Three Dots Thoughts from the Cardinals in their 24-22 loss to St. Louis on Sunday…
Carson Palmer didn’t have his best day, but the Rams defense was part of the problem. Give the Rams credit, they were able to pressure Palmer at times, but his final two passes after the two-minute warning weren’t his best. Two overthrows, to Jaron Brown and David Johnson. Those are two throws that he should make. The stat sheet will show Palmer threw for 352 yards, but he only averaged 7.7 yards per reception. The Cardinals weren’t able to get the deep ball game going…
After showing flashes of greatness in the first couple four games, rookie David Johnson had a couple of major mistakes. Fumbling the opening kickoff led to a St. Louis touchdown. He also dropped what appeared to be a certain touchdown pass in the first quarter. To his credit, he worked through adversity and was able to find the end zone late to make it a two point game…
The Cardinals red zone offense wasn’t effective Sunday. The coverage of the Rams was very, very good. Their defense was lights out against the Cardinals offense, which could only muster field goals until a late touchdown. Before Sundays loss, the Cardinals were able to find the end zone in their first three games, but Sunday was a different case…
St. Louis has more than just a good defense. The Rams had major contributions from wide receiver Tavon Austin and rookie running back Todd Gurley. The two combined for 240 yards of offense and two touchdowns. The Rams had five trips inside the red zone against the Cardinals defense and were able to capitalize…
That was big-boy football. The Rams and Cardinals were very physical. Big hits were the order of the day…
So they won’t go undefeated. The Cardinals will play at Detroit next Sunday morning and then spend the week back east before playing at Pittsburgh on October 18th…
