There really was not anything good at all about the Arizona Cardinals' 41-10 loss to the San Diego Chargers, so we'll just do ten bad things this week.
1. Derek Anderson had an absolutely puke-worthy performance. Before being yanked late in the second quarter, he was 7-for-14 for 64 yards, nary a touchdown, and two interceptions (one of which led to a touchdown drive, and the other led directly to a pick-six). The offense couldn't do anything with him under center and he overthrew what would have been an easy touchdown pass to a wide open Stephen Williams.
2. The offensive line was looser than a veteran prostitute. They didn't do much to help the run game, but even worse, they allowed nine sacks. Anderson took three of those and replacement Max Hall took six. Now, some of those could have been prevented by some savvy QB play, but still, you have to give your QB time to operate without having to immediately worry about scrambling out of the pocket.
3. After teasing the fans last week with 75 yards on 14 carries, Beanie Wells was largely ineffective, rushing for only 19 yards on five carries. Tim Hightower didn't do much, either, going for 24 on seven. Obviously, with only 14 total rush attempts, the run game was not a heavy emphasis after falling behind big early in the game.
4. A lot of people have been clamoring for Max Hall to get the opportunity to play (I'm included here), and while he did okay throwing the ball (8-for-14 for 82 yards and no interceptions), he showed a disappointing lack of pocket awareness. He was sacked six times and a good number of those could have been prevented if he'd had any sense of the blitz and scrambled a little. One of those instances was a blindside sack he never saw coming that popped the ball loose for the Chargers to recover.
5. Stephen Williams has been largely disappointing during the regular season. He was everyone's preseason darling and easily made the roster, but he's disappeared since then. In four games, he's been targeted 18 times for only six receptions and 69 total yards, with no touchdowns. Starting this week in lieu of the injured Steve Breaston, he caught three of the eight passes he was thrown for 32 yards. Some of them were, of course, off target, but he also has had a case of the dropsies.
6. Nobody could cover Antonio Gates. He destroyed the Cardinals secondary to the tune of 144 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions.
7. Nobody could stop third-string running back Mike Tolbert, who ran for 100 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. That's two third-string runners (the second being Atlanta's Jason Snelling) who've destroyed the Cards defensive front seven at the line of scrimmage.
8. Is there a bigger disappointment this season than that front seven? All of them have been largely ineffective. Joey Porter's looked his age. Darnell Dockett's fat and happy from his new contract. Dan Williams is just fat. Calais Campbell only has one sack through four games. Daryl Washington's a developing rook. Clark Haggans has been okay, but he's not a supposed "star" like the many of them. Paris Lenon is the only one who's been consistently productive and he was an afterthought free agent acquisition.
9. The defense as a whole has been a giant boiling stew of poop, puke, pus, and other unpleasant bodily excrements. In the two losses, they've allowed exactly 41 points a game and 437.5 yards of total offense a game. That's mind-blowingly bad. It can't be long before defensive coordinator Billy Davis hits the food stamps unless things change drastically. The defense is far too talented to be this god awful.
10. Yes, the team is still 2-2 and in a three-way tie atop the mediocre NFC West. But things need to change. Or maybe not. Depends on if the Cardinals really think Max Hall is the future. If not, maybe a high first round draft pick is an excellent way to secure an Andrew Luck or Ryan Mallett.