Notes from the Nest: Cardinals vs. Panthers
End of game
Cardinals hung on. Barely. Escape Week 1 with a 28-21 victory that seems
strangely fulfilling.
2:20 left in fourth quarter
Long pass to Fitz puts the Cards near midfield where the drive stalls. Punt
puts the ball at Carolina 17, with the home team up 7. Does the D have one
more stop in them?
4:55 left in fourth quarter
A Patrick Peterson punt return for a touchdown gives the Cards the lead,
and the rookie’s dance down the sideline before turning the jets on for the
final few yards gives everyone else some laughs.
Defense comes up with a big stop, seem to have Newton rattled a bit.
Cards get the ball back deep in their territory, have a chance to put the
game away with one more good drive.
10:48 left in fourth quarter
Panthers blitz, Cards pick it up, Kolb finds Doucet for a 71-yard TD.
Doucet looked fast on the play and the Cardinals have tied it up. This is
shaping up to be a good game.
13:01 left in fourth quarter
Ask and you shall receive. Cardinals get to Newton for the sack and
Carolina punts it away. Cardinals will start the drive on their 10 yard line
trailing by 7. You get the feeling this offense has potential to do some
good things, but so far have yet to really sustain much.
Gotta do something here (thanks Captain Obvious, right?)
End of third quarter
Heading into the fourth the Cardinals trail the Panthers 21-14 and Cam’s
crew is driving. Cards defense needs to come up with a stop, or at least put
up a fight, at some point here.
3:11 left in third quarter
Cardinals drive, which was helped to stay alive by a penalty, dies when one
isn’t called on what looked like a pass interference against Fitzgerald.
Cards punt and badly need a stop, this game is in danger of getting away
from them.
5:49 left in the third quarter
Cam Newton leaps over the pile for a rushing TD, then plays the football
like it is a guitar. Panthers will take the lead and the penalty, as they
answered the Cards’ scoring drive with one of their own.
Newton has looked real good throwing the ball, finding open receivers and
putting the ball on the money. Did not see that coming.
Anybody miss DRC yet?
10:40 left in the third quarter
Darryl Washington picks off Cam Newton — again — and this time it
counts. Kolb throws 48 yard TD to Jeff King who was, surprisingly, wide
open. How do you not cover Jeff King, Carolina.
Seriously, all Kolb had to do was get it within 10 yards of King, he was
going to score. All tied in Glendale.
13:30 left in third quarter
Cards go three and out on the first possession of the second half. No
bueno.
Still halftime
Some stats to throw your way:
Newton is 9 of 13 for 198 yards and two touchdowns.
Kolb is 12 of 15 for 139 yards.
Beanie Wells has run 10 times for 71 yards, including one score.
DeAngelo Williams has just 7 yards on four carries.
And the Cardinals are losing 14-7…
Halftime
14-7 at the half. Cardinals didn’t look particularly bad, but certainly cost
themselves some opportunities.
On the flip side, Cam Newton has looked pretty good when given time,
which he has often created by using his legs to avoid the rush.
Cardinals have some work to do, and 30 minutes with which to do it.
:06 left in the second quarter
A bad call against Richard Marshall nullifies and interception and two plays
later Newton tosses a 26-yard TD to Steve Smith. Panthers take a 14-7
lead that, quite frankly, they probably shouldn’t have.
Cardinals have left a lot of points on the board.
1:08 left in second quarter
Cardinals put together another good drive, with Beanie picking up good
chunks of yardage and Kolb finding Fitz a couple of times for nice gains.
However, a crack-back block pushed the team back, and Arizona had to
settle for a 36-yard Jay Feely field goal — which he missed. #fail
7:08 left in second quarter
Cards were driving. Kolb making nice throws, Beanie running strong. Then
the two couldn’t connect on a pitch out, ball hits the turf and Panthers
recover at their own 12. Opportunity lost, we’ll see about momentum.
End of first quarter
Quarter ends with game tied at 7. Cards started off strong, but went
downhill from there. Need to give Kolb more time to throw, get to Newton
on defense.
4:59 left in first quarter
A hold, a near pick, a sack/fumble and a punt. Not exactly a good response
to Carolina’s touchdown.
7:11 left in first quarter
Newton finds Steve Smith all alone for a 77-yard TD. On third and long.
oops. Looked like miscommunication in coverage, which can probably be
expected with many new pieces and a new scheme being put into place.
Still, not what you want to see. Unless you are one of the 5 Panthers fans in
the building.
8:45 left in first quarter
Yeah, that wasn’t bad. Cardinals put together a 6 play, 54 yard drive
capped by a 7-yard TD run from Beanie Wells.
Only negative on the drive was Levi getting beat for a sack, but the offense
bounced back and made it not matter. Kolb was accurate, the running
game was strong and the Cardinals looked like a real team, which is very
nice to see.
12:27 left in first quarter
Cardinals force a punt after Cam Netwon, well, looks like a rookie. Kevin
Kolb
will start his first real series from his own 46 yard line. No pressure.
2:00 to kickoff
The 9/11 ceremonial stuff was very touching, well done by the NFL. The
Cardinals won the coin toss, elect to start off on defense. Get an early look
at
Cam.
Let’s play some football!
20:00 to kickoff
About 20 minutes until the 2011 season is officially underway in Glendale.
The Cardinals are set to host the Panthers, as Heisman Trophy winner Cam
Newton makes his first career start at University of Phoenix Stadium.
In the meantime, I hope your fantasy football teams are doing well. I have
five
and things are going OK so far. So far.
