The Arizona Cardinals are 1-0 after an ugly (really, really ugly) win against the Rams last week in St. Louis. With the exception of a few players -- namely Steve Breaston -- offensively, the Cardinals played like crap across the board.
The Cards head to Atlanta this weekend to take on the Falcons and a piss-poor performance like last week probably won't be enough to eke out another win against a team that's bigger, faster, and flat-out better than last week's opponent.
The Cardinals offense was atrocious last week. Collectively, the team
fumbled seven times. Running back Tim Hightower was responsible for two
lost fumbles and with Beanie Wells injured, Hightower needs to hang on
to the damn ball for the Cards to have any sort of a ground game.
There's good news, though: Hightower is guaranteeing that he's put his slippery fingers behind him.
"I'm not going to go out there passive, I'm not going to go out
there timid, I'm not going to go out there and second guess myself -
that's not the type of person I am," Hightower told KTAR today. "With that being
said, it's something that in practice that I am making a concise effort
to get better at that, and that's a guarantee that will get better."
With five fumbles last season, we'll believe it when we see it.
The Cardinal's other offensive question mark is whether new-found
starting quarterback Derek Anderson can start making passes, and if his
offensive line can give him time to throw the ball.
Anderson got roughed up pretty good last week, and to his credit he
stayed tough in the pocket. Unfortunately, in doing so he made horrible
throws.
Anderson completed 22 of 41 passes last week and missed Larry Fitzgerald 12 times.
Fitzgerald isn't 100 percent, and his speed is suffering as a result.
But the chemistry we saw between him and the Cards old QB Kurt Warner
isn't there with Anderson.
Fitzgerald is no T.O. or Chad Ochocinco. He's not known for pissing and moaning about quarterbacks (unless it's to his brother) but he was visibly pissed after several horrible passes from Anderson.
On defense, the Cards aren't in nearly as much trouble as they seem to be on offense.
They'll need to contain running back Michael Turner and keep a man on
wide receiver Roddy White, who Falcons QB Matt Ryan goes to whenever
he's in trouble.
Kickoff time is at 10 a.m. Sunday. The game will be televised by FOX 10,
and KTAR's got the game on the radio. Check out the Cardinals' Web site
here.
