Coming into this NFL Week 5 game against the winless Minnesota Vikings, the Arizona Cardinals could at least claim they were close in all three of their losses. They didn't get blown out and in fact had late leads and easily could have won several of those games. At 1-3, there was still reason to find positives and feel hopeful.
After this Sunday's butt-kicking in Minnesota, however, there is no such feelings. The Cardinals got absolutely shelled and never looked like they had a chance against a team that got beat by Kansas City last week.
Last season we saw Arizona lose faith and confidence and fold up the tent around this point. It will be interesting to see how the team responds this year.
Up next is a bye week followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at home on October 23. That may not be a winnable game per se, but the Cardinals absolutely need to at least show up.
After an absolutely miserable first half that put them in a 28-3 hole, they came out and had a bit of life against a Minnesota team that's blown second half leads three times. They forced a fumble and then went 59 yards for a touchdown to "cut" the lead to within 18.
From there, however, it was back to going nowhere, fast.
Minnesota marched 82 yards down the field and put up three more points. On their next three offensive possessions the Cardinals turned the ball over on downs twice and were intercepted once.
The Vikings defense knew the Cardinals had to throw the ball which helped their pass rush pressure Kolb and the secondary to key on the receivers. Game over.
This is the third-straight game that Kevin Kolb has struggled reading pressure, making decisions, and finding open receivers quickly. He might have the right attitude and desire to be a great quarterback. We'll see if he has the right skill set.
The Vikings put up 332 yards with Adrian Peterson running for 122 of them on 29 carries. He had three touch downs, all in the first half.
Kolb went 21-42 for 232 yards. He took four sacks for 40 negative yards and was intercepted twice. Bean Wells ran for 60 yards on 20 carries against the NFL's fifth-best rush defense.
For more on this game and the Cardinals disappointing season, visit Revenge of the Birds.