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When you lose by a franchise-record 58 points, it's pretty easy to find some negatives to talk about. The difficult part is limiting the negatives to just five, which is what Revenge of the Birds writer Tyler Nickel attempted to do when analyzing the Cardinals' ninth-straight loss.
Among Arizona failures, in his opinion, was Patrick Peterson's special teams woes (two muffed punts), an inability to get Larry Fitzgerald the ball yet again (one catch for two yards) and John Skelton's overall play (11-for-22, 74 yards, five total turnovers). But the analysis that really stuck was Nickel's view of the Cardinals' perceived "lack of desire." Here's what he had to say about a team that seemed to simply roll over and die:
"The Cardinals just truly never looked engaged at any point during the game. The tackling was horrible, their pursuit to the ball carrier was lazy and the team looked lackadaisical. It appears that the defense has finally followed suit with the offense and has officially given up on the season. Maybe the coaching staff has, too. Regardless, changes need to be made. Better now than later."
One of the potential changes that Nickel is likely talking about is the firing of head coach Ken Whisenhunt. With only three games left in a lost season, it's possible that they'll just let Whisenhunt finish out the year. But with GM Rod Graves' neck also on the line, there's always a chance that he lets the most successful coach in franchise history go to direct the blame somewhere else.
For more Cardinals coverage, head on over to Revenge of the Birds.