Necessary Roughness, Week 14: Cowboys and Cardinals Back on Track
Great news, guys! My Carolina Panthers are back on track. After an abysmal and downright depressing eight-week stretch, the ship has been righted and a Super Bowl championship is once again a mathematical possibility. I’ll admit, I had lost faith in my beloved team’s ability to play an even remotely competitive game ever again. They couldn’t stop anyone on defense, and couldn’t score a touchdown to save their lives. But man, I’m on cloud nine right now. The Panthers went down to New Orleans Sunday and opened up a massive can of whoopass on the stankin’ ass Saints. I hate the stankin’ ass Saints. That was just the win we needed to get this thing moving in the right direction. The defense was dominant, and the offense looked, for once, like a group of professional football players. I’m making a bold prediction here: The Panthers are going to host a playoff game. And they are going to win that game. To cut to the chase, the Carolina Panthers are going to Arizona for the Super Bowl and they are going to win it. Do I really believe all of this? No. But I have to at least pretend. That’s what loyal fans do. Go Panthers!
Aside from the excitement of Carolina actually winning a damn game for once, there was plenty of other interesting action this week. Upsets, nailbiters, blowouts, Week 14 had it all. What was perhaps most compelling to me was seeing teams like the Cowboys and the Cardinals, who were both starting to have a case of the late-season hiccups, get big wins that may have salvaged their playoff hopes. I really can’t stand the Cowboys, and I’m on record many times as saying that. But I’ve got to give them credit. They are hanging in there. Going into Soldier Field on Thursday night knowing that you have to win is no easy task. Granted, the Bears are horrible and Marc Trestman will likely be given the boot after this year, but that was still an impressive win for Dallas. Tony Romo was extremely efficient and did not turn the ball over, and Demarco Murray continued his torrid pace by having damn near 200 yards rushing. Thanks to the bafflingly bad NFC South, somebody in the NFC East is going to have an 11-win season and miss the playoffs. I hope that team is Dallas, but kudos to them for a big win this past week.
I thought the Cardinals were dead in the water, y’all. Being in a tough division and having the number of injuries they’ve had, I really felt like their miracle season was in dire straits coming into Week 14. And I thought the Chiefs would come into town and make short work of a banged up Arizona team. But nope, not the case. Bruce Arians once again proved why he is a no-brainer for coach of the year, and the Cards squeaked out a big win; it wasn’t pretty, but Arizona did just enough, and that’s all you have to do this time of year. I still have my doubts that this team can keep up, but I’m rooting for them. They are the best story in the 2014-15 season.
That’s all I have time for this week, folks. I’ve got a whole mess of leaves in the backyard that ain’t gonna rake themselves. I hope y’all had a nice weekend. I’ll leave you with this: The Redskins are just awful. I mean, wow. Blown out by the Rams at home? Really?
