The Arizona Cardinals were still in a playoff race as late as last week. The Dallas Cowboys have seemingly been out of it contention since September. All in all, just a great Christmas night present from the NFL to the fans.
Jason Garrett will be looking to improve his coaching resume when the Cowboys visit the Cardinals on Saturday.
It’s not the NFL’s fault, of course. Before the season started this game looked just as good as any other on the schedule, with Arizona having been a playoff team the last few seasons and Dallas looking like a contender after winning the NFC East in 2009.
Things did not quite work out the way either team planned.
Kurt Warner and Tony Romo might have given fans something to tune in for, now we’ll all have to make do with John Skelton and Jon Kitna.
The Cardinals’ problems began after a loss in the playoffs last season, when Warner decided to call it a remarkable career and retire before he turned into a less compelling version of Brett Favre.
Cheers to Warner for sticking to his retirement, but Arizona has probably considered begging him to come back dozens of times after getting rid of his heir apparent, Matt Leinart, before the season started and handing the job to Derek Anderson at the start of the season.
Even in the worst division in football Anderson wasn’t able to get it done and neither was undrafted rookie free agent Max Hall, who managed one touchdown and six interceptions in parts of six games before finding his way onto injured reserve.
Enter rookie Skelton, who has continued Arizona’s 2010 tradition of poor quarterback play by completing 46 percent of his passes without a touchdown in three games.
Skelton went 17 of 33 for 196 yards, an interception and a lost fumble in a 19-12 loss at Carolina last weekend.
Kitna has been better than that, doing the things a veteran backup is expected to do by throwing for 2,250 yards and 15 touchdowns in nine games. Kitna’s play has led to success under interim coach Garrett, who was promoted after Wade Phillips was let go.
Dallas has gone 4-2 while scoring at least 27 points in all six games under Garrett. A couple of more wins to close out the season could prompt owner Jerry Jones to take the “interim” tag off Garrett’s nameplate.
The Cowboys got a big divisional win last week, outlasting the Washington Redskins 33-30 on David Buehler’s 39-yard field goal in the final minute. While the defense did not look very good, the offense again was sharp with Kitna throwing for 305 yards and two scores and Felix Jones and Tashard Choice combining for 123 yards on the ground.
Former rivals when the Cardinals played in the NFC East prior to realignment, the teams last met on October 12, 2008, with Arizona grabbing a 30-24 victory in overtime that ended on a blocked punt return for a touchdown.