FanHouse in the Stands: Arizona Rolls in Home Opener Against the Dolphins

This season, FanHouse writers take their cameras to NFL stadiums to document what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real. Or something. We've cleverly titled it "FanHouse in the Stands."

"The Cardinals. The Dolphins. It's the NFL ... on CBS!" Alright, so maybe Arizona hosting Miami isn't exactly the most glamorous matchup in the world, especially on a day where there were some absolutely epic games that went down in the League. But hey, it was the Cardinals' home opener, and after beating the 49ers last week -- something Arizona couldn't do in either of the teams' two meetings last season -- the fans were more than ready to cheer their club to a 2-0 start.

As weak as the NFC West has looked so far, the Cardinals appear to have a legitimate shot at winning the division -- which is something that definitely isn't being overlooked by their fans. They know that even this early in the season, games like these are a must-win if they want to have a shot at the playoffs. So against a team like the Dolphins -- who were clearly entering a classic letdown game -- the fans were smelling blood by kickoff time. Um, especially this guy.



As you can tell by the back of his cape, that's Nacho Cardinal. I was really excited to be sitting a couple of rows behind someone who would risk weeks of acne by wearing a Cardinals-themed wrestling mask for three-plus hours, but unfortunately the guy was all costume and no action. He barely said a word all afternoon.

Somewhat surprisingly, there was also a decent amount of Dolphins fans in the building. I got this group to pose for me by telling them that my friends wouldn't believe that there were any of their kind in attendance. When they jokingly asked what website this photo would appear on, I was tempted to say this one, (or another one that I couldn't possibly link to here without being fired) but opted to go the nice guy route by giving them a courtesy chuckle instead.



Since it was the home opener, we were treated to a mini-pregame concert by the band Daughtry. I only know the group's name because an old-timer I stood next to when they came on told me how much they rocked when he saw them open for Bon Jovi recently. I thought that was odd, considering if you closed your eyes, Bon Jovi was exactly who you would have thought was playing. Dude did an above average job with the national anthem though, and combined with the length-of-the-field American flag, it left the crowd sufficiently pumped up for the start of the game.



As for the game itself, it was all Cardinals from their very first possession. A long touchdown to Anquan Boldin (that'll teach you to blitz Kurt Warner!) started things rolling, and then another (even longer) pass play to Larry Fitzgerald on their next drive put Arizona in prime position to punch it in a second time for a quick 14-0 lead.
The final was 31-10, so everyone wearing Arizona red went home happy. I'll leave you with a couple of parting shots: A view of the stadium from the parking lot ...



(man, that thing really looks like a huge spaceship or something, doesn't it?) And finally, an up-close look at a couple of Arizona's finest -- shown here standing next to a more, um, regular-looking person for quality-showcasing purposes.