Painful but True

In between my tears, I read this. He feels my pain.

My Faith is Shaken

How can they be this bad?

We all heard about Oliver Ross and how he would energize the offensive line, but between him and Davis, the main thing they energized was the market for flags. Surely they wore out the officials' pockets yesterday.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The Cards have given up touchdowns on the opening drives of each game this year. And not because the other team got lucky. The defense was decimated each time. Is this the same defense we saw last year? Clearly it isn't.

So what do you get when you combine a porous defense, an offense that seems incapable of scoring touchdowns and a whole pile of penalties? You get 0-3. Coming into this season, San Francisco was the consensus pick as worst team in football. Sunday night (boy, how happy is ESPN to have this game?), the 49ers will probably be heavy favorites.

Maybe I should learn to love hockey.

The End of Depression

I have dreaded this for some time. Another post after another disappointing performance. As I left Sun Devil Stadium, dazed as a result of the surreal end to an exciting final drive, I started visualizing the future.

Monday, I would come to work to hear my coworkers laugh at me for being a Cardinal fan. Then Brian would come in and find new ways to make fun of my devotion. I seriously considered calling in sick.

So here it is, Thursday, and life is not yet over. I enter yet another NFL weekend fully expecting the turnaround that I know is coming. Seattle is in for quite the surprise. And when Dallas and Tennessee also win, we'll get the humor of noting that all the teams in the NFC West are 1-2. So be it. Go Cards!

Okay, I Was Off a Little

So my 15-1 prediction did include the expected win over the Giants, so I guess I'll have to modify my prediction to 14-2.

Boy was that depressing. As halftime approached, I was giddy. With the Cards dominating in all phases of the game, victory was just a matter of not letting up their guard. Even after giving up a drive to start the second half, I rationalized it as being equivalent to the drive at the start of the game.

And when the team responded to the second score in the quarter with the Fitzgerald TD, I was calm again. Then the wheels came off. My only solace is knowing that only San Francisco managed to win among the teams in the division. The season now begins on 9/18.

Already Someone Who Agrees with Me

I bring you the Houston Chronicle and Norman Chad with his prediction for the 2005 season, "He (Kurt Warner) and his earthly Cardinals teammates are destined for Super Bowl 40 in Detroit."

Uh, Coach Slouch, for the record, I bought my ticket to win on 8/22/05, but I appreciate someone who agrees.

If they can do it, so can I

Since every sports pundit in the country has taken the time to inform us of how this season will end up, I have decided to do the same. So, on to my dubious, at best, predictions.

NFC West

It should come as no surprise to anyone who can read the name of my blog how I pick this division to end up. What may surprise some is that I think that this will be a surprisingly powerful division this year. While I respect the Rams offense, the overall balance in Seattle should provide them with a wild card entry into the post season.
Cardinals (15-1)
Seahawks (10-6)
Rams (8-8)
49ers (1-15)

NFC North

While I would love to see Favre wind down his career on a high note, I have little confidence in his team. The Vikings look tough, though I don't think a Mike Tice led team will ever be truly great.
Vikings (13-3)
Packers (6-10)
Lions (4-12)
Bears (3-13)

NFC South

Here is the other tough NFC division. While I like the Falcons, they sure have a rough schedule compared to the Panthers.
Panthers (12-4)
Falcons (10-6)
Buccaneers (8-8)
Saints (4-12)

NFC East

Yet another weak year for the East. I don't see Philadelphia being as dominant as last year, but with little competition in this division, they'll have a better record than they deserve.
Eagles (12-4)
Cowboys (9-7)
Giants (6-10)
Redskins (4-12)

AFC West

The AFC, once again, appears to be tougher than the NFC. As a result, teams that otherwise would have made it to the post season will be stopped due to the volume of quality in this conference. And the West will be the toughest division of them all.
Chiefs (14-2)
Chargers (10-6)
Raiders (7-9)
Broncos (7-9)

AFC North

This division will come back to earth after last year's stellar showing by Pittsburgh. I still expect greatness from them, but Ben could not have two consecutive lucky streaks.
Steelers (12-4)
Ravens (10-6)
Bengals (6-10)
Browns (5-11)

AFC South

And now for the obvious choice of the list: who will win this division?
Colts (14-2)
Jaguars (11-5)
Titans (8-8)
Texans (3-13)

AFC East

And now for the weakest division in football. Not only do I expect a weak showing from the defending champs, but the division around them will be awful. Expect a cake walk for the Patriots, at least until playoff games begin.
Patriots (11-5)
Jets (8-8)
Bills (3-13)
Dolphins (2-14)

As I've already stated before, I've already placed my bet on the Cardinals to win Super Bowl XL (over the Colts, in case you're curious). I look forward to seeing how stupid I was in very short order.

Enough of the Practice Games

So I forgot to bring my camera to work last Friday. I remembered my ticket. So when I picked up my father to go to the game, I borrowed his (also a 5 MP model, but with a bit less configuration ability). Curiously, while all of my photos have 0.07 fewer MP, his averaged 0.9 MB per photo while mine averaged 2.9 MB per photo. I have no idea why. But on to the meager photos.

First, we have an action shot (the only one that was even remotely usable).

But there came a point where I decided that the only people doing their jobs properly were the cheerleaders, so I got a fuzzy image of them.

Sure hope next week goes better.