Another Missed Opportunity

Arizona lost to Carolina 30-20. It wasn't that close. Carolina was up 24-0, and then 30-7 before the Cardinals decided to stop playing like shit (or the Panthers stopped caring). Carson Palmer threw for 363 yards, most of them after the game was out of reach. He also handed the Panthers their first points by fumbling to Thomas Davis, who ran it back 46 yards for the score. He also threw a pick to seal the loss late.

But it's not all on Palmer. The o-line let him get sacked 8 times, and utterly failed to open any holes for David Johnson (in the limited chances there were to run before the game got out of hand). Johnson gained a grand total of 24 yards on the ground on 10 carries. The defense, which mostly throttled Seattle last week*, gave up over 140 yards on the ground. Cam Newton had an unspectacular game, about 210 yards, no TDs, barely completed 50% of his passes, but with the Cards offense doing nothing much of the game, he didn't need to.

So once again the Cardinals had a chance to make a statement, and once again they blew it. They could have trounced Buffalo and probably got Rex Ryan fired. Instead they got their asses handed to them. They could have beat Seattle, offering at least some token opposition to the Seahawks for the division title. Instead their special teams bumbled them into a tie. They could have put a knife in the heart of Carolina's season, in some small way avenging the ass-whupping they received in the NFC Championship last seasons. Instead they let the Panthers dole out another beating. I don't know what's up with this team. Injured, old, starting to tune Arians out in Year 4, unlucky, stupid, I don't know. Regardless, they look more like the Cardinals I was used to seeing the first 20 years I watched them.

And that's not a happy thought. 

* Though considering the Seahawks barely broke 20 points against the fucking Saints, that may not be saying much.