Picture, if you will, an old western like The Searchers or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Black and white grainy-footage with trains, a desert scenery and a white hat/black hat sort of showdown.

Got it? Let me paint the picture...of this duel in the desert.

The Sheriff stood triumphant having decked the outlaw in the face.

And then as he stepped back to grab his handcuffs, he tripped over his own spur.

The outlaw took a swing and the sheriff dodged...and then fell backwards, tripping over his own feet.

As he stood up the outlaw whipped out his gun, but the Sheriff was quicker, shooting from the hip.

And then he shot himself in the foot as he drew his revolver from his pocket.

Can you picture that in your head?

That’s what it felt like watching the Cardinals game on sunday. The Cardinals turned the ball over 3 times and seemed to keep getting in their own way.

Cardinals get into Philly territory...fumble.

Back in the redzone? Interception.

Team goes for it on 4th down with a CRAZY pass from the punter to Zeke Turner?

Go 3 and out on the next set of downs.

It felt like the Cardinals kept letting Philly into the game and Hurts made them pay by simply not turning it over. The Eagles had plenty of issues of their own, though.

Eagles Special teams got wrecked all day....a lot. (Missing a punter will do that).

But in the end, the Cardiac Cards got the win.

It took a deep touchdown drive with two SPECTACULAR catches from Deandre Hopkins and Jalen Hurts taking hit after hit and dealing down the field.

Ultimately, the defense won the day. Two 4th down stops in the endzone and Jalen’s magic was held off on two Hail Mary’s that did NOT have the Deandre Hopkins/Hail Murray magic.

In the end, it came down to simply the fact that when the chips were down in the 4th, even with the offense letting the defense down ALL DAY, the relentless rush of the Cards kept Philly from anything less than desperate heaves into the endzone to tie it.

AZ wins...33-26. That safety and two misses from the Eagles on an extra point & 2-pt conversion were the difference.

The resilience for this team to come back from 0-3 in the turnover battle?

Magnificent.

And now at 8-7 with two divisional games to go, Arizona’s on the doorstep of something incredible: making the playoffs two years after being the WORST team in football.

It’s never pretty, in fact, it’s often ugly. But given all that’s happened in 2020 so far, is anything less than a win what this team needed?

And was it any less surprising in 2020 that the Cardiac Cards, despite raising heart rates WELL above what maaaybe was needed, somehow found a way to win?

The Cards are 8-6.

It feels at times like they should be doing more? Sure. But despite it all, it was Cardinals fans who got to ride off on horseback today into the Arizona sun.

Excited that for once, there’s a new Sheriff in town. And Arizona maybe just one or two games away from the endless, boundless hope of January football.

I’m ready for it. Are you?

GIDDY UP, #BIRDGANG.