Cards get a moral victory
September 23, 2007 by Mike Olbinski
As much as I hate the term “moral victory” and as much as most athletes will tell you that only true wins count towards making the playoffs, this loss was one in which the Arizona Cardinals can be proud.
Going into Baltimore for any team in the NFL is a scary and tough assignment. The guys on the Ravens’ defense are brutal, smashing and flat-out good. It’s no wonder Matt Leinart looked a bit out of sorts. Of course, he has been out of sorts for most of the short season.
The Cards of the past rarely come back on a team like the Ravens. But today, down 23-6, they scored the next 17 points to tie the game. Kurt Warner took over at quarterback to start the fourth quarter and the offense moved the ball like a well-oiled machine. Warner’s arm was alive and accurate. Anquan Boldin bowled over the Ravens for two touchdowns and 181 yards receiving.
Ken Wisenhunt deserves all the credit for this game. Rarely has a coach made so many right decisions in a loss. Early in the game with the Cards stagnant on offense, Wisenhunt put in a “special package” that was a no-huddle offense featuring Warner leading the charge. The ball moved down field with ease and a field goal was the result. Leinart came back in and the sluggishness returned.
Was this special package a way to see what Warner could do without ruffling any feathers? You have to wonder. Because of what they saw, it was an easy move to put Warner in later. And against a stout Ravens defense, Warner ripped them to shreds.
The defense held Baltimore to only six second-half points, which allowed Arizona to get back in the game. They came up with four sacks, a turnover and forced Steve McNair out of the game.
And when they tried to make their last stand, Adrian Wilson got called for a ridiculous unneccesary roughness penalty on Todd Heap which put Baltimore in good position to win the game on a field goal. With under a minute left, the flag made no sense. If Ray Lewis had laid out Leonard Pope like that, no call would have been made.
Everyone knows it. But the hit still reverberated with the Ravens, as Heap limped to the sidelines.
Arizona lost on the field goal, but should have gained so much in confidence. They played a solid team on the road and had the game tied with a minute to go. They found their offense. They probably have discovered a quarterback controversy as well. Anquan Boldin reminded us all that he’s very, very good. And the defense showed the toughness they had through the first two weeks.
So do moral victories count? No…not really. But when you are an 8.5 point underdog, play on the road and almost squeak out a win, that’s impressive.
And hopefully they see what they did and their confidence is high for Pittsburgh next week at home.
[tags]arizona cardinals,kurt warner,baltimore ravens,nfl,football,matt leinart[/tags]
Posted in arizona cardinals, football
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You are right that last year’s team would have folded at halftime and they should be proud of the way that they played. The defense is still a problem though; with or without that ridiculous penalty, there was no doubt in my mind that the Ravens would have no problem getting the ball to at least midfield against our horrible coverage.
The coverage has been a problem for the past three games, it was there in the 49er game, the Seahawks exposed us last week, and two of the lesser quarterbacks in the league had GREAT days against this defense. We really have to wonder if it is either a)the players; i.e. our cornerbacks are not good enough to match up against any receiver in the league and so have to give a ridiculous cusion or is it b) the scheme they are in where they are required to give up this cushion by the coaching staff. Whichever reason it is the result is getting pretty old. Every week we see receivers beating us with hitches, digs, and slants. Both McNair and Boller had really good games against us and there was nothing we could do about it. Something has got to change with this secondary or else no lead is safe and no team would have trouble moving the ball in the final minutes of any game.
There were so many good things that happened in this game only to be over shadowed by 2 or 3 plays.
The Good,Boldin, Warner, the resillience this team showed thru adversity, block punt, 4 sacks all the while allowing just 1 td and 3 fg’s.
I’m not going to fault Rackers 1 miss. The guys kickoffs probably will save numerous long returns.
The bad. Leinart looks like a deer looking in the headlights. Punt return for td was one knife to the heart and Fitz’s fumble was , IMO, the biggest gaff of the game.
And finally the gutless call by a ref that described a brutal hit as a “forearm to the head”. He made an emotional call that was wrong and of coarse unreviewable. My guess is Wilson will NOT be fined.
This team has shown us and itself they simply will not quit. In the past, we would have lost this game 36-6. I am proud of the way we hung in there.
I’d like to add that Whiz showed us he learned from the 49ers game by going to the endzone on 3rd down and not play it conservative for the tie on the road.
Moral victories do not exist!!! Coach has big brass one’s for going with Kurt, and I agree with the move even though it could backfire in his face. Two Questions. How does Leinart respond? He was visably upset. Does it create long term problems between him, the Coach and his future in the desert? A quick hook could be in store against the Steelers. I think the abuse Matt suffered in San Fran has this kid gunshy.
I just wonder why Warner had the “spread” offense, yet when Leinart went in there, the spread offense wasn’t used. The Cards should be a spread offense all the time. This will get edge more yards and more yards receiving. I hope Whis changes his offensive play calling. Matt hasn’t seemed very confident in there this year.
As for the D at the end of the game, why can’t they just shut a team down on that last drive. Yeah they beat Seattle, but that was a fluke play because of crowd noise. Everyone knows Seattle should have won on a FG.
As far as Baltimore, don’t blame the ref for the call, it’s a home game for the Ravens against the Cards, that call will be made everytime. It was a BS call but it was what it was.
I blame
1. Special Teams for giving up another punt return for a TD
2. Fitz for fumbling the ball
3. Rackers missed fieldgoal (that should have been easy to make)
4. Whisenhunt for calling conservative plays while Matt was in there
Can you take a moral victory, yes. This is Baltimore on the road where we were the ones to come back, instead of the other way around. Clancy and his coaches had better be doing nothing but working with the defense trying to put in packages that can shut down a team at the end of the game. If we aren’t up at least 10 with 3 minutes left, all I can think of is, uh oh here comes a long drive and possible loss.
there are no such things as moral victories and considering that our starting QB had absolutely nothing to do with such “moral victory”, there’s not much you can take away from this game but question marks IMO.
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