Rallying off their performance against the Seahawks, where once again Emmitt Smith showed he wasn’t the washed up running back that people believed he was, things looked bright for the Cardinals, who had Buffalo (1-5) and Miami (1-6) upcoming on their schedule. These were chances to end that streak, and move onward to a successful season.
Unfortunately for Arizona, things weren’t going to come easy. After a 14-38 shellacking at Buffalo, team spirits were down, as the rushing defense allowed Willis McGahee to run all over them. Buffalo capitalized off of good field position and a solid performance by punter Brian Moorman as well as kick returner Terrence McGee, even though their passing offense was held to only 81 yards.
In order to be successful against the Dolphins, Arizona needed to succeed in what it has done all season; live off turnovers and commit less penalties. Both were achieved on Sunday, as the Cardinals won the turnover battle, and committed less than half the amount of penalties that Miami did. It was an ugly game by both sides, which ended up on which team was going to capitalize off the others mistakes. In the end, the Cardinals benefited off of the Dolphins defensive penalties en route to their final touchdown, a two-yard pass to receiver Larry Fitgerald.
The play of rookie Larry Fitzgerald has been satisfying for Cardinals faithful around the country. Fitzgerald, the 3rd-overall pick of the 2004 draft, has played exceptional this season, carrying the Cardinals receiving corps this season after Anquan Boldin went down in the pre-season. Fitzgerald had five receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown on the day, adding to his impressive total of 31 receptions for 463 yards and three touchdowns on the season. His hands make him a great asset to the offense, and he has been one of the more consistent players on the roster, showing up to play every week and doing his part to improve the team.
There is still a lot of work to do. Fans in the desert are asking for Josh McCown’s head, and with good reason. McCown leads the NFL’s 30th ranked passing offense, only better than the Ravens (who don’t pass the ball), and the Bears (who are starting Craig Krenzel). His 76.5 QB rating is 22nd in the league, but the failure to move the ball downfield with a very talented receiving corps and put points on the board has been disheartening to supporters of McCown.
Still, McCown has lead the Cardinals to a 3-5 mark, a record in which they are better than. Dennis Green has this team playing with passion and coming to play every week, winning games, and proving to the NFL that Arizona is not a walk-over team like they once were. Green will have the Cardinals ready next week when they come back to Arizona to play the Giants where the Cardinals are 2-1 on the season. A win next week would match their win total last season and provide optimism for fans for the rest of the season.
