A Positive Regular Season, A Less Positive Postseason

Bill Barnwell said on Twitter yesterday that we should come up with a way for Arizona to just play lousy teams every week, since they so enjoy destroying them. If we could contrive some method for that to carry through all the way through the Super Bowl, I'd be all for it. As it is, they will surely have to beat an actual good team at some point.

But not this weekend, as they laid waste to the Lions, 42-17. Detroit scored the first touchdown, then Arizona rattled off basically 42 unanswered points. One week after Arizona lost in part because the Rams took care of the ball while the Cardinals didn't, Detroit turned the ball over 6 times, between Ameer Abdullah's two lost fumbles, Matt Stafford's 3 INTs, and Dan Orlovsky's pick. Stafford played so badly he got himself benched partway into the third quarter. The o-line didn't help, as he and Orlovsky got knocked down 17 times combined, but being forced to drop back over 70 times because your team is getting its ass beat will contribute to a result like that.

Carson Palmer completed 11 of 14 passes for 161 yards and 3 TDs, which suits me fine. The less he passes, the less he gets hit. Chris Johnson went over 100 yards rushing again, and Andre Ellington got to play a little, including a 63 yard run. Larry Fitzgerald didn't break 100 yards receiving, but they didn't really need him to.

With the Rams and the Seahawks both losing (thanks, Green Bay and Cincy!), Arizona has a 2-game lead in the division. Which counts for essentially jack shit. They had a 3 game lead on Seattle last year around the 10-game mark, and still lost the division. They haven't played a team with a winning record yet, though I'm not sure how often it's going to happen. They play the Steelers, Ravens, and Browns the next 3 weeks, none of whom look real great right now. Two games with the Seahawks loom, plus another with the Rams, and Green Bay in Week 16. And there's no telling which teams look bad now that might be very different in a month or two. So takes the wins as the come, however they come, that's my motto.

As for the baseball Cardinals, they aren't in the best spot. The series with the Cubs is tied, but now they're facing Arrieta, who hasn't lost since mid-summer. Which means they're very likely to enter Game 4 on the verge of elimination. Which, granted, is where they were against Pittsburgh two years ago, and they got out of that, but it's not optimal. Though I suppose beating the seemingly unstoppable Arrieta would be a great example of that Devil Magic people attribute to that Cardinals. Of course, the Pirates were supposed to have some of that themselves, and it didn't save them against him. If the Cardinals could try not fielding like they were reenacting the 2006 Detroit Tigers' pitching staff, that might help.