I think I am finally now recovered from the roller coaster that was that last minute.
This defense is coming around nicely. I am shocked they were able to strip that ball, as I expected a knee down to take the clock down then force a long drive with 15-20 seconds and no time outs left after a punt. Chandler Jones is looking like a stud. Two weeks a lot of havoc caused, another forced fumble and might be on his way to DROY honors.
The offense looked slow to adjust after AH's injury. Plus I am trying to figure out what is going on with Welker and him being benched, he doesn't look hurt, maybe he is practicing bad, which was mentioned today in post game the offense was not practicing well. I think also the Cards defense is a lot better than we thought they were. And that last drive IMO was the antithesis of what we used to do after the called back TD and the false start. We got conservative, despite having the Cardinals on the ropes, and instead of going to get a few yards to make it easier, we basically took our chances on a FG which maybe was a 70% chance of success, not cracking on Ghost, but its not a chip shot and getting another short pass or even a slant to Gronk and getting another 8-10 yards would have helped the cause. I felt we didn't go for the kill shot and was worried about a sack or worse, another call, or the playing to lose that we expect other coaches to do.
On the holding call that cost us the TD, and my take on the refs as a whole, all anybody wants is consistency. I saw in most of the first half Chandler Jones held and only one flag. We saw many times the Cards hold our wideouts, including one when Peterson grabbed Lloyd's jersey where even Helen Keller could see that. We know in sports usually the later (and usually tighter) a game is the more inclined the refs are to let little things go. But to make that call when other calls were allowed was unbelievable. Its not just this game, I have seen awful calls in a lot of other games today, and I don't think it is going to improve, I think it might get worse as players push the limits and force these refs to make calls, and eventually will blow a game or two where a team will lose a playoff spot, a coach could lose his job, or worse, a player or players are injured because these guys can't control the players. Rat Birds/Eagles was chippy, imagine when it is Rat Birds/Steelers, that could be real ugly. For a league wanting player safety, having minor league refs is not the best step.
All in all today was ugly, and I would have taken an ugly win over this gut punch of a loss, but historically speaking, we always have had losses we shake our head at. And Arizona looking at them is not a bad team on defense, a lot better than I thought. On to next week and a Ravens team coming off of a loss and wanting payback after the way their season ended last year.
