Cardinals surprise Giants, 24-17

The Arizona Cardinals continued to show they are back to their Super Bowl level with a 24-17 road win over the New York Giants.

While much of the New York area’s attention was focused on Game 6 of the ALCS, a big football game was taking place in the Meadowlands.

The Cardinals used a strong defensive effort to rattle quarterback Eli Manning and slow down the Giants running game.

Offensively, quarterback Kurt Warner didn’t have his best game, but he avoided the costly turnovers that typically plague him against good defenses.

It was huge for the Cardinals to come get a win on the East Coast against a quality team in a tough environment.

Monday, October 26, 2009 at 5:53 pm by steve

Cardinals Beat Giants With Defense

In one of the biggest surprises of Week 7, the Cardinals finally learned to manage an East Coach trip well (granted, their game was at 8:20 p.m.) and upset the New York Giants at home, 24-17, by virtue of their defense.

With QB Kurt Warner, WRs Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston, and RBs Chris “Beanie” Wells and Tim Hightower, the Cardinals place one of the most talented offensive corps in the NFL on the field every Sunday, week in and week out. No one counted on the Cardinals D to be the difference maker in the Sunday night game against the Giants.

Incredibly, the Cardinals D badgered Giants QB Eli Manning into one of his worst games in recent memory, as Manning completed 19 of 37 passes for 243 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions. It’s the sixth time in Manning’s career that he’s thrown three picks in a game.

“Our game plan was to get [Manning] rattled, make him make quick decisions and quick throws,” linebacker Gerald Hayes said. “He made some plays, but they came up short.”

Between Manning’s turnovers and kicking woes from punter Jeff Feagles, who struggled all night and provided the Cardinals an advantage in field position, the Cardinals had every opportunity to capitalize on the Giants’ struggles… and they did.

Safety Adrian Wilson, corner Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle all picked off Manning (Wilson also recovered a fumble), as they simply confused the Giants’ offense all night long.

“We feel like we’ve got one of the best defenses in the league,” Boldin said. “It’s tough for teams to move the ball on them, let alone score on them.”

at 5:29 pm by bryan

Boldin Misses Practice, Uncertain for Sunday

Cardinals receiver Anquan Boldin remains questionable for Sunday night’s game against the New York Giants with a sprained right ankle, which kept him out of practice on Wednesday.

“He’s doing all right,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He’s further along than I thought he would be as far as the rehab of the ankle is going, but those ankles you never know, so we’ll see how it progresses during the week.”

Boldin sprained the ankle during the second quarter of the Cardinals 27-3 blowout of the Seahawks on Sunday. He came back in during the third quarter, then left early with the Cards cruising.

If Boldin isn’t available, Steve Breaston would fill his No. 2 receiver slot across Larry Fitzgerald. Breaston caught seven passes for 77 yards and a TD against the Seahawks.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen many better catches than that one that he had on Sunday,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “It was just phenomenal. He confidently went up, didn’t worry about getting hit, scooped the ball up and came down for a touchdown.”

Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 11:58 pm by bryan

Cardinals roll past Seahawks, 27-3

The Arizona Cardinals showed they are back playing at an NFC championship level in a 27-3 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

It was a big day for the Arizona defense, which was relentless in shutting down the running and passing games.

It took a lot of the pressure off of quarterback Kurt Warner and that offense, not that they really needed the help.

Warner tossed two touchdown passes, one to Larry Fitzgerald and the other to Steve Breaston, on his way to another fine day.

Arizona’s schedule gets even tougher next week with a trip to the Meadowlands and a matchup against the New York Giants.

at 6:38 pm by steve

Boldin Questionable for Sunday

WR Anquan Boldin is having trouble staying on the field this season.

Boldin initially eased his way back into training camp with a strained hamstring that kept him limited over the first few weeks. Now, Boldin appears to have suffered a high ankle sprain in his right ankle during Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.

