Revenge of the Birds
There is something very wrong with this Arizona Cardinals team. It is snake bit. It can’t get out of its own way. It dominates the first three quarters, and then can’t defend Santa Claus and his elves in the final 10 minutes of the contest.
The Tennessee Titans came to Tempe, Arizona as the league’s worst team. Period. Everyone knew this going into the opening kickoff. Even the Titans rookie QB admitted that his roster was horrible.
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The Cardinals controlled the entire game in all aspects and once again built a big lead. They even gave up a gimme touchdown that did not add points to the scoreboard, and then batted the ball around after a turnover to allow their opponents six points. In the end, the Cardinals had gifted the Titans their first win of the season with a 22-21 victory.
And get this: with the Titans now 1-4-0 and known as the league’s worst team, Arizona is just one win behind them at 2-3-0. The Cardinals have now completely fallen apart in the fourth quarter in all five games. In two, they hung on to win against bad teams, while in the other three, they had the lead or were tied, and gave away the game.
In essence, Arizona should be 5-0-0. Instead, they are being laughed at for their ineptness.
Who played well for the Cardinals in this embarrassing defeat? Who didn’t?
WR Marvin Harrison, Jr. – High-pointed a great throw by QB Kyler Murray early in the first quarter, where Harrison outjumped double coverage by S Xavier Woods and CB Jalyn Armour-Davis that was first ruled a touchdown, then reversed to be a first-and-goal. Nifty 20-yard grab in the second quarter on a back shoulder catch defended by Armour-Davis. He was hardly used in the second half at all. Five targets, four catches for 98 yards and a 24.5 yards per catch average.
RB Michael Carter – Overall, a hard-running game with several good receptions. With 11:29 left in the first quarter, he took the Murray pass and came close to converting for the first down, gaining nine. Scored from the one and followed who the play was designed to open up the hole between LG Isaiah Adams and LT Paris Johnson, with TE Tip Reiman as the lead blocker lined up at fullback. Carter was giving Arizona some decent gains on first down, including nine with 12:37 left before halftime. Nice little grab in the right flats early in the fourth quarter, where he turned a short pass into a third-and-one.
First two offensive drives – The first drive was a thing of beauty. Carter and TE Trey McBride had short passing gains before the big play by Harrison placed it at the one. 8 plays, 67 yards, 4:06 off the clock. On the second drive, Carter had several short gains on the ground as Harrison looked like a star receiver with catches of 20 and...
