Kevin Minter and the Arizona Cardinals are reeling after losing yet another game Sunday to the Minnesota Vikings, 30-24.
The linebacker summed up the mood of the team after the game in one word.
“Desperate,” Minter said, via ESPN.com. “If we don’t want to be on the couch in January, we have to play better. Our back’s to the wall right now. I know I sound like a broken record, but we better get it done. That’s all it is. Going through all three phases, we better figure something out.”
The Cardinals were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders this year. They were supposed to continue ascending after last year’s tremendous regular season. Featuring a dynamic defense, an offense as loaded with playmakers as any in the NFL and a quarterback who fit head coach Bruce Arians’ preferred downfield aerial assault, they were supposed to be amazing.
Obviously that has not happened. Through 10 games, the Cardinals sport a 4-5-1 record and are in danger of becoming completely irrelevant as a viable playoff contender. Their latest loss Sunday at the hands of the Vikings was completely self-inflicted. Carson Palmer and the special teams unit absolutely gave the game away (more on that here).
Palmer has been a big reason why the team has struggled this year. Seemingly still haunted by the ghosts of the 2015 playoffs, he’s been off about as much as he’s been on, throwing 10 interceptions already this year compared to 13 touchdowns.
The offense has oftentimes absolutely wasted the efforts of the most dynamic running back in the league, David Johnson. It happened again this weekend, with the team losing despite 160 total yards and two touchdowns produced by Johnson.
The defense has held up its end of the bargain for much of the season, but mistakes on the other side of the ball have doomed Arizona to a sub-.500 record. It remains to be seen if Arians can right the ship, but based on what we’ve seen nobody should be holding their breath waiting for it to happen in 2016.