Cards Lose Field Position Battle, and Game to the Bills

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With rain and swirling winds of 20-30 miles an hour, the Cardinals had their hands full in Sunday’s 38-14 fall to the Buffalo Bills, their fourth road loss on the season.

The Cards expected the passing game to be difficult and attempted to establish the run right out of the gates. Running back Emmitt Smith racked up 51 yards in the first quarter, but penalties kept the Cards from having anything to show for it.

“In football you get those real, different, strange type of games,” pointed out Head Coach Dennis Green. “I think the first thing that hurt us the most was we made way too many penalties when we were going into the wind. Those penalties gave them field position and took away first downs. We were running the ball well but we got penalties, penalties, penalties.”

With the Cards going into the wind in the first quarter, Buffalo came out as the clear winner of field position, starting their first possession at the Cardinals 26-yardline which led to a 25-yard field goal by Rian Lindell.

Earlier this week, the Bills made a change in their running game, naming Willis McGahee the starter over Travis Henry in hopes of sparking an offense that hadn’t scored a rushing touchdown all season. On the Bills second possession, McGahee had three carries for 45 yards before punching in a 5-yard touchdown run for a 10-0 Bills lead, the first for the Bills, and also the first rushing touchdown the Cardinals defense had given up all season.

Midway through the second quarter, the Cardinals pieced together a 9-play, 58-yard scoring drive culminating in a 4-yard touchdown run by Femi Ayanbadejo. The key play on the drive was receiver Anquan Boldin’s 13-yard leaping catch over the middle to convert on a 3rd and 10. The completion marked the first of the game for McCown and the first for Boldin this season.

“Anquan did an excellent job,” commented Green of the return of his Pro Bowl receiver. “The one play he made when we needed it the most to give us a first down was probably as good a play as anybody has made all year. Going up and taking the ball high, he made some great catches throughout the game. He’s ready to go. Next week, he’ll probably play better.”

Ayanbadejo’s touchdown closed the game to within three, but it was downhill for the Cards from then on.

“We didn’t do jack-nothing in the second quarter with the ball, outside of scoring on that one drive,” said a candid Smith. “We got the ball at midfield and didn’t even get a first down, that is a problem. I think our problems started right there. We didn’t do anything when we had the wind and when you have the wind and you aren’t doing anything effectively either, that just makes your job that much harder. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The Cards did more than shoot themselves in the foot. It was more like a bullet to the gut when Buffalo’s Terrence McGee took the ensuing kickoff 87-yards for a 17-7 halftime edge.

While the passing game continued to falter for both teams, McCown finished with 101 yards compared to Drew Bledsoe’s 81 passing yards, the Bills managed to amass three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, thanks to big plays from their special teams.

It started with a 34-yard punt return by Nate Clements to the Cards 19-yardline at the end of the third quarter which resulted in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Eric Moulds on the first play of the fourth.

On the next possession, the Cards didn’t even pick up a yard before Scott Player had to come on and punt again. Clements returned the punt 40 yards, also gaining another 15 due to a facemask penalty. The drive ended in 12-yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe to Tim Euhus.

Kickoff returner Larry Croom muffed the kickoff but recovered the ball at the 5-yardline. After another three and out by the offense, Player’s punt from the endzone went only 30 yards and seven plays later, McGahee scored again on a 1-yard touchdown run.

“I think the wind was probably some of the worst I have ever played in but I don’t think the conditions were a factor,” said linebacker LeVar Woods of the problems on special teams. “Their special teams beat our special teams. They played well, we didn’t.”

The Cards defense who led the NFL in turnovers heading into Sunday’s game failed to create a turnover for the first time all season.

“You always like to get turnovers but it doesn’t always happen,” said defensive end Bertrand Berry who almost recovered a fumble that would have set the Cards up within the Bills 10-yardline. “You still have to play good solid defense and you have to give them a lot of credit because they made a lot of plays on offense, particularly running the ball and we just didn’t stop them.”

A 28-yard touchdown pass from McCown to Bryant Johnson in the final minutes did nothing to erase the frustration of another road loss.

“We never really got in a rhythm,” said McCown. “We got started slowly and in these circumstances you have to get started quickly because the longer you let it drag on, the harder it is to get going. The conditions were tough. It makes it tough, but bottom line, you have to fight through it and get something going.”

“There were tough conditions, but that is football,” concluded Boldin. “You have to play through those and they had to deal with the same weather we had to deal with.”

More Special Teams Woes

Both teams seemed to have problems early-on handling the ball on special teams, but the Cards suffered the worse for it. Bills Nate Clemons muffed a punt early in the first quarter but recovered it at the Bills 32-yardline.

Scott Player dropped a snap from Nathan Hodel early in the second quarter and barely got the ball off in time. The Cards were flagged on the punt for an ineligible man down the field which the Bills declined.

The Cards were flagged several more times on special teams including a holding call on a punt, holding on a kickoff return, a facemask, and an illegal touch by Dyshod Carter that was challenged by both teams. The review showed the Carter, who had downed the ball at the Bills one-yardline, stepped out of bounds thus ruling out his eligibility of being the first to touch the ball.

Boldin’s Return

In Boldin’s first game-action of the season, he led the receivers with 4 catches for 50 yards, with a long of 21.

“It feels pretty good to be back,” said Boldin. “I don’t think I had any problems today as far as my knee goes. I think everything went according to plan except for us losing.”

Rackers Goes For Record

Rackers attempted a 64-yard field goal that could have broken the record for the NFL’s longest field goal but the last second attempt prior to the half fell short of the goal posts.

Penalties

The Cards were penalized 14 times for 101 yards. The Bills were flagged 7 times for 55 yards.

Injuries

Cornerback Renaldo Hill left the game with a hamstring injury and did not return. Running back Emmitt Smith suffered a stinger and did not return to the game. Safety Adrian Wilson, cornerback David Macklin, and defensive end Bertrand Berry also sustained injuries during the game. Green did not have any information regarding those injuries in his post-game press conference.

http://www.azcardinals.com/news/news_details.html?iid=2342
 

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