Four Down Territory: Cardinals at Redskins

On the one hand, if you look at the numbers, the Cardinals
were lucky they didn’t get whacked the way they usually do
when they jump a couple of time zones. On the other hand,
if you were watching the game you know it was a game the
Cardinals could have won……should have won.

A weird game as we take a trip into four down territory.

First Down: The defense

No defense (a double entendre if I ever heard one). In
the first half the Redskins were so wide open I thought
maybe they had cooties. Did the Cardinals go see
“Contagion” the night before? Were they freaked out by any
close contact? The defense improved in the second half,
actually coming up with stops on third down. But when it
was money time the Cardinals just couldn’t get off the
field. On their go-ahead drive the Redskins moved with
such ease it was an inevitability that they would score.

Second Down: Tim Hightower

Got his revenge. Backed up his words. 20 carries, 96
yards, it’s all good for Timmy. So why in the second half
did the Cardinals see a heavy dose of Roy Helu instead? I
don’t know, but of the three running backs on Sunday –
Hightower, Helu and Beanie Wells – Hightower was third
among them in yards per carry (a fantastic 4.8). Helu had
7.4 yards per carry; Beanie 6.6.

Third Down: Kevin Kolb

Stood in that pocket and got decapitated while delivering
a perfect strike to Larry Fitzgerald for a touchdown that
gave the Cardinals a 21-13 lead. Yeah, the interception in
the red zone was a killer; a needless risk when a field
goal would have worked just fine. And yes, the chances of
further decapitation behind that offensive line are about
as good as those of Simon Cowell using a line about cats
screeching in his new TV show. But watching this Sunday
Night Football game – the one in which Mike Kafka is now
quarterbacking the Eagles – it’s plays like the one to
Fitz that make me glad Kolb is here and not there.

Fourth Down: Beanie Wells

Followed up his solid effort last week with another one
this week. I wish that whatever it was that the coaching
staff saw that resulted in all those yards in the second
half could have been noticed sooner. And I continue to
echo the thoughts of Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic;
Beanie falls down too much. He needs to stay on his feet
more. But much like Kevin Kolb, if Beanie can be the guy
we’ve seen so far, he’ll be fine.

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