MVN - Most Valuable Network

Less then zero chance of success. Cardinals head to N.O. and a 7-9 finish to the year.

I’m sorry Cardinals fans, the injuries are piling up at too many key positions and the depth of this team just isn’t sufficient to over come it. As any reader knows i’m a die hard Arizona Cardinals fan but I’m not blind or stupid and this secondary just is too depleted and the offense too hobbled to compete against hot teams with something to play for.

So, in the third running installment of “why the Cardinals have no chance” here are the reasons this week why the Cardinals will not only not cover the 4 point under dog spread, but probably lose by double digits in New Orleans this week.

1. The Cardinals are not just a historically bad road team, but they are an even worse “turf team”, and an even worse “December team.” Lets face it people, last weeks game in Seattle was pretty much a primer on why the Cardinals are continually losing late season road games when the other team has something to play for. Bad special teams, crucial penalties at the wrong time, under manned secondary and almost zero pass rush. It’s not going to get any better this week against a hot New Orleans team that can grab the lead for the last wild card position with a win over the Cardinals and a loss by Minnesota.  I think this game will get ugly in the second half.

2. The team is more then a little testy right now and I don’t think thats a good thing. Sure we all know there are fights in the locker room of every NFL team every week of every season, but the blow up last week between mediocre third string LB Daryl Blackstock and Darnell Dockett reminded me of the beat down that Eric Hill once put on some sorry excuse of a third string tight end during Buddy Ryan’s last game in Arizona. Not that any punches were thrown in this situation but that when guys who haven’t done a thing in the NFL are getting in the faces of potential Pro-Bowl players like Dockett there is something wrong with that picture. Expect some personnel changes in the off season folks.

3. The Cardinals passing game and offensive balance has taken a hit as the season has worn on. Teams have figured out they are going to pass most of the time and have started bringing the pressure at Levi Brown or up the middle against Al Johnson. The line is doing an OK job and Levi is a rookie and should improve, but for the rest of this year I’d make sure Tim Rattay is plugged into the game plan because it’s only a matter of time before some blitzer takes out Warner. The surge in interceptions thrown by Kurt has coincided with teams starting to bring relentless pressure and not fearing the Cardinals running game. The loss of Leonard Pope as a safety valve in the offense should only make it worse.

4. Drew Brees is hot right now and I expect the Saints to open up the play book this week. The Cardinals depleted secondary isn’t going to get any better for the next three games and the more tape offensive coordinators have on this group the worse it is going to get. The Saints won’t need to run it much to get things done this week so the loss of Bush isn’t going to hurt them like it might against other teams.

5. The Cardinals special teams continue to slide backwards after making substantial improvements early in the year. Missed kicks, end zone safeties on bobbled snaps and mediocre coverage continue to hurt these units. Kevin Spencer has taken to pooch kicks, onside kicks and other gimmicks to disguise the short comings of his coverage units but eventually that comes back to bite you. The injuries and lack of depth have exposed this team in many areas but no area more then special teams.

6. The Cardinals receivers are hobbled and are going to have to run on a hard surface like the Superdome’s turf. Sure it was upgraded after Katrina but it’s still a hard in door turf surface and thats the last thing guys with bad groins and dislocated toes need. I will be amazed if Fitz and Boldin make it through the game and it’s already reported they will be heavily rotated to avoid injury.

Sorry Card fans, but I see this one getting out of control in the second half. The Cardinals haven’t quit and I don’t expect them to quit in this one either, which is a great change from prior years and teams. However, the prediction is a passing attack nightmare game against Brees in the dome. New Orleans 34-Cardinals 24.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 at 8:24 am and is filed under game analysis, Regular season, General. 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.