There are only three teams in the National Football League with worse records than the Arizona Cardinals. The Carolina Panthers -- the worst of those three teams -- beat the Cards 19-12 yesterday in game 14 of the Cardinals' series of practices for next year (a.k.a.: the 2010 football season) in Charlotte, North Carolina.
There's no silver lining to this loss -- the Cards just suck.
"Seemed like every time we had a chance to do something, we made mistakes," Coach Ken Whisenhunt said after the game. "I think our guys were fighting; they just made too many bad plays to overcome."
Rookie quarterback John "Three-and-Out" Skelton's performance was about par for the course when it comes to Cards quarterbacks this season, throwing no touchdowns, one interception, and losing a fumble, which earned him a pitiful QB rating of 57.1.
While Skelton sucked, he didn't have much help.
The offensive line allowed defenders to pressure the young quarterback frequently, receivers dropped balls -- consistently -- and the running game was almost nonexistent, offering a grand total of 43 yards to the loss.
Penalties didn't help things, costing the Cards 39 yards at the most inopportune moments.
As for the defense, Arizona Republic sports writer Kent Somers said it best in his article in this morning's paper: "The Panthers offense is about as complicated as a glass of water, but it was effective enough Sunday."
That's because the Cardinals' defense was awful, not because the Panthers' offense was good.
The Cards' defense gave up 303 yards to the Panthers' offense, and the team's own rookie QB, Jimmy Clausen, who until yesterday hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since October 3.
Until yesterday, the Cards were shockingly still in playoff contention thanks to the awfulness that is the NFC West. Now, there's no hope -- the Cards are officially out of contention.
Not that anyone should care, but the Cardinals play again next week. The team hosts the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Glendale. For more info, click here.
