Cardinals still have control of their fate?
The idea that a person or other entity “controls its own destiny” can prompt intense philosophical debate that goes as deep as the minds of those involved can dig.
If something is predetermined, then how does anyone control it?
But this is a column about football written by a simple-minded sportswriter (redundant?). So I’ll try to stay within myself.
After their 24-21 loss to the Eagles last Sunday, a few members of the Cardinals, including coach Bruce Arians, noted that they still had control of destiny’s joystick.
They didn’t explain how this was possible, given that at 7-5, the Cardinals are the eighth-ranked team in the NFC. Six go to the playoffs. The fifth team, Carolina, has a two-game lead on the Cardinals. The sixth team, San Francisco, is one game better and beat the Cardinals earlier this season.
The Cardinals could be tied with the 49ers when they play in the final game of the season, but the 49ers
have a better record in the division and in the NFC, two of the tiebreakers used to decide playoff berths.
So whether they care to admit it or not, the Cardinals need help to make the playoffs.
That might not have been the case had they beaten the Eagles. At 8-4, the Cardinals would have been tied with the 49ers and had the advantage in tiebreakers over the Eagles, Panthers and Lions because they beat those teams.
Maybe what the Cardinals meant about controlling their own destiny is that winning the final four games would make them 11-5. And in the history of 16-game seasons, only two 11-5 teams, the 1985 Broncos and 2008 Patriots, failed to make the postseason.
Even the most optimistic of Cardinals fans would need a high-grade fever to imagine their team winning the final four games.
Three of those games, including Sunday against the Rams, are against NFC West foes. And the Cardinals haven’t won an NFC West game since beating the Seahawks to open the 2012 season.
That’s eight consecutive losses. In those defeats, there have been consistent themes.
First, the Cardinals turned the ball over a lot: 24 total, an average of three per game.
Their opponents committed only nine.
Second, the Cardinals quarterbacks have been under considerable pressure. They were sacked 32 times in those eight games. Opposing quarterbacks went down14 times.
So far, the Cardinals haven’t shown us they have moved past those problems.
The Rams, Seahawks and 49ers are among the NFL’s better teams at pressuring quarterbacks. As we saw last week in Philadelphia, the Cardinals still have issues protecting Carson Palmer.
In a 27-24 loss to the Rams in Week 1, Palmer was sacked four times. Defensive end Robert Quinn had three of those, which led the Cardinals to trade left tackle Levi Brown three weeks later.
Brown’s replacement, Bradley Sowell, has been no better. Don’t blame Sowell for that. He’s getting extended playing time for the first time in his career.
That career, by the way, started a year ago when he entered the league as a rookie free agent out of Mississippi. The Colts cut him this year after training camp.
Know how many other starting NFL left tackles entered the league as rookie free agents?
One, Donald Penn of the Buccaneers.
There is a reason for that. It’s a difficult position to play, requiring, as Liam Neeson’s character says in the movie “Taken,” a “very particular set of skills.” Quickness. Long arms. Agility. Confidence.
This doesn’t mean there is no hope for the Cardinals. After all, how many of us saw them going undefeated from late October through November?
A Mini Cooper could accommodate those who watched this team in August and cleared their weekend schedules in January.
Destiny, if the concept even exists, is not in the Cardinals’ hands, but continued progress is.
Protect the quarterback from accomplished pass rushers. Don’t underthrow open receivers. Prevent opposing tight ends from being fantasy league stars.
Win a division game or two and finish above .500. That’s a pretty good destination, too.