Arizona Cardinals gladly take ‘ugly’ win to open 2014 season
Sep 9, 2014, 7:43 AM | Updated: 6:24 pm
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Over and over toward the end of last season, random Arizona Cardinals members could be heard lamenting how the team let a win slip away from its grasps in the first week of the season.
That loss, which saw Arizona cough up an 11-point fourth quarter lead to the St. Louis Rams, loomed large as the Cardinals finished just short of reaching the playoffs.
Needless to say, the Cardinals understood the importance of getting off on the right foot Monday, which they did by way of a tough 18-17 win over the San Diego Chargers.
By the way, they came back from being down 11 to start the fourth quarter in this one.
“We learned our lesson,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “It sets the table for us to continue to build.”
If points were awarded for style, the Cardinals would receive few — if any. Though the statistics show their effort in a favorable light — 22 first downs to San Diego’s 15, 403 net yards to the Chargers’ 290 and 31:49 time of possession to their opponent’s 28:11 — over the course of 15 minutes in the third quarter, the Cards saw a 6-3 lead turn into a 17-6 deficit.
Of course, from then on, the Cardinals did just enough both offensively and defensively to regain the lead and, ultimately, hold on for win No. 1 on the season.
“Especially the way it happened,” defensive end Calais Campbell said of the importance of the victory, “it showed the fight in this team; it showed the resilience we have.”
On the other side of the coin, the Chargers are lamenting how they let this one slip away.
“Oh, absolutely, absolutely,” linebacker Dwight Freeney said when asked if they let the Cardinals off the hook. “You look at it, we’re up and we’re winning by double-digits, six to whatever it was — 17, I think it was. We’re trying to pin our ears back and we’re ready to go, and they started finding a little something here and there.”