Cardinals Look to Regroup After 41-7 Loss to Falcons

ATLANTA -- The Arizona Cardinals and the Atlanta Falcons came into their Week 2 matchup as teams on different paths. The Cardinals nipped the St. Louis Rams last week and entered Sunday with a 1-0 record, looking to continue their winning ways. The Falcons were defeated in overtime by the Pittsburgh Steelers, their high-powered offense effectively shut down. They were hoping to right the ship.

After the Falcons 41-7 victory these two teams are still headed in opposite directions. Atlanta found what they were looking for on offense and continued to keep opponents from scoring points. Arizona will head back to the desert knowing they need to fix a plethora of problems with this Cardinals team that has won the NFC West division two years in a row.

Atlanta didn't need any help piling on the Cardinals on Sunday, but Arizona sure did all they could to make it easy.

Arizona was penalized 10 times for 109 yards and stalled many drives with the yellow flag.

"I was very disappointed in that," said head coach Ken Wisenhunt. "We can't win a game on the road, against a good opponent, if the team has penalties like that."

" I think everyone in this locker room knows that they [Atlanta] are not 41-7 better. At the end of the day you can't lose sight of the good things, and there were some good things."
--Tim Hightower The 10 penalties in Week 2 are nothing new as sloppy play seems to be the norm for the Cardinals. Last week in their game against St. Louis, the Cardinals were penalized 10 times for 72 yards.

Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald echoed Wisenhunt's sentiment that the team needs to clean up their play.

"That's one thing you can't do is beat yourself on the road, especially against a playoff caliber team like Atlanta," said Fitzgerald. "It's frustrating to lose in this fashion."

The Cardinals offense was 0-for-8 on third downs on Sunday. It wasn't as much an issue of converting on early-down plays, but the team seemed to always be in third and long situations which is never a pleasant time for an offense.

"We were third and not manageable," said quarterback Derek Anderson. "I think the first three were 12 or 13 yards. We obviously have to get better in that area and keep our defense off the field."

In Week 1, Arizona was 5-for-13 on third downs. Moving from ineffective to worse is not a good sign, especially against an Atlanta team that ranked 30th in the league last year, allowing opponents to convert on third down 45.3 percent of the time.

Defensive tackle Darnell Dockett criticized his team for playing without emotion. "Today was a humbling situation," said Dockett. "So we come out today without emotion. We knew what type of team we were playing. Atlanta made plays and we didn't."

Joey Porter had a similar reaction. "Guys need to be flying to the ball," said the Arizona linebacker. "We've just got to play a lot harder. We didn't do that today and got an ass whuppin'."

More Week 2 Coverage

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• Video: Randy Moss' Amazing Catch
• Dennis Dixon Injures Knee
• Fisher: Vince Young Still Our QB
• Falcons Offense Wakes Up
• Hapless Browns Losing Hope
• Ryan Mathews Exits With Injury Running back Tim Hightower, who ran for 115 yards and a touchdown, doesn't necessarily feel the doom and gloom attitude that a one sided loss typically brings.

"I think everyone in this locker room knows that they [Atlanta] are not 41-7 better," said Hightower. "At the end of the day you can't lose sight of the good things, and there were some good things."

That's easy to say after the running back compiled 115 yards and blasted an 80-yard touchdown run.

Words from Dockett may ring a little more true.

"One thing I know about is fights," said Dockett. "We're not where we think we are, so today was probably good for us. Everybody on this team can do a better job."

If you need further inspiration as a Cardinals fan, look to coach Wisenhunt who was asked what the coaching staff could take from the way his team played on Sunday.

"It was only the second game of the season," said Wisenhunt. "We still have a chance to correct it and move forward."