In what was inevitable, the Cardinals lack of power at nose tackle was utterly exposed today as the Washington Redskins picked apart the Arizona Cardinals defense. There was zero pass rush or push up the middle, Darnell Dockett was once again double teamed and held most of the day and Alan Branch and Bryan Robinson were non-factors on the D-line.

The time of possession favored the Redskins despite their total lack of a down field passing game, but with Cooley catching passes underneath and Portis running just well enough to keep the defense honest, the Cardinals couldn’t make a stop when they needed too. I’ve said it before but until Gabe Watson gets back on the field and is able to give the defensive line the interior push and hustle he provides, Dockett is going to be consistently double teamed and Bertrand Berry and Chike Okeafor will be a step late on the edge. I can only imagine what Brett Favre will do to the Cardinals defense if they continue to play like they did today.

Some observations in the loss:

1. As already noted, this team desperately needs Gabe Watson back on the field at NT. It’s not like they are getting black topped up the middle but as one of the TD runs exposed on replay, they are vulnerable between the tackles on short yardage situations. Also the lack of any interior pass rush is killing Dockett’s ability to get to the QB effectively, allowing opposing QB’s to step up against the pass rush or run up the middle as Jason Campbell did at least three times today, running for first downs on passing situations.

2. Deuce Lutui killed two drives with a bad pass blocking technique on one drive and a penalty on the other. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are less then a week away from Elton Brown possibly taking the starting spot. He plays well but those few key mistakes just kill you in a close game like we had today.

3. Steve Breaston isn’t quite there as the third receiver yet. On one key play he broke the wrong way and missed a big opportunity when Warner expected him to break up the field and in the crucial play of the game, he was physically out muscled on the interception that turned the game around. Sure it might have been pass interference but he was out played by the defense in that situation. Hopefully he learns and continues to improve, they are going to need him.

4. Way too many flags and mistakes. The most glaring was the lost touchdown on the play clock running out on 4th down to Ben Patrick. Warner was irate and said it was a quick whistle and Fox Sports didn’t even have the good sense to run a replay showing the play clock to see if he was right. Either way it shouldn’t have happened and it killed the Cardinals.

5. The defense has gone 9 quarters with out forcing a turn over, which isn’t going to win you too many ball games. I’m a big fan of Clancy Pendergast, but in this game I feel like he was out coached by the Redskins who seemed to have an answer for every thing he dialed up.

6. Punting with 2:33 left on the clock at mid field was basically the worst coaching call I’ve seen Coach Whisenhunt make since he got to the desert. I’m not sure what defense he was watching today but they had zero shot of stopping the Redskins from getting that first down and burning the clock which was exactly what they did. When I saw them go to punt formation I basically said, Game Over, and it certainly was. Just a completely chicken move on his part and one I hope I don’t see again this year.

In summary, a really annoying game that the Cardinals only have themselves to blame for losing. The Redskins are good, but not better then the Cardinals and they simply wanted it more, were better coached, and didn’t make stupid mistakes. The Cardinals deserved to lose this game and they did.

Ken Harvey was drafted with the 7th pick overall by the Phoenix Cardinals where he played 6 seasons before heading to the Washington Redskins for 5 season where he was voted to four Pro Bowls. Ken recorded 89 sacks in his 11 year career including a career high of 13.5 in 1994. Ken was named one of the 70 greatest Washington Redskins of all time. 

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