>Quick Hits - Panthers throw away their season to Arizona
The dream is still alive for the Arizona Cardinals.
For a second straight week, the Cardinals played dominant defense and used their big play offense to crush an NFC South opponent, this time on the road against the vaunted Carolina Panthers.
Prior to tonight’s victory, Arizona was 0-5 in games on the east coast, but the Cardinals cruised to an easy victory in this one, racking up five interceptions and one fumble recovery en route to 33-13 win.
Panthers QB Jake Delhomme played one of the worst games of his career, on his 34th birthday to boot, and was responsible for all six turnovers, two of which came deep in Cardinals territory. Arizona once again was able to shut down a strong running attack, limiting Panthers RBs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to just 75 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown.
This has to be a bitter pill for the Panthers to swallow, after they put together a fantastic season, only to spoil it completely by laying an egg at home against an opponent that on paper was clearly inferior. This could also open the door for speculation on Carolina head coach John Fox’s future with the club, although the team will likely leave well enough alone on that front given Fox’s popularity in the locker room.
Now it’s on to TV watching for the Cardinals, hoping against hope that the Philadelphia Eagles can find a way to win on the road against their longtime division rival in New York, as Arizona would then host the NFC Championship game next week. Much like Baltimore, the Cardinals are a team that no one in the NFC wants to play right now, and could pose a significant threat next week to the victor of the Eagles-Giants showdown.