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[ Watch The Birdie II, Revenge Of The Feathery Thing (Page 10) ] Week 10 – Arizona Cardinals (6-2) @ Dallas Cowboys (6-2)
Strengths
Weaknesses
Game Plan On defence, we've got the problem of simultaneously facing a running-back who more or less demands that we stack the line, and receivers who mean my corners will like as not need help deep. Hmm. Again, it's going to be a bit of a guessing-game. I'm just going to have to try and anticipate when Parcels-In-The-Witness-Protection-Scheme is going to take his shots deep, and call the plays accordingly. Bottom line, this is going to come down to which of the two of us manages to outsmart the other. "Insert your own punchline here." Oh, do bugger off, there's a good chap. - So, we're past the halfway point, and this is where things start to get serious. There's every chance that the Cowboys will be one of the teams we're duking it out with for a wild-card berth come the end of the season, so a win here would come in very handy, thanks. In other news, in initial voting for this year's Pro Bowl there are no fewer than six Cardinals currently in the running to make the NFC roster - and even more shocking, two of them actually play defence! Jeff Blake is currently installed as the team's second quarterback behind Marc Bulger, and keeping him company may be the NFC's leading rusher, Marcel Shipp (starting HB), Bryant Johnson (4th WR) and Leonard Davis (backup RG). Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the excellent performances of Levar Fisher (backup ROLB) and Dexter Jackson (backup FS) over the first half of the season are recognised. It's a packed house at Texas stadium, and initially the fans have plenty to cheer about when it's the Men In White who score first, getting the ball into Troy Hambrick's hands on a screen-pass that sees a big fat halfback matched up against skinny little corners. As the sound of bones crunching underfoot dies down, it's ARI 0-7 DAL Almost the whole rest of the first half belongs to us by default, however - we're not exactly at our most fluent and dominating, but Dallas can't get frigging anything going and that's all the foothold we need. Travis Minor scores first to level the game up, exploiting space created by Anquan and Macca's deep threat, and by the time there's a minute to go in the half we've added two more field goals to make the score ARI 13-7 DAL Ah. This'll be where that bit about us controlling almost the rest of the half kicks in, won't it? Troy bloody Hambrick. Four broken bloody tackles. Forty-four bloody yards. Half bloody time trailing by one bloody point. ARI 13-14 DAL - The second half starts in the same thrilling, flowing style as was in evidence for most of the first couple of quarters, with just one first down shared between each team's opening possession. Dallas punt away, high and into the breeze which hangs the ball up and drifts it toward the left sideline, Terry Fair scrambling across to bring it in, but with a couple of Cowboys for company. The idiot needs to call for the sodding fair catch, but he doesn't, and a split-second after he's snagged the kick he's hit hard by corner Pete Hunter, a tackle that's got "Forced Fumble" written all over it. Hang on, he's still got the ball... Hang on, he's still on his feet... Hang on, he's just shot through the tiny gap between Al Singleton and the sideline... Hang on, he's gone! In the spirit of the Immutable Law Of Football known as Take One 'Till The Fourth, we send old Whatshisname in to slot the singleton and we're back in front - ARI 20-14 DAL We're having to play the second half without star safety and rock of the defence Adrian Wilson after he picked up a knock late in the second quarter, and the Cowboys announce their intention to come after our weakened secondary with a big 3rd down conversion to their tight end over the head of backup safety Quentin Harris. Nuts. It's only a matter of time, and it's rookie wideout Melvin (no, seriously) Carter who puts Dallas back in front on an 11-yard catch. Nuts. We end the third quarter with a field-goal drive that features a lot of Marcel Shipp and not much of anyone else, but this looks destined to go down to the wire and the Cowboys restore their 1-point advantage going into the last ten minutes of the game with a trey of their own, making the score ARI 23-24 DAL
Terry Fair, having one of his best days as a Cardinal, brings the ensuing kickoff out to the Cowboy 45, and we're back in business. We always enjoy the short field, and the Dallas front seven are starting to get the look of men who have seen enough of Marcel Shipp to last them a lifetime. There's nothing terribly sophisticated or elusive about his running-style, nothing to make the neutral gasp in amazement and swoon in awe - truth be told, he's about as nimble and light-footed as Moo's mum wearing army boots, but he's doing a job for us. As is the lad's wont, he picks a hole he likes the look of, squares his shoulders and ploughs straight ahead until he falls over or hits a goalpost. 14 yards later he trips over a safety, but the run convinces Bill Parcels, Man Of A Thousand Faces to bring a few more players up to the line, making space for Johnno to lightly toast his man and grab the touchdown pass that puts us back on top with six minutes left. We can't make the deuce, though, leaving us in the distinctly precarious position of ARI 29-24 DAL We haven't given up a long pass all day, which means we're well overdue. Melvin (cheers, Dad) Carter beats the press-coverage, Tay Cody (who really is having a very ordinary season) goes walkabout and that's the easiest 52-yard touchdown young Melvin will ever score. Troy bloody Hambrick adds insult to injury on the two-point conversion, and with but three minutes on the clock the lead's changed for the seven hundredth time today, the score ARI 29-32 DAL "Wait a minute!" thinks Jeff Blake "I realise where I've been going wrong! The home team are wearing white - I ought to have been passing to the blokes in the red!" Halle-bleedin'-lujah. From somewhere Jeff locates a perfect drive - nothing fancy, nothing risky, just hitting his man every time there's someone open. 65 yards in two and a half minutes, Macca catching the pass that gets us down to the goal-line, then the big guy coming in to put the icing on the cake. The Cowboys strive valiantly to do something with the couple-of-dozen seconds left in the game, but never look likely to manage it, and as the scoreboard ticks down to double-oughts, it's ARI 36-32 DAL, our record improving to 7-2. [
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