Arizona Cardinals Drop Fifth Straight -- Thanks to Stupid Penalties, Awful Defense, and the $63 Million-Dollar Man, Kevin Kolb

Categories: Sports
kevin kolb.jpg
www.zimbio.com
Kevin Kolb claims he's starting to settle in to the Cardinals' offense. Coulda fooled us...
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Mike Wallace is friggin' fast -- as the Arizona Cardinals learned the hard way in yesterdays 32-20 loss to "Big Ben" Roethlisberger's boys at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Cards are now 1-5 after getting stomped by the Steelers for their fifth straight loss, and are now in the basement of the NFC West.

Kevin Kolb sucked. The Cards' defense sucked -- and the Red Birds couldn't seem to go a set of downs without committing some sort of dumbass penalty.

The Steelers jumped to a quick lead after Kolb threw an interception to Steelers safety Ryan Clark, which setup a 12-yard Pittsburgh touchdown pass to Heath Miller about five minutes into the first quarter.

Up 7-0 in the second quarter, Wallace showed off his wheels with a 95-yard touchdown reception, which is the longest touchdown pass in Steelers history.

"We knew that was coming," Cards' coach Ken Whisenhunt said of Wallace's wheels after the game. "We did everything we could to work to prevent that."

The Cards put the game within 7 with a 1-yard Alfonso Smith touchdown run with about a minute left in the first half.

Arizona then had a chance to get the ball back and possibly tie the game going into halftime. However, a series of idiotic penalties left the ball in the hands of the Steelers, which led to a 41-yard field goal.

On third and 10 with about a minute to play in the half, Roethlisberger threw an incomplete pass -- but not before Arizona cornerback Richard Marshall was flagged for defensive holding, giving the ball back to the Pittsburgh offense with a fresh set of downs.

Soon after, with the Steelers at the 50-yardline, Cards cornerback Patrick Peterson was called for pass interference and the Steelers were given the ball at the Cards' 36-yardline, which set up the Pittsburgh field goal.

Down 17-7 in the third quarter, Kolb completed a 73-yard touchdown pass to LaRod Stephens-Howling -- one of two touchdown passes for Kolb on the day. The other was a 2-yard lob to Early Doucet with about three minutes to go in the game.

Kolb may have completed two touchdown passes, but he could have potentially thrown for three or four -- if he could hit his receivers.

The most egregious of Kolb's misses was what would have been a certain touchdown pass to streaking tight end Rob Housler in the second quarter.

"We have to be able to make those plays," Whisenhunt says. "Everybody wants to point to one thing, but we have had a number of situations where we have had chances to make plays, and we are not getting it done."

In addition to Kolb's inability to hit open receivers, he was called for intentional grounding while in the Cards' end zone, resulting in a safety, and should have been picked off a second time if Steelers safety Troy Polamalu had hung onto the ball when Kolb hit him right in the hands.

The Cards defense shares the blame for the loss with its complete inability to stop the Steelers when it actually mattered.

In all, the Steelers amassed 445 yards, 354 of which were in the air.

The Cards also tallied nine penalties for 74 yards -- many of which came at crucial points in the game.

The Cardinals will now play four of their next five games on the road, which isn't encouraging considering they've lost their past 10 road games.

The Cardinals head to Baltimore to face the Ravens next Sunday. For more info click here.

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