys did a better job protecting Romo than that. So, credit to Arizona's pass rush.

Next up for the Cardinals are, aw crap. The 49ers?! Well, I guess this'll be a chance for Kolb to really prove something. Yeah, I know I pointed out the lack of turnovers, and Arizona won and all, but their offense is still hardly clicking on all cylinders. At least, I hope it isn't. 19 points would be a pretty lousy peak offensive performance. The Niners ate Skelton for lunch two games ago, so let's see what Kolb can manage against them. I certainly hope he can do better.