Glendale, Arizona was buzzing. This time around it wasn't a sea of Black and Silver. It was Cardinals fans out and about. Sure there was some salt and pepper in the crowd but for the Cardinals this is looking like a franchise that found it's fan base.
From start to finish this game was in my opinion the best game of the week. Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling #36 returned the opening kick-off for 102 yards. This looked like it maybe a blow out. Oakland with the new starting quarterback Bruce Gradkowski, answered back. Gradkowski moved the ball with precision and nailed Zack Miller in the end zone. Gradkowski ended the day 17 of 34 for 255 yards and a touchdown with an interception. Then both teams found it hard to move the ball. Janikowski kicked a 22 and a 54 yard field goal. Meanwhile, Feely kicked a 42 yard field goal. 13 - 10 end of the first quarter. Good Game so far...right?
In the second quarter, Dereck Anderson found Steve Breaston in the end zone. Derek Anderson went 12 - 26 for 122 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Raiders sent Darren McFadden into the endzone. He ended the day with 25 rushes for 105 yards and one touchdown.
In the third quarter, Derek Anderson found Fitzgerald in the end zone to go up on the Raiders by 4.
The fourth quarter Janikowski kicked a 23 yard field goal.
End of the game was 23 -24 Cardinals. Sounds like an exciting game right. Not even. This game was riddled with bad plays, penalties, poor decision making and just bad calls. Janikowski who is maybe one of the greatest kickers of all time missed 3 kicks (32, 41, 58). All of which all well within his range. Oakland had 11 penalties for 123 yards while the Cardinals had 7 for 104 yards. The Raiders looked terrible. Sending out the wrong players at for the wrong calls. The Raiders and the Cardinals play calling was poor to say the least. Come on Derek Anderson had only 122 yards. This was a sloppy game.
Janikowski had several chances to win the game but then again so did everyone on both teams. This was definitely not Janikowski's issue this was a team issue and the Raiders should of had another win, several different ways.
In the end, both teams need to make some major improvements.
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