Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
Thats the case for many NFL teams though. Hell I could argue the Cheifs are maybe 10 plays away all year from an 8-4 record instead of their pitiful 4-8. But thats how it works out. Good teams win those games, mediocre teams even out, and bad teams lose them. The Cardinals are much improved this year under Whisenhut but they won't be a playoff calibre team until next year. Although I agree that lumping them with the Jets is assinine. The Cards are a middle of the road type NFL team, whereas the Jets are just bad. I would say that they're probably pretty equal to Denver, Cards could probably beat them at home, but likely would lose the game in Denver.
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I understand what you're saying, but the Cards are a exceptional case compared to most teams.
The Chiefs have 8 losses - 2 of which were under 7 points.
The Cardinals have 6 losses - 5 of which were under 7 points. The only one that wasn't had third stringer Tim Rattay starting.
Let's look a little deeper at the Card's losses:
SF: Eric Green has a chance a fumble recovery in the end-zone to seal a win, but the ball takes a bad hop and the 49ers recover and eventually win.
BAL: Cards take a late lead and the Ravens are driving. A terrible call on Wilson for hitting Heap too hard puts the Ravens in easy position for a field goal.
WASH: A missed extra point earlier in the game forces the Cards to go for 2 with under a minute left. Missed extra point fails, but the Cards get an offside kick and Rackers eventually misses a 50+ yarder as time expires.
TB: Cards stop TB for a 3-and-out and get the ball back with about 2:20. First play from scrimmage is intercepted, but the TB clearly doesn't get both feet inbounds. The Cards had just used their timeouts to kill the clock on TB's last possession so they can't challenge and since it's 15 seconds away from the two minute warning the booth can't review.
SF: Neil Rackers misses a 32-yarder in OT.
It's easy to say that the Chiefs are 10 plays away from being 8-4, but the Cards are different. In nearly all of their losses the game was decided in the final minutes and several times on bad calls and bad bounces. These aren't turning point plays - these are game winning (or losing) plays.
I'm not saying the Cards are an elite team, but there's no reason to lump with terrible teams like the Jets. I'd agree that they're a middle of the road team, but they're definitely amongst the tops of that group. Let's not forget that they're playing with their back-up QB (who has one arm), Boldin has missed nearly 1/2 of the season, and Adrian Wilson is done for the year.