X-rays taken at Seattle’s Qwest Field turned up negative for broken bones, leaving the Cardinals in a waiting game with Boldin to determine whether he’ll be available for the Cards’ upcoming game against the NY Giants.

“The doctors are going to take a look at him, and we’ll see how he’s doing as the week progresses,” Whisenhunt said.

If Boldin won’t be able to go on Sunday, the Seahawks will look towards their No. 3 receiver, Steve Breaston, who caught 77 yards worth of passes and a touchdown against the Seahawks.

“I think we all have confidence in Steve based on what we saw from him last year,” Whisenhunt said. “He’s a 1,000-yard receiver in this league, which is a certainly quite an accomplishment.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 at 9:01 pm by bryan

Cardinals Assault Seahawks Through Air

The NFC West isn’t as cut-and-dry, locked-up for the San Francisco 49ers as it appeared two weeks ago. First, the 49ers got walloped by the Atlanta Falcons last weekend, 45-10 (they were on a bye this past weekend); now, the Arizona Cardinals have officially announced that they won’t roll over lightly, as they trounced the Seattle Seahawks, 27-3.

With Matt Hasselbeck back under center for the ‘Hawks, the game figured to be an offensive shootout from two great passing offenses. The Cardinals kept up their end of the bargain offensively… but also kept the Seahawks offense grounded.

“At some point it seemed like he wasn’t even looking at his receivers,” Dockett said, describing Hasselbeck as “bailing out” against the Cardinals fierce pass rush. “I’m going to make no excuses that they had backup offensive linemen. They got out there and they got whupped.”

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner became the fastest QB in NFL history to accrue 30,000 passing yards, as he completed 32 of 41 passes for 276 yards and two touchdowns against the Seahawks.

“We just need to keep building. We’re still not there yet,” Warner said.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 17-0 first quarter lead on the heels of Warner’s prolific passing and the hands of Larry Fitzgerald, who tied a career high with 13 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Now they turn their attention to the New York Giants, who are fresh off a whooping at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.

“Oh, that game is huge,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s really going to be an opportunity to see where we’re at.”

Monday, October 19, 2009 at 8:56 pm by bryan

Cardinals hold off Texans, 28-21

The Arizona Cardinals made it very interesting but barely held on for a win over the Houston Texans, 28-21.

The Cardinals found themselves with a big lead heading into halftime but forgot to play the second half.

If not for a huge interception that was returned for a touchdown, the Cardinals would have blown the game.

Even still, Arizona had to mount a goaline stand with just seconds remaining to stop the Texans from tying it up.

Arizona might look back on this game later in the year and remember that goaline stand as a turning point in their season.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 7:31 pm by steve

Cardinals Win Shootout With Texans

All week, ESPN had been hyping this Sunday’s game between the Houston Texans and the Cardinals as “Andre Johnson vs. Larry Fitzgerald,” as each team features one of the NFL’s most prolific wide receivers.

Neither receiver disappointed, as Johnson and Fitzgerald each scored two touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 28-21 victory over the Texans in Week 5.

Fitzgerald reminded everyone why he was being declared a worthy first-round fantasy football pick, with five catches for 79 yards and two TDs, as the Cardinals opened up a 21-0 lead by halftime. Johnson, not one to be one-upped, fought his way for eight catches for 101 yards and two TDs.

Both QBs in the game - Kurt Warner and Matt Schaub - threw for over 300 yards in a game that developed into a shootout at the end. Schaub guided the Texans back from the 21-point deficit to tie the game with his second TD to Johnson; on the Texans’ next drive, Schaub threw a critical interception to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who ran the ball back 49 yards for a pick-six with two minutes left.

With the help of TE Owen Daniels, Schaub guided the Texans down the field one last time in a two-minute drill, however; the Cardinals stuffed the Titans three straight times when the Texans had the ball on the Cards’ 1-yard line and held on to the victory, moving to 2-2 on the season.

Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 7:13 pm by bryan