Cardinals vs. Rams: Offensive line remembers Thursday night debacle

The last time the Arizona Cardinals traveled to St. Louis, they were 4-0 and laid an egg on national television. It was a Thursday Night Football game and the Rams sacked quarterback Kevin Kolb nine times en route to a 17-3 win that gave the Cardinals their first loss.

Kolb was sacked the nine times and hit at least another three in that game, which was the game tha exposed the offensive line play for what it was the first four games -- a fluke.

I spoke with Levi Brown on Monday about going back there and trying to erase those memories. He knows that everyone is going to be watching the line's play.

"Obviously, if the quarterback's getting hit, a lot of that falls onto the offensive line," he said. "We have a lot to prove. Everybody knows what happened last year, the way we started off as far as protection issues. On the other side, winning those games early and then losing late, the woes at the end of the year, we know what we have to do we're ready to go out and do it."

Knowing what happened last year, I asked him if, despite the fact that he wasn't playing and that there are new players on the line, it is something they talk about -- getting rid of that game.

"You never really have to talk about it," he responded. "Everybody knows what happened. I wasn't part of it. I was watching, so I know what happened. It's already in your mind."

Obviously this season will be a little bit different because Brown is starting at left tackle instead of D'Anthony Batiste. Paul Fanaika is at right guard instead of Adam Snyder. Eric Winston is where Bobby Massie was. That accounts for seven of the nine sacks from that game.

Of course, there is also a different quarterback. Carson Palmer has done a much better job throughout his career than Kolb at getting the ball out and avoiding sacks.

Just how different is Palmer than Kolb and the other guys the teams had at QB last season?

Brown pointed out that Palmer "has had a lot of success in his career" and that he wants to play at the high level he has done before. He also noted one of Palmer's strengths.

"He's able to read defenses a lot quicker and things like that, sort of like what Kurt Warner was able to do for us when he was here," Brown explained. "Were just hoping that we go out there and we give him enough time on the O-line get the same kind of result and get back to the big game."

We don't know yet what the result of the game will be, but the nine sack embarrassment that happened should not be something that is repeated, or even close to being repeated, on Sunday when the teams kick off the new season.

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