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I have no other recourse than to just put it out there, bluntly:
This game sucked.
Sure, it was a close defeat and you can take all the cliches and tidiness of comments to that effect, but it was still a loss and one that shouldn't have happened. If one play or another had gone the other way, i.e the Cards player hadn't screwed up - maybe the ending result would have been different.
Through the Leon Lett camera we view the most insipid, incredulous Bird Brain plays of the game:
1.) Carson Palmer's INT thrown to Trumaine Johnson on the first drive of the third quarter. Palmer was indecisive of where the ball was going - unless intended target was Johnson - and the Rams DB returned the gift 29 yards to the AZ 4, setting up a Rams FG.
2.) Javier Arenas' kickoff returns. Brought two returns out from deep in the endzone when a kneeldown would probably been more appropriate. One resulted in a tackle inside the team's own ten yard line and the other was a fumble that luckily, was recovered by the Cardinals at their own ten. Andre Ellington, you available?
3.) Levi Brown pass protection. Leave off the "p" of the first word and you have my point. As Forrest Gump said "And, that's all I got to say about that." End point.
4.) Jay Feely's missed 50-yard field goal right before first half. Coach Bruce Arians went hurry up with 26 seconds left, deep in Cards territory and produced passes of 13, 17 and 19 to put them in FG range. Then Feely did his best Neil Rackers impression. Yes, it was a long try (had no problem with a 60+ last season) and Jay could be excused for a miss now and then - but was definitely a momentum changer in my view. (And Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein would have probably pushed him aside and said "Baby, please.")
5.) Andre Ellington's miscatch/misread on third and 2 after the two-minute warning. This is tough. A lot of ROTBers I read were on Arians' case for putting the rookie RB out there in the first place; let alone the incomplete pass that sailed over his head. Ellington stated he and Palmer weren't on the same page. Palmer, to his credit, said that the fault was his. I wasn't going to include this as a possible game changer but there seemed to be strong feelings about the play.
So, everyone. What was your bonehead play of the game for the Cardinals?