November 18, 2009
Early on last Sunday it seemed as if the Cardinals had lapsed into their old habits of falling apart in the second half of the season (just like the ’07 Mets) at home against the Seahawks. With the score 14-0 halfway through the 2nd quarter it looked as if Cardinals fans were in for another second half of the season suckathon. The offense wasn’t clicking, and the defense was getting picked apart by a severely overmatched team. And that’s when Beanie Wells showed up.
While Wells’ numbers don’t seem staggering for the game (16 carries, 85 yards, 2 TDs), the effect that he had on it was significant. Wells had a huge 4th and 1 touchdown run from the 11 yard line to tie the game, and later was able to keep the ball in the hands of the Cardinals offense with critical 1st down runs down the stretch. Beanie Wells is going to be a huge part of the Cardinals offense in the very near future, especially as the team makes a run at the playoffs. The rookie has become a truck with pads on moving through the line and into the secondary, and he is becoming extremely difficult to tackle because of his size and speed (I can’t wait to get Madden 2012 and play as Beanie Wells, it’s going to be like Shaun Alexander circa 2005).
The defense, though they had a rocky start, held their own, though according to Seattle head coach Jim Mora their play was “dirty.” (If you’ve seen replays of these so-called “dirty” plays that he’s talking about, it’s absolutely ridiculous to say that Cardinals players were intentionally trying to hurt Hasselbeck. There’s stuff that happens at the bottom of a pile in every single NFL game across the league that would make Dennis Rodman blush. Get over it, Mora) Even after giving up 14 points early on, the defense held the Seahawks to only six more points for the rest of the game, and got some crucial takeaways late (see Antrel Rolle and Adrian Wilson’s INTs).
While I predicted that the game would be over early on, the Cardinals made it interesting for the first half of the game. If someone just watched the second half of Sunday’s game, it would be clear that the Cardinals were the far superior team. The Cardinals have put their mark on the NFC West, and despite a 1-3 first half home record, have begun to “take back the nest.” (leading candidate for dumbest slogan of the 2009-10 NFL season)
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