One Set Of Cardinals Got Lucky, And One Set Could Use Some

Arizona improved their record to 2-2 today. They managed it despite totaling less than 300 yards of total offense, despite 3 or 4 turnovers, and losing time of possession by 8 minutes. It helps they played Tampa. the only way the Buccaneers could be making a stronger push for their coach to get fired was if they planted drugs in his office.

Anyway, the Cards failed to run the ball successfully for the 4th straight game, and Palmer threw two picks, but he's still a considerable upgrade on last year's QB situation. The defense did a fair job shutting down Tampa's primary running game, though they were burned by a couple of random runs. The offense is still a mess. Only one touchdown, obviously, but 1-for-11 on third downs. Jeez, are they ever gonna get things together?

On the baseball front, St. Louis followed up a sweep of the Nationals with a sweep of the Cubs. They not only clinched the division, but also homefield through the NL playoffs, for what that's worth. They'll face whoever wins the Pittsburgh/Cincy play-in game. The Cards have done a lot better against the Reds than the Pirates this year, but in a five-game series, I'm not sure it matters. That's the thing, for all that I might worry about the rotation or the bats going dead suddenly, in a short series anything could happen. And it's just as likely to be something I wouldn't expect that serves as the turning point. Last year Pete Kozma hit like Honus Wagner for a month. We've seen Anthony Reyes outpitch Justin Verlander, and Rick Ankiel spontaneously lose the ability to throw strikes. Weird shit happens in small samples is what I'm saying.