It is a great time to be an Arizona Cardinals fan! I had been telling my friends before the season to not count them out. Each weekend of this season I have worn my black Fitzgerald jerseys and tuned in to see what would happen. I witnessed the refs almost cost them the game against the Seahawks by granting Pete Carroll a phantom time out. I watched the nail biter against the Patriots in Week 2. Yesterday I watched them completely dominate the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cards have won 10 of their last 12 dating back to last season. I had many reasons to place some level of faith in the Cardinals besides the fact they are my favorite team. I feel that they are a team often over looked by many NFL fans so my fanship might have actually helped me observe these facts.
Going into Week 9 of the 2011 season the Cardinals were 1-6. They ended up going 7-2 over the remaining games of the season and finished at 8-8. The Cardinals had a remarkable turn around last year. If they had not done so terrible early in the season they most likely would have been in the playoffs. The Giants made it in a 9-7. If the Cards had won 2 more games maybe they would have made it. It is pointless to look back and speculate but there is a point in at least looking back and gaining information. In their stretch of wins in 2011 the Cardinals defeated great teams like the 49ers and good teams like the Cowboys and Eagles.
It is not easy to go from 1-6 to finishing the year at 8-8. It clearly took sometime for the Cardinals to click and get things going. This year no time needs to be spent on such matters. Kolb and Skelton have looked good, and Kolb leaped a hurdle last game by targetting Fitzgerald. The lack of throws to Larry was one of the main criticism of Kolb by the experts. I also liked when LaRod Stephens-Howling scored a goal line touchdown against the Seahawks. I may be mistaken, but I believe the Seahawks thought the Cards would be passing but they gave LaRod the ball and he punched it in. That is effective play calling. Teams are more likely to expect a run from Williams or Wells, not Stephens howling. Deception. I like it.
The defense is playing impeccably. The Cardinals have only given up two touchdowns. They have not been playing soft teams either. They have only given up two touchdowns over three games and they played New England and Philadelphia! That is quite the feat. The week 4 match up against the Dolphins should be extremely interesting. Here is hoping the Cards pull out another win!
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