Thoughts following Cardinals 17-3 loss in St. Louis

The run to 16-0 is over.

Kevin Kolb and the Cardinals ran into a buzz saw called the St. Louis Rams and their defense.

The Cardinals offensive line was destroyed by the Rams defense, giving up nine sacks, as they fell to the Rams 17-3.

Arizona is now 4-1, while St. Louis is 3-2, and over .500 for the first time since 2006.

If you want a game summary, here it goes:

The running game struggled yet again (45 yards total), forcing Kolb to throw the ball 50 times, with zero touchdowns. You cannot allow Kolb to throw the ball that many times, but he has to considering how ineffective the running game was.

As stated earlier, the offensive line was gashed all night long, and Kolb suffered because of it, being literally bloodied as a result. Kolb’s been sacked 17 times over the past five days. He won’t last another game if this trend continues.

Sam Bradford’s numbers weren’t stunning (7-21, 141 yards, one interception), but the two touchdowns he threw would be all the Rams would need to win the game.

Despite Bradford’s numbers, the Rams offensive line kept him upright for a great majority of the game. He was sacked just once on Thursday night, compared to his counterpart.

When the Cardinals got in the red zone, they didn’t capitalize, going 0-3. You’ve gotta punch it in when you get down there, and Arizona didn’t, which led to their downfall.

The Cardinals held the ball almost 10 minutes longer than the Rams, but that didn’t matter. If your quarterback is being massacred all night long and you don’t score when the opportunities are presented to you, you can hold the ball for a half-hour longer than your opponent and still lose.

Arizona ran 21 more plays on offense than St. Louis did. How do I continue this? Read No. 6, because it’s a near carbon copy.

It was just a horrible night for the Cardinals, leaving them with many questions to answer over the next 10 days, especially with such a poor effort from their offensive line and their running game yet again.