You can call it ugly, puzzling, embarrassing, or down right aweful - the Arizona Cardinals offense did everything they could to not win the game on Monday night. They gift wrapped 18 early Christmas presents for their division rival(7 turnovers + 11 penalties), only scored 9 points, and are now looking more like the 4th seed in the NFC playoff picture. This one is still fairly fresh in memory so in honor of the short week, we'll keep it brief.
Kurt Warner: As great as Kurt had been the previous 4 weeks(four 120+ QB rating games in a row), he managed to step on the Monday night stage and show just how much an injury effects a 38-year old quarterback. The hip pointer that Kurt Warner suffered the week before obviously bothered him for much of the game and getting Kurt at 100% should be priority #1 for the Cardinals.
Running backs: Bottom line - this unit had their worst performance of the season. Tim Hightower, Beanie Wells, and LaRod Stephens-Howling each had fumbles at crucial times throughout the game. As a result, the 49ers were given short field position and the defense rarely got a break. The running backs did muster 85 yards at 4.7 yards per carry against a good defense, but the fumbling issues are becoming tiresome.
Wide Receivers: Did any wide receivers even show up? Early Doucet had a team-high 41 yards on the night, which was a pleasant surprise, but the other three big receivers didn't have an impact against a defense without Nate Clements. To be fair, Larry Fitzgerald did miss a portion of the game with a knee injury and it looked like he had a big catch down at the 1-yard line early in the game, but the receivers are a huge part of the offense and need to be incorporated in every game.
Offensive Line: What offensive line? They were out-classed and man-handled by the 49ers defensive line. The 49ers defense had 4 sacks, 5 tackles for a loss, and 5 QB hits. The bizarre part is the Cardinals offensive line played the game of their lives only a week prior to a very good Minnesota Vikings defensive line.
My offensive grade: F-
If the scale went to a Z I'd give them that because this was one of the worst offensive performances we've seen them play in the last 3 years. To add salt to the wounds, it was on a national stage and was against a pesky division rival. What grade do you give the Cardinals offense and why?