CARDS 23 - SEAHAWKS 20 (OT)
The Setup
The Lede
The Bottom Line
Game Recap
Game Stats
Bright Spots
The Dark Side
Last Word

The Setup
It was the last game of the season. Both teams were 7 & 8 and trying to reach .500. Question remains: "Do the players and coaches of either team view this as a "pride" game against a division rival? Or merely a "U-Haul"or "Baggie" tilt (as in players backing up U-Hauls to their apartments or cleaning out their lockers). Last week I observed that how the Cardinals and Bengals looked on the opening kickoff would be a clue of how the game would be played and what the final outcome would be. It pretty much worked out that way and figured to be the same this week. Seattle played the Niners tight for most of the game, but faded a bit in the stretch.

The Lede
Cards finish at .500/set OT record

The Bottom Line:
We didn't meet our goal of reaching the playoffs, so our season was a failure. But, considering the early season hole we dug ourselves and the way this team dug in, refused to quit and clawed its way back to an 8 & 8 record, I couldn't be more proud of this Cardinal team, its players, coaches and front office. (Not only did they play hard for the entire 60-minutes to wrap things up yesterday, they actually played hard for 68 minutes and 47 seconds due to the overtime).

The win starts off the New Years right, and this team has grown, comfortable, confident and effective competing with poise in close, (often come-from-behind) games. This is something a team can't learn in OTA's or preseason. The players have to experience what it's like to deal with sweaty palms faced with making up point deficits or protecting razor-thin leads late in games. They've "been there and done that" now and should bring this advantage into next season.

Not that the Cardinals are perfect (far from it). Their weak offensive line has been a wind-drag on the effectiveness of the rest of the team throughout the past season. Conceding John Skelton's almost mystical ability to raise his level of play late in games, the three starting QB's have a lot of improvement in front of them (& given the right circumstances, you could even see the Cards seeking to draft an offensive leader with greater upside). But if the front office can keep the nucleus of this team together (and if we get all or most of our players back from the MASH unit healthy and ready), prospects for next season should look good in a division where the Cardinals wound up a surprising 4 & 2.

1st Quarter

• Washington took the opening KO to the Seattle 37 (uh oh!) but the Cardinal defense held them to 3 & out. Peterson returned the punt 17 yards to the Cardinal 28. After an initial 10-yard completion to King, the Cards couldn't get much going and punted from their own 45. Ball was downed by Adams at the 4. Three straight runs by Lynch and a 12 yard completion to Tate netted a couple of first downs, but the defense stiffened and Seattle punted from their own 36. Ball was fair caught at the Cardinal 19. A 39-yard romp around right end by The Howler (who started in place of the inactive Beanie) and a 22-yard comp[letion to Heap (who fell victim to the turf monster within 2 yards of the end zone) set up a 1-yard dive by Chester Taylor that barely broke the plain of the end zone. (Cards are actually ahead early in a game).  Cardinals 7 - Seattle 0.

• Touchdown on the KO.  Seattle moved to their own 47 in 8 plays as the quarter ended (Drive was characterized by use of a no-huddle offense, nice short-yardage rhythm established by Tavaris Jackson and tackles in the backfield for losses (Adams and Holiday) on a couple of screen plays.  1st Quarter Score: Cardinals 7 - Seattle 0.

2nd Quarter

• An illegal use of hands penalty on Adams helped perpetuate the Seahawk drive. A 23-yard completion to Tate to reach the Cardinal 20 was partly negated by 2 sacks (one by D Washingotn for minus-4 and the other for minus-10 by Dockett) forcing Seattle to settle for a 43 yard Hauschka FG.  Cardinals 7 - Seattle3.

• Touchback on the KO. On the first play from scrimmage, Skelton hit Housler up the seam for +21-yards, but Housler allowed the ball to be stripped and Seattle got the ball back on the Cardinal 20. An illegal contact flag on Adams moved them to the Card 11, but a false start penalty and sack (for minus-11 by Haggans) moved them back to the Cardinal 27. Two plays later, Jackson's pass to Miller was picked off by Marshall and returned 49-yards to the Seattle 38. On the second play from scrimmage, Skelton was sacked for minus-6 by Hawthorne to set up an exchange of 3 & outs. Ryan's punt was received by Patrick Peterson who (as Darren Urban put it: "came within a foot of breaking the record for number of TD's on punt returns") when he broke free up the middle for 42-yards only to be tripped up by the Ryan's foot to prevent the TD. Cards started from the Seattle 31 and made it to the Seahawk 8-yard line before a personal foul penalty on Levi Brown moved us back to the 11 and we settled for a 41-yard Feely FG. Cardinals 10 - Seahawks 3.

• 3:28 til halftime. Touchback on the KO. Holding and false start penalties on Seattle neutralized a couple of completions to Baldwin and forced Seattle to punt from their own 37. Fair caught at the 20 with 1:14 on the clock. Skelton was sacked for minus-8 on the first play from scrimmage by Mr. Alan Branch (currently a member of the Cardinal Alumni Association) to set up a 3 & out. 0:44 left. Seattle moved from their own 34 to their own 48, where Acho sacked Jackson for minus-9 and a fumble to end the quarter..  First Half Score: Cardinals 10 - Seahawks 3.

