Game Review: Seahawks @ Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals defeated the Seattle Seahawks this past weekend 31-20. The Cardinals have played poorly in front of their home fans this year and are undefeated on the road. Both of these trends are anomalies for the Cardinals. This bumps their record up to 6-3, tops in the NFC West division and 2 games ahead of the San Francisco 49ers. This is not so impressive however as the NFC West is arguably the worst division in football. The Cardinals had a poor first half but completely turned it around in the second half. There are some very strong reasons for that.
Cardinal’s rookie RB Chris “Beanie” Wells had the best game of his career. He finished the game with 2 touchdowns and 85 yards rushing on only 16 carries. He also had 2 catches for 32 yards receiving. I thought he played his best game ever the week before against the New York Giants but this game he played even better. Wells is turning out to be a valuable asset to the Cardinals. Although injuries have always been a concern he has held up extremely well so far in the NFL. He showed his speed, agility, and power in this game to the point that other teams that chose to let him pass by them in last year’s draft will indeed be regretful.
Although Cardinals QB Kurt Warner had a below average first half he sure exploded in the second half. He once again threw no interceptions and it almost looked easy as the Cardinals offense marched down the field at will in latter half. Warner finished the game with 340 passing yards and he threw for 2 touchdown passes.
It was great to see the Cardinals offense rolling again. The offensive line played exceptional and they played a balanced style which really broke the back of the Seahawks defense. This was the missing piece all along; it started against the Giants and has progressed against the Seahawks. It is about time that the coaching staff has put this together. It was obvious especially in the Colts game that passing alone can not win you football games. It was a recipe for disaster.
The defense was good when they needed to be as the Seahawks were trying to march down the field late in the game. Those 2 interceptions in the fourth quarter really did the Seahawks in.
Overall the Cardinals are showing signs of being a playoff calibre team. Their road record is impressive and they are developing nicely into a well balanced team. They have no glaring weaknesses and they are playing at a high level more consistently then in recent years. In the past the Cardinals always found a way to lose but these are definitely NOT those same old Cardinals…
If you have any comments or questions about this article or any of the Arizona Cardinals articles please feel free to email me at cardinals@isportsweb.com.
