Cardinals Lose a Heartbreaker

In a meltdown game in which the San Francisco 49ers ran over the Arizona defense while Kurt Warner shredded the Niners' secondary, the game seemed much like most Arizona losses this season: the team was only a play or two from winning the game, but things didn't go in their favor.

First of all, I might be wrong, but Neil Rackers is beginning to come across as a bad clutch kicker. Now, I know he's hit some big field goals in the past, but this was the second time this season (at least -- the other game was against Washington) he failed to put the Cardinals ahead or win the game. Sunday he missed a game winner in overtime from 32 yards out. On the season he's only 13/20 (1 block), and from 50+ yards out he's only 3/7. He hasn't been perfect on the shorter field goals either, missing 2/4 between 30-39 yards.

And for the umpteenth week in a row, Edgerrin James failed to eclipse 100 yards on the ground. At least his average was 4.6 yards per carry, and he was only able to handle 17 carries in the game while Kurt Warner spent much of the day throwing the ball, sometimes a bit erratically. He finished with three turnovers (2 interceptions), including a fumble in overtime that was recovered by San Francisco in the end zone.

Again, one of those days the Cardinals didn't play smart football. Four turnovers on the day added to the zero forced ended up equaling a loss. No surprise there.

Plus the Seahawks defeated St. Louis to move 2 games ahead in the division. Until Arizona starts playing smarter football, there will be no playoffs in the future, at least not this season as the team is now 5-6