There's good news and bad news for Arizona Cardinals fans following yesterday's 28-21 win over the Carolina Panthers.
The good news: the Cards appear to have a real-deal quarterback in Kevin Kolb.
The bad news: the team's defense sucks...big time.
The Cards' defense allowed rookie QB Cam Newton to pass for 422 yards in his professional debut, an NFL record for a rookie in his first game.
Newton threw for two touchdowns and an interception, but he was unable to come away with his first W in the NFL.
"He was everything everybody didn't expect him to be," Carolina receiver Steve Smith told reporters after the game. "He was on point, he made some great runs, he made some great reads, made some fantastic throws. He made some throws out there that honestly as a receiver it made it easy to catch them."
Kolb, in his debut with the Cards, completed 18 of 27 passes for 309 yards in the win. He hooked up with Larry Fitzgerald three times for 62 yards, and earned an impressive passer rating of 130.
Running back Beanie Wells was hitting the holes -- and he was hitting them hard. He tallied 90 yards running with one touchdown -- although, he probably should have had two.
At the four-yard line, on second and goal, Wells dropped a pitch from Kolb. The fumble was recovered by Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis.
Kolb, however, is taking responsibility for the flub: "It was a bad pitch," Kolb told reporters after the game. "I think he would probably say he took his eyes off it, I'd tell you it was a bad pitch. That's the way a team works. We were lucky to overcome it."
Down 21-14 in the fourth quarter, Kolb found Early Doucet for a 70-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
Rookie Patrick Peterson put the Cards ahead with an 89-yard punt return for a touchdown with about seven minutes to play to win the game.
The Cards head east next week to take on the Washington Redskins. For more Cards info, click here.
