2 Crappy Offenses, One Cardinal Overcomes, The Other Stands At The Brink

Arizona won their second game in a row against the bottom half of the NFC South, handling the Panthers 22-6. The Cardinals defense deserves the majority of the credit (surprise!), considering the offense totaled about 250 yards, Palmer threw 3 INTs (two in the end zone), lost the time of possession battle (again), and went 4-for-12 on 3rd down (still an improvement). Rashard Mendenhall continued to be a largely ineffective back, though maybe that's the O-line's fault. Can't rule it out. To be fair, the O-line only allowed 2 sacks, so that's an improvement.

The Cardinals' D scuffled a bit in the first half, letting Cam Newton throw for over 200 yards, though they held Carolina to only 6 points. But in the second half, they dialed it up, and Newton threw for less than 100 yards. The Panthers were held below 100 yards rushing as a team, Newton to just 25 yards. The Cards sacked him 7 times, intercepted three of his passes, and forced a fumble. So yeah, all credit to the defense. And Jay Feely (2-for-2 on FGs, including a 50 yarder), and Dave Zastudil (averaged almost 50 yards per punt).

Just like last year, the rest of the team is holding the offense up, so anytime it wants to get its butt in gear would be fine. Cardinals' fans were disgusted enough yesterday to start booing Palmer, which I'd probably be doing if I'd gotten to see the game. We've seen enough dumb passes the last few years, it'd be nice if he'd cut it out.

Over on the baseball side of things, the St. Louis Cardinals need that luck I was talking about more than I thought. They're down 2-1 to Pittsburgh after Sunday, and Game 4 kicks off in less than 2 hours from when I'm typing this, so they could be done by this evening. The offense hasn't really come through (4 runs in the last 2 games), but Matheny's rotation decisions haven't helped.

There was no reason to start Joe Kelly ahead of Michael Wacha (starting today) or Shelby Miller (consigned to the bullpen?!) Kelly is Jake Westbrook, meaning even on a good day, he's at the mercy of luck on balls in play. Even if he's getting ground balls, if they're finding holes in the infield, he's sunk. As for Lance Lynn starting Game 2, well, let's put it this way. Given the choice between Lance Lynn of 2013 or Jeff Suppan of 2004-2006 to start one game, I'd take Suppan. Not because I believe Suppan is more likely to deliver a great start, but because I think he's less likely to deliver a disastrous one. Lynn's results just seem so variable. Like he can give you the 7 innings, 1 run, but he can give you 3 innings, 5 runs. Over the course of an entire season, he has enough of the good starts to make it worthwhile, but in the playoffs, I'd rather just stick with the guy I feel I can count on for 6 innings, 3 runs. So given the choice, i'd have thrown Miller at the Pirates in game 2, and Wacha in Game 3.

As few runs as the Cards have scored, maybe it doesn't matter, but best foot forward.