For seven days the Arizona Cardinals, and us fans, wondered if they were an elite team in the NFL. Last night we got our answer, an emphatic NO. Facing a sub-.500 divisional opponent who was crippled with injuries the Cardinals simply laid an egg. They got physically battered, abused and embarrassed. They couldn't protect their quarterback, they couldn't hold onto the ball and they couldn't mount any kind of serious comeback attempt because they couldn't go five plays without putting the ball on the carpet. Simply put, the Arizona Cardinals were embarrassed by an inferior opponent and no amount of "glass half full" Kool-Aid can sugar coat this loss.

News Flash Cardinals Fans.....This is a recipe for disaster:

• Punt
• Fumble
• Fumble
• Interception
• Punt
• Interception 
• Fumble
• Punt

That is the result of the first eight Cardinals drives. It wasn't until midway through the third quarter that the Cardinals were able to string together a 25 yard drive to put three points on the board (yipeee). And just in case you thought the offense might have finally got rolling at the end of the game, they had three drives in the fourth quarter that resulted in......

• Fumble
• Punt
• Fumble

That is eleven of the Cardinals thirteen drives and seven of them (54%) ended with a turnover. Read, watch, listen to all the Cardinals coverage you want but anytime, I mean anytime, that more than half of your offensive drives end with a turnover, you are going to lose and probably in an embarrassing fashion. Blame Warner, blame the running backs, blame the coaching staff but it all boils down to this team simply is not consistent. You, nor I, nor the coaching staff, nor probably the players themselves know which team is going to take the field on a given week. Will it be the team that convincing beat the Giants and Vikings or the team that convincingly lost to the Panthers and Niners.  

The bottom line is that this team doesn't  have the ability to bring their A-game week in and week out, for whatever reason, and that's the most important difference between the mediocre and the elite. And make no mistake friends, if any Cardinals' fan or player dreams of "elite status" we should immediately wake up and apologize.

While perusing around AZcentral.com I ran across the story talking about Warner's hip (which he says is ok) and buried at the bottom was a concerning statement about Mike Gandy's pelvis.....

There were concerns late last week that Gandy may have to undergo surgery to correct the problem, but the Cardinals' medical staff doesn't think that is a necessary option.

Now I'm certainly not a doctor and the closest I've come to diagnosing an injury is watching House every Monday but this sounds like a bigger problem than I originally thought. Gandy and Whisenhunt still sound optimistic about him returning to practice this week and potentially playing on Monday but it seems odd to go from "possibly surgery" to "ready to play" in a weeks time.

I'm sure with Jeremy Bridges strong showing this doesn't seem like a big issue but it could turn into a domino effect considering that now Brandon Keith is the primary backup and could be forced into duty at any position along the line, outside of center. Either way it's something worth keeping an eye on and it might be the safest strategy to hold him out until he's clearly 100% rather than force him back into action before he's fully comfortable. There's also the possibility that with a games worth of tape out there on Bridges, the 49ers will have a better plan of attack on him than the Vikings did. Thoughts?

While we're still all high-fiving and patting each other on the back I figured I'd throw out this pipe dream. I'm sure as Cardinals fans we all want Kurt Warner and company to have the best possible playoff seed heading into the post season and at this point the best case scenario looks like the #2 seed. With that in mind last night win over the Vikings was obviously huge and it opens a whole can of "what if" worms. The Cardinals are in the drivers seat to secure the #3 seed but the #2 seed still might be attainable, but what will it take?

First and foremost the Cardinals will most likely have to win out. That sounds more daunting that it actually is considering the rest of their schedule contains four very "winnable" games. To start, the Red Birds will most likely be favored in each game, only one team remaining can boast an above .500 record and the four game stretch includes teams which have combined for a 15-32 (.469) record. Two of the games, including the most difficult (Packers), are at home and road trips to San Francisco and Detroit aren't exactly buzzkills. If the Cardinals can win their remaining four games they'll be sitting at a very healthy 12-4, but will that be enough?

Currently the Vikings are 10-2 so they have a two game lead with four to play, but their remaining schedule isn't near as favorable. Next week they'll host the 9-3 Bengals, who are 4-1 on the road and a road trip to Carolina will follow. It's concievable that the Vikings could lose to the Bengals and then beat the Panthers leaving them at 11-3 but still holding a one game lead over the Cardinals. The Vikings remaining two games include a road trip to Chicago to take on the rival Bears then a home tilt against the upstart Giants. Despite the lack of quality play from the Bears this season we all know how quirky rival games can be and as the Cowboys learned yesterday, the Giants are no pushover. It's again concievable that the Vikings lose one of these games and leave them sitting at 12-4 with the Cardinals.

If, and I realize that's a big IF, this scenario plays out the Cardinals will enjoy much needed bye week heading into the playoffs before hosting a game at UoP. The only question now is, can it be done? Thoughts?

So we didn't beat the Rams by 20 like I thought and it took a late defensive stand at the goal line to ensure the Cardinals moved to 7-3, but there's more to this story. Sometimes it takes an ugly win when you don't have your 'A' game and at least in the NFL we don't have to worry about style points or margin of victory. A 'W' is a 'W' and that's really the only thing that matters. In case you're feeling a bit bummed about the this unimpressive win, consider this note from Kent Somers:

The Cardinals are 7-3 for the second consecutive year. They have a three-game lead over the 49ers. As a friend pointed out, if the Cardinals go 3-3 the rest of the way, the 49ers would have to go 6-0 to overtake them.

