Arizona Cardinals: Stars Let Them Down
By David Mamola
Stars must shine in the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Arizona Cardinals, their stars didn’t have much sparkle against Carolina on Sunday.
The Arizona Cardinals’ magical season came to a crashing-end on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game, getting blown-out by Carolina Panthers 49-15. Nothing really went right for Arizona, as Carolina jumped-out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Cardinals fought to the end, leaving all of their starters in until the game’s last whistle, but it didn’t matter—Carolina was hands-down the better team on Sunday.
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Perhaps the most disturbing thing about the whole game was the performance of Arizona’s star players. After the game, head coach Bruce Arians told reporters, “We just didn’t play well enough. Our best players especially didn’t play well enough.” That’s especially true for quarterback Carson Palmer.
Palmer, who was coming-off his first career playoff win last week against the Green Bay Packers, turned the ball over six times, including throwing four interceptions and fumbling twice.
Palmer was flustered all-game long, constantly making poor throws and even worse decisions. Carolina safety Kurt Coleman intercepted Palmer twice, and in both those situations, Palmer threw into clear double-coverage. His six turnovers were a career-high, and at 36 years old, there are some serious questions as to whether he blew his best opportunity yet of winning a Super Bowl. Arians said afterwards, “Carson [Palmer] didn’t lose the damn game”, but there’s no denying that his performance didn’t help matters either.
But it wasn’t just Palmer who let Arizona down. Veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who was credited with just one dropped pass during the regular season, dropped two passes in the second half, including one on third down when the Cardinals still had a glimmer of hope about making a comeback. Fitzgerald in the game was help to just 30 yards on 4 receptions, well below his season averages of 6.8 catches and 75.9 yards per game.
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Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Peterson also let the Cardinals down. He did have an interception late in the first half, but he also fumbled a punt return earlier that ended any sort of momentum Arizona had. The Cardinals had just held Carolina to two straight three-and-outs, and had sandwiched a touchdown drive of their own in there to cut their deficit to 17-7.
Momentum was starting to shift Arizona’s way, but on a short Carolina punt, Peterson sprinted towards the ball, never caught it cleanly, and Carolina recovered. Cam Newton would score on a 1-yard touchdown plunge just a few plays later, and just like that, any positive momentum Arizona had ended, as Carolina extended their lead to 24-7.
Couple Palmer’s, Fitzgerald’s, and Peterson’s performances with the fact that wide receivers John Brown and Michael Floyd were held to a combined 5 receptions, and you have a dire situation for the Cardinals.
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In the playoffs, star players have to shine. The Panthers’ Newton, Greg Olsen, and Luke Kuechly all came to play, yet you can’t say that about the Cardinals’ stars on Sunday. For the Cardinals, this loss is going to sting for quite some time; however, they have no one to blame but themselves.