/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/8677899/151022578.jpg)
The final pre-season game of 2012 is in the books, with the Arizona Cardinals once again taking an L in the win/loss column. Going into the half, the Cards had the lead, but the Denver Broncos managed to steal a last second victory on the leg of kicker Matt Prater.
Overall, this game was reminiscent of a western movie, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Hit the jump to see what the players and the organization had to say about their performance.
The Good:
Rookie wide receiver Michael Floyd scored his first NFL touchdown, tipping a Ryan Lindley pass back to himself for the catch. He had this to say about the play, "I kept concentration on the ball the whole time. Luckily the guy hit me in the back to go toward the ball so it landed in my hands."
Ryan Lindley had some rookie moments, but went 14 of 26 for 176 yards passing. Lindley was pumped up about Floyd's catch, saying this. "I just tried to keep it away a bit because I saw the safety rolling over to get him. I put it behind him and he came up with it. That is what Mike does."
Lindley's performance impressed Coach Whisenhunt, both the accuracy and the way he come back in after QB Rich Bartel went down with a shoulder injury. Here are Coach Whiz's words on the rookie QB. "That's kind of been the way he's handled himself all camp without a lot of reps."
Although the starting QB carousel was out, some of the offensive starters did play, with Beanie Wells getting a few touches early on in the game, and looked sharp, posting a five yard per carry average. The RB had this to say about his performance. "I have to get my leg drive and get my feet under me." My thoughts are five yards a carry and he still needs to get his leg drive back bodes well for a team who will need to run the ball to compensate for the passing game.
The positive thing is that the offense looked crisp and moved the ball, which does a few things for the team, and Ryan Lindley noted these with this statement. "We drove down the field a few times and we got that one touchdown. We ate up a lot of clock and we kept the defense off the field. That's what you want to do."
I agree with Lindley, control the clock, move the ball. Keep your defense fresh. Let's hope the first team offense was paying attention to the game.
So now that pre-season is done, the Cards can look forward to a bruising game with division rivals the Seattle Seahawks.
Go Cards!