Considering that the remainder of the Cardinals schedule includes only two teams with a record above .500, and both of those games are at home (although this year they may actually be a negative), I think it's fair to say that it's only a matter of time before we clinch the West. With that being said, here's the randomness.....

• Obviously most of the talk about this game will surround Matt Leinart's play. While I expected him to play better (aka, at least put some points on the board), it's hard to ignore that he completed over 70% of his passes and he didn't turn the ball over. Of course that's not the whole story and so I'll defer to the 'so-called' experts, the two main 'beat writers' (Urban and Somers). It's interesting that Urban seems to focus on what Leinart did well and what could have been if things had gone just a bit differently....

His numbers weren't bad (10-for-14 for 74 yards). Whisenhunt said if tight end Anthony Becht hadn't lost a fumble after a second-down catch and had the Cards executed a third-and-1 pass - running back Beanie Wells apparently didn't look back quickly enough for the ball - he had no doubt Leinart would have piloted the Cards to points. Leinart also had the clutch third-down pass to Early Doucet that gained a first down late in the game.

While Somers doesn't tip-toe around Leinart's performance quite as gingerly....

Coach Ken Whisenhunt defended the play of backup quarterback Matt Leinart, although the Cardinals haven't scored this season in his three appearances. On Sunday, a couple of players mentioned that Leinart entered the game under "tough" circumstances. Ahead 21-3 and facing a bad team is tough? Sounds ideal to me.

I don't blame Whisenhunt for defending Leinart. What's he supposed to say? But I'm not joining the chorus of people who think Leinart can't play. I do think it's reasonable to see progress from him this year. And he hasn't shown it. He still tends to throw high when he's nervous, mostly because his footwork gets out of whack. That's been a problem for more than two seasons now. Leinart was set up to succeed Sunday and it didn't happen. You can't get around that fact and it has to concern Cardinals coaches and management. All that said, not all of the problems in the second half were Leinart's fault. Tight end Anthony Becht fumbled. The running game stalled. The defensive intensity dropped off.

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Like it or not, Dockett's elbow to the throat of Matt Hasselbeck isn't getting swept under the rug. Darren Urban is talking about it at the team's official site, Mike Sando is talking about it on ESPN, Seahawks head coach Jim Mora has sent film to the NFL offices and even Nine-0 referenced the situation via his twitter account.

For anyone who has yet to see video evidence of what we're talking about, you can see it right here.

I think at the very least Dockett will be some kind of slap on the wrist fine but this could be the kind of thing where the league and perhaps more importantly referees start watching him more closely. We all know that Dockett can have a short fuse and he's picked up his share of personal foul penalties over the years. He's also got a reputation for "questionable" behavior at the bottom of a pile (just google Dockett and Earnest Graham or Dockett and Rex Grossman). I really doubt that any kind of suspension could be coming but one can never tell how Roger Goodell will respond. Luckily this didn't happen against Peyton Manning or some other high profile QB in a nationally televised game (like it not, that makes a difference), but this might follow DD around for a while.

The Cardinals got off to a slow start but once they got the ball rolling, it was all over with. Warner was slinging, Beanie was rumbling and the defense was doing just enough to keep Bad-beck and the Seahawks off balance. Here's some randomness......

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Here are some random thoughts about the 5-3 Arizona Cardinals:

• The Cardinals are the best team in the NFC West and it's not exactly a slim margin. They're the only team with a winning record and the only team that's scored more points than they've allowed. Most importantly though, they're the only team that doesn't have questions at the most important position on the field (QB), but more on that in a bit.
  
• While the Cardinals aren't an elite team, that doesn't mean that they season is doomed for failure. Elite teams put forth a consistent winning effort week in and week out despite the quality of their opponent, but at best we're only talking about three or four teams in this league. The Cardinals are one of the "muddled middle" that's capable of beating or losing to just about anyone. Consistency is the goal but for now we're winning more often than not and getting into the post season is the first step.
• Kurt Warner is still the same quarterback that he's been for the past decade or so. He's going to have his "dud" games and if his history is any indication, he'll have another four or five turnover game before the season ends. The good news is that he'll also have a handful of games where's he virtually unstoppable. Best in the league? Not even close but he's the best chance that this team has of returning to the promised land and I wouldn't bet against him in a gun fight.
  
• The Cardinals won't ever be mistaken for the Jets or Titans but our league worst rushing attack is improving. The duo of Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells are leading that improvement and it's more than just their 149 yard performance against the Bears. Through the first five games Beanie and Timmy accounted for 292 yards (at 3.4 ypc) but in the past three games they've racked up 311 yards (at 5.0 ypc). The Cards don't have to lead the league in rushing but any success they have on the ground takes pressure off of KW and the passing game.
  
• The defense isn't great but more often than not, it's going to be good enough. They are a better defense when they're playing with a lead and they're going to have their mental lapses that lead to big plays but overall this is an above average defese. With this offense, most of the time, that's going to be good enough to win.

For now that's all. The Cardinals hold a two game lead in the division (if you don't count the tie-breaker with the 49ers) and they've got two very winnable in the upcoming weeks (Hawks and Rams). The West is ours to lose and in a couple weeks we should be talking about playoff positioning.