The Tale of Two Halves

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a tale of two halves. It ended one controversy and started another. It was as exciting to watch as it was horrifying. It gave us a future star. It left a million questions in our mind. What exactly happened in last night's Cardinals game? The Bad The third pre-season game is the most important of the pre-season games and the only one we can put any sort of stock in. This is because starters usually play the entire first half. Well if we learned anything from the first half last night it's that we should be worried about the Cardinals. They played with a lack of effort, a lack of focus and a sense of entitlement. Gone was the passion and anger that led the team to the Super Bowl last year. Gone was the physicality that came with that passion and anger. In its place was lethargic play. If the Cardinals play with this sense of entitlement, with a sense of complacency that was created by last year's run, they are going to crash and burn this year. Going in to 2009 it was the biggest fear of the head coach, the media and the fan base. That fear was heightened to an extreme last night. The local media is going to throw a **** storm this week. The Cardinals didn't play with effort or focus. They had 15 penalties, fumbled the ball seven times and dropped numerous passes. They were down 38-10 at halftime. Their defense was shredded. The Packers first team offense moved through them like a hot knife through butter. This is not an effort to defend the Cardinals play last night, but the Packers are damn good. They had a terrible run of luck last year that caused them to miss the playoffs. Their first team offense hasn't punted this pre-season. They have a good QB, a great group of receivers, a solid offensive line and Ryan Grant to carry the load in the running game. It was their defense, however, that impressed the most. It flew around the field and it was physical. Any receiver that went over the middle was absolutely hammered. This looks like a Super Bowl team. The Good Let's put that back up QB controversy to rest, Matt Leinart won it last night. He threw for 360 yards in the 2nd half and if Early Doucet doesn't drop a perfectly thrown fade pass on a two-point conversion, Leinart would have led the Cardinals back from their 28 point halftime deficit. He showed a pocket presence that had rarely been seen from him. Countless times he avoided the pass rush or stepped up in the pocket to deliver a throw. Not all of Leinart's throws were completely accurate, but all those Cardinal receivers fighting for a job made a lot of impressive catches in the 2nd half. Onrea Jones made a tough touchdown catch that made one wonder if Anquan Boldin and changed numbers. Leinart made plays all over the field leading the Cardinals back. Perhaps it was against a 2nd string defense, but Leinart looked damn good out there. Brian St. Pierre doesn't have the capabilities to lead that comeback. That should be enough to end the competition for the #2 QB job. Finally, we finally saw Beanie Wells. He looked like everything Cardinals fans hoped he would be. After the game he said he still wasn't 100%, which is scary considering how good he looked. He ran with power and speed. He made all the right cuts and made defenders miss. Tim Hightower looked good to, but he now faces serious competition from Beanie. Hightower runs with extreme determination, but Beanie Wells is at a talent level Hightower will never be able to get to. His 20 yard TD run in the 2nd half is a run that Tim Hightower would never have been able to make. Beanie Wells looks like the most physically gifted running back the Cardinals have had in their years in Arizona. If Hightower starts the year at RB, which is probably the right move, then Beanie becomes one hell of a change of pace back. The Cardinals look just fine at that position.We won't have our questions answered until the season starts on September 13th because the 4th pre-season game means absolutely nothing. Until then whether you focus on the good or bad last night depends on if you're a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person.