A Cardinal Feasts On A Falcon, Another Cardinal Stumbles In The Dark

Arizona defeated the Atlanta Falcons 27-13! All right! Andre Ellington ran for 154 on just carries, making the first 100 yard rusher the Cardinals have had since LaRod Stephens-Howling ran for about 129 last year against. . . the Atlanta Falcons! Wow, the Falcons run defense is terrible if they can't stop Arizona.

The Cardinals' defense held the Falcons to 27 yards rushing on 14 carries, sacked Matt Ryan 4 times, and intercepted him 4 times as well. Carson Palmer only had to throw the ball 18 times, so he only threw 1 interception! Whoo!

Anyway, that's all good news, and the Cardinals go into their bye week at 4-4, which is the same record they had halfway through last season. In that case, they won 4 in a row, then lost 4 in a row. I guess going back and forth on wins and losses is better. Maybe. Anyway, I'm still happy with the defense. When the offense can give them anything in the first half, the team has a chance. It's just a matter of whether Palmer commits a bunch of dumb turnovers that puts the team in a hole right off the bat.

On the baseball side of things, Game 5 of the World Series is tonight. The Series is tied 2-2, and Wainwright gets a chance to improve on the disaster that was Game 1. Hopefully his defense will also decide to show up. The series has been kind of a mess honestly. The Red Sox won game 1 in large part because the Cardinals forgot how to field. Then the Red Sox returned the favor at key moments in games 2 and 3 by forgetting how to throw to bases, or when to do so. The Cardinals won Game 3 on an obstruction call, the Boston won game 4 by Uehara picking Kolten Wong off first base. Both managers are making curious bullpen decisions. I'm not really surprised by Matheny's, and maybe Boston fans aren't surprised by Farrell's, but I don't know. It's been a close series, but not exactly a crisply played one.

But so far, the Cardinals have met my minimum expectations. They won Game 2, ensuring they wouldn't get swept. They won Game 3, ensuring the series would be at worst, even at 2 after 4 games. I figured that was the best I could reasonably hope for in a scenario where Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn would face the best offense in baseball, even one that wasn't getting to use their precious DH. At this point, it's best 2 out of 3, and the Cards send their two best starting pitchers out for the first two games. They can't ask for a much better chance to win. Of course, if they lose either of those games, it's back to Joe Kelly. In a Game 7. In Boston. They probably better win the next two games.

And Matheny better get his head out of his ass and start using his lefthanded relievers against David Ortiz. Seriously, he has two of them: Randy Choate and Kevin Seigrist. Choate's been doing this thing for awhile, and Siegrist wasn't really good this year. Ortiz is a below-average hitter against lefties, and one of the best hitters in Boston's lineup. Make him face lefthanded pitchers, god damn you, Matheny. The Red Sox might still win, but there's no reason to make it easy for them.