Desert Debacle

The offensive coordinators for both the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Cardinals were both fired yesterday as a result of the teams poor performances. Under the desert sky on Monday night in front of a national audience and a sold-out crowd, the Cardinals turned a 20-0 halftime lead against the Bears into a 24-23 come-from-ahead meltdown:

Arizona entered the season with high expectations. The Cardinals acquired running back Edgerrin James, drafted quarterback Matt Leinart and moved into an ultramodern stadium.

But the Cardinals appear jinxed. Their streak of seven consecutive losing seasons is the longest in the National Football League, and Monday’s loss was a debacle, even by Cardinals standards. This is Green’s third season in Arizona. He is coming off 6-10 and 5-11 seasons.

Green stared grimly from the sideline as the Cardinals blew a 20-point second-half lead without their defense giving up a touchdown. The Bears recovered two fumbles and returned them for scores, and Devin Hester scored the game-winning touchdown on an 83-yard punt return.

Debacle indeed. I read with interest an email exchange between former Fantasy football colleagues about the game yesterday morning. There were no words to describe the numb sensation of the morning-after. But there were plenty of criticisms--and very few of them about fired OC Keith Rowen.

Most of the ire was directed at HC Denny Green who continues to be less-than-impressive as the man-in-charge. How did he get such a good reputation in Minnesota?

Perhaps the Cards really are the Clippers of the NFL...there's just something that happens to otherwise good people when they join the organization. Whatever the cause, the result is pure ugly.