3rd Quarter

• Jefferson returned the 2H opening KO to the Cardinal 29. They picked up one 1st down, but a false start penalty on Levi Brown contributed to the derailment of their drive - they punted from their own 36. A personal foul call against Lenon on the punt moved Seattle to their own 47. Two plays later, Washington cut back through a crease over LT and ran untouched by human hands for a 48-yard score (leaving us with our tongues hanging out). Suddenly we were tied. Seahawks 10 - Cardinals 10.

• Touchback on the KO. 22 and 13-yard completions to Fitz (&  a "leaker" pattern to Sherman over the middle reminsicent of former-giant Dave Meggett for +11) set up a 13-yard TD completion to Todd Heap (his first TD of the year)  . Cardinals 17 - Seahawks 10.

• Seattle responded with a drive of their own. Touchback on the KO. Jackson carved us up with running plays and short-passes to reach our 6-yard line. But, 2 plays after A-Dub snared Lynch in the backfield for a 3-yard loss, Hauschka's 24-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Superman (you known him as "Patrick Peterson") - 11 plays/no points. Whew! Cards ran off a coiuple of plays to reach their own 21 to end the quarter. Third Quarter Score: Cardinals 17 - Seahawks 10.

4th Quarter

• A 41-yard completion to Fitzgerald was partly removed by a roughness call on Doucet after the play had ended. This in turn was neutralized by a roughness penalty oby Seattle on the next play. Drive ended at the Seahawk 25 where Feely booted 'er home from 43. Cards were feeling pretty good with a 10-point lead with 12:15 left to play. (Too good as it turned out).   Cardinals 20 - Seahawks 10.

• Touchback on the KO. Defense forced a 3 & out. Punt was fair caught at the Cardinal 33. On the second play from scrimmage, Skelton's (somewhat "soft") throw for Roberts (who wasn't very aggressive coming back for the ball) was picked off by Sherman and returned to the Cardinal 12. But even with an encroachment call on A-Dub, the Cardinal defense forced Seattle into a 3 & a FG (a 26-yarder) to narrow the score. Cardinals 20 - Seahawks 13.

• 9:05 still left to play !!!  KO was returned to the Cardinal 21. A false start call on Bridges contributed to a 3 & out. Punt was returned to the Seahawk 39. On the first play from scrimmager, the Seahawk speedster (Lockette) outran rookie corner (Martay Green - why was he even in there????) on a fly pattern en route to a 61-yard game-tying touchdown. Cardinals 20 - Seahawks 20.

• 7:47 still left. (Are we headed for OT yet again)? Jefferson returned the KO to our own 22. A 17-yard completion to Fitz helped get us into better field position, but we eventually had to punt. Washington returned the punt to Seattle's 21, 5:06 left. They ran off 4 straight running plays (for +4, +9, + 2 and +5) before and incompletion forced Ryan to punt from his own 41. No gain on the return. Ball on the Cardinal 17 with 2:17 left in regulation. One-Two-Three-Punt! (Yech!!!) Punt was returned to the Seahawk 28 with 1:46 left (not good).  They picked up a quick 21-yards on a short pass and a run before Holiday (who had a huge second half stepping in for injured Calais Campbell) brought down Lynch for a key minus-one yard loss to set up an eventual situation where Ryan had to punt from the Cardinal 49. Punt was fair caught by Peterson at the 9 and Skelton took a knee to end regulation. Score at End of Regulation: Cardinals 20 - Seahawks 20.

• Seattle won the toss. Washington returned the KO all the way to the Seattle 40. (Uh oh!) But D Washington stuffed Lynch for minus-one and Jackson threw 2 consecutive incompletions to force a Ryan punt. Peterson was able to return it 4 yards to the Cardinal 19. Much of the remainder of the series might be more aptly termed: "The Larry Fitzgerald Festival of Highlights." On the 3rd play from scrimmage, Skelton hit Fitz (who made an impossible grab to pick up 26-yards. Next critical moment was on 4th & 1 at the Seahawk 39 where Wiz decided to "go for it" by dialing up Skelton on a QB sneak (showing faith in his QB if Skelton makes it and faith in his defense if he doesn't). He made it.

• Skelton hit Fitz for +12 and then it was The Howler for +8, +7 and a minus-1 (with yours truly screaming: "Don't screw around anymore - kick it!") to set up Jay Feely's 28-yard game-winner. Final Score in OT -  Cardinals 23 - Seahawks 20.

Last Word:
We won again in OT. We played hard for 66½ minutes in our final game to reach 8 & 8. Both players and team set a bunch of records and it seemed to me that the team played an exciting brand of football (especially on defense and special teams) featuring big plays at big times in big games. I will always have a warm spot in my heart for the 2011 Cardinals because sometimes the way a team plays is a bigger deal than its W & L record. This team was special.