The Drive with Jody Oehler

The Drive with Jody Oehler

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First And 10 - Week 10 - Cards Can Hold Heads High

They may not have won but they can still walk out of the ring holding their heads high.

First:

The Cardinals entered the ring with the Chiefs as heavy underdogs and just about everybody expected them to be a tomato can, first round knockout. Instead they hung in there and even managed to give Kansas City a few clean shots to the chin but couldn’t get the knockout. They still lost by double digits but it was a fourth quarter game on the road and they limited Kansas City to their weakest offensive output of the season. They may not have won but they can still walk out of the ring holding their heads high.

The Cardinals harassed Mahomes, limited big plays and churned yardage and clock time offensively.

And Ten:

1. It was a Shakespearean day for Steve Wilks: It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. The Cardinals Head Coach likely saved his job by coaxing an impressive effort out of the bye from his team. The Cardinals harassed Mahomes, limited big plays and churned yardage and clock time offensively. It was the first 4 quarter performance from a Steve Wilks led Cardinals team. On the other hand it also featured the lowest moment of his tenure: winning the coin toss and deferring to the Chiefs offense. On the road. It just did not make any sense even when the Cardinals took the opening drive of the second half for a score.

2. The performance against the Chiefs alone would probably be reason enough for Michael Bidwill to justify keeping Wilks but the fact that Green Bay, Dallas, Cleveland and Baltimore all potentially could be looking for head coaches should help as well. Even with Josh Rosen, it’s unlikely the Cardinals could compete for the best and brightest hire of the offseason with those organizations and rosters.

Rosen continues to give Cardinals fans a significant dose of hope in a very difficult season.

3.  Josh Rosen continues to be the flower in the landfill. He was poised and effective in hostile territory. His pick was costly and he overthrew a handful of open receivers but given the lack of protection and the firepower on the other side, Rosen continues to give Cardinals fans a significant dose of hope in a very difficult season.

4. Byron Leftwich is a real life Long Island Medium. He effectively channeled the spirit of Head Coach Bruce Arians and delivered a totally believable offensive performance out of the Cardinals. Still not enough shots down the field but when Josh Rosen was getting hit on 3 step drops, that’s not on Leftwich.

5.  For a brief period of time on Sunday, I was preparing a Byron Leftwich as head coach,Todd Bowles as defensive coordinator tweet but I’ll just save that for a future date.

6.  Its a record, we’ve reached the 6th bullet point before our first real down and dirty negative from the weekend. The offensive line is atrocious and its all Steve Keim’s fault.Draft whiffs in virtually every round, bad free agent signings and zero depth have put the Cardinals franchise QB in the path of considerable risk for the remainder of the season.Steve Keim has shown a near total inability to build a successful offensive line and it will be the #1 priority of the offseason for the Arizona Cardinals.

7.  Seriously, Andre Smith was an injury prone, mistake prone tackle for two different teams in the last 3 years and Keim felt he was worthy of protecting the extremely fragile $15-million-dollar QB Sam Bradford and rookie gem Josh Rosen. He signed Justin Pugh to a huge contract after Pugh missed 13 games due to injury in his previous two seasons.This isn’t hindsight, this is something we’ve been talking about since March.

Losing has plenty of company in modern sports.

8. Currently, the Cards are drafting 4th but with 11 NFL teams having 3 wins or less as November rolls on, its entirely possible they end up outside the top 5. Losing has plenty of company in modern sports.

9.  Bright spots: Chandler Jones and his band the Pass Rush, David Johnson’s self esteem,the coaching staff wearing red pajama pants, TJ Logan and the onside kick attempt.

They should play this game at Sun Devil Stadium and we should all have to watch on gigantic, fuzzy 27 inch TV’s with rabbit ears because that’s the way Steve Wilks and Jon Gruden would like it.

10. What’s next? The Oakland Raiders.  A loss at home to the pathetic Raiders would fire up the Going Away Party planning committee real fast. They should play this game at Sun Devil Stadium and we should all have to watch on gigantic, fuzzy 27 inch TV’s with rabbit ears because that’s the way Steve Wilks and Jon Gruden would like it.


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