MVN - Most Valuable Network

Ok, now i’m an idiot. Cardinals win 27-21 over Browns.

After spending two full pages explaining why the Cardinals had zero chance at stopping the Cleveland Browns today, they come up with 4 turn overs and a crucial stop on the final play of the game to pull out a gutty 27-21 win. The moral of this story Cardinals fan? Never, ever take what I say and go to Vegas with money betting on my analysis.

What in the world is the deal with these guys?!!

Last week they couldn’t have looked worse in giving away a must win game to the hapless S.F. 49′ers and then this week with Eric Green and Adrian Wilson going on IR, Larry Fitzgerald out for the game and Anquan Boldin re-injuring his hip they proceed to stun the high flying Browns with a cast of back ups, third teamers and guys brought up from the practice squad or signed mid-week.

The keys to the game today:

1. The Cardinals FINALLY put a run game together and controlled the ball for most of the second half. Edge was over 100 yards for the second time this year but the key was he averaged almost 5 yards a carry. It got scary on the goal line as the absence of Boldin and Fitzgerald took away any passing threat, but they got just enough done to put up points. Granted the Browns have a very weak and thin defensive line, but they have been doing a better job of late stopping the ball and it wasn’t expected to see the Cardinals run up and down the field in the second half to burn clock.

2. Kurt Warner did a great job managing the game and avoiding sacks and mistakes. With the limited number of receivers, tight ends dropping touch downs in the end zone and other guys occasionally running wrong routes his ability to avoid the killer mistake or foolish sack kept them in the game. He also made some beautiful throws to Johnson, in particular the last touchdown pass which was a thing of beauty.

3. The Cardinals defense and secondary clearly played a much stronger game this week. I’m sorry, Mr. Holt still needs to be seeking employment after the season on some other team after that play where he once again missed the ball and allowed Braylon Edwards to run into the end zone on a touch down. Still, the defense as a whole, in particular the linebackers and defensive line did a great job keeping the Browns offense in check and the secondary, in particular Rod Hood with his two picks and one TD,  was just good enough to not blow up. It was scary watching the last two minute drive down the field and they almost gave up the game winner on that last play to Winslow, but the fact is they got the job done and were just good enough to keep the team in the game.

4. Turn overs and vastly improved special teams play. The Cardinals forced 4 turn overs, one for a touch down to start the game and three of the turnovers led directly to points by the Cardinals. The special teams unit had a plan, with short kick offs to keep the explosive Josh Cribbs from hurting them. Also, how nice was it to see a PUNTER who could both pin the ball inside the 20 and when needed crank a long one to change field position. Thankfully the addition of Mike Berger paid immediate dividends in this game. Also, Steve Breaston continued his outstanding special teams play averaging 30 yards per return on kick offs and giving the Cardinals great starting field position for most of the game. Also, Rackers made the kicks he had to make. Sure they were chip shots but as he showed last week nothing is a chip shot for Neil anymore. However, he did make them and hopefully it gives him a boost of confidence for the rest of the year. I still think they need a new kicker but then I said they were losing this game so what do I know at this point?

The Cardinals as a team showed great character in this game by bouncing back from a devastating loss last week and beating a team that is one of the better units in the AFC in the Cleveland Browns. Sure there are things to nit pick about like the lack of time outs in the forth quarter due to clock mismanagement, a ton of really stupid penalties that could have killed them in most games and the above mentioned miss by Holt on the Edwards play, but the bottom line is they got a win and at this point Cardinals fans will take it.

Just be glad you don’t follow my advice for betting.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 at 5:48 pm and is filed under game analysis, Regular season. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.