{"id":2741,"date":"2016-09-26T12:45:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T16:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2016-09-26T17:06:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-26T21:06:57","slug":"arizona-cardinals-week-three-takeaways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/09\/26\/arizona-cardinals-week-three-takeaways\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Cardinals Week Three Takeaways"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Buffalo Bills<\/strong> looked prophetic in their 33-18 home victory over the Arizona Cardinals<\/strong>. This wasn\u2019t the same Bills team who had lost 37-31 to the New York Jets<\/strong> in Week two, and on film, looked to be a beatable opponent.\u00a0Buffalo was\u00a00-2 and reeling. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins<\/strong> <\/a>was ruled out. Bills head coach Rex Ryan<\/strong> was about to lose his job. But the Bills went out and won and now the 1-2 Cardinals have a lot to think about.<\/p>\n

Arizona Cardinals Week Three Takeaways<\/h2>\n

Tale of Two Quarterbacks and Offenses<\/h3>\n

Quarterback Carson Palmer<\/strong> <\/a>and the Cards offense couldn\u2019t get anything going from the start. The Cardinals only had two yards of net offense and no first downs on their first five possessions. The running game was ineffective, and\u00a0there were too many dropped balls and overthrown passes and way too many missed opportunities.<\/p>\n

Tyrod Taylor<\/strong> <\/a>moved his team freely up and down the field and threw the ball\u00a0to any receiver not named Watkins . Running back \u201cShady\u201d LeSean McCoy<\/strong> <\/a>was unstoppable as he ran through the Cards porous defense and scored two touchdowns in the first half of the game. The Bills running game was able to record 206 yards of offense on the ground. Taylor alone had 76 yards rushing ards, including a 49-yard scant, which is the longest for a quarterback in team history.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t happen,\u201d said coach Cardinals coach\u00a0Bruce Arians<\/strong>, after the game. \u201cCan\u2019t give up 50 yard runs on an option play that you worked on all week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Palmer rallied in the second quarter with a 17 play drive. Running back David Johnson<\/strong> <\/a>ran four yards to pay dirt and the Cardinals closed the gap. At halftime, the Cardinals went into the locker room trailing the Bills 17-7.<\/p>\n

Cardinals fans didn\u2019t fret.\u00a0Arizona had been\u00a0down before and\u00a0fans knew that\u00a0last season’s\u00a0NFC West Champions<\/strong> from the year before would come out storming\u00a0in the third quarter to start the second half.<\/p>\n

Cardinals Couldn’t Do Enough in The Second Half<\/h3>\n

Maybe the Cardinals\u00a0just tried too hard, but the second half offered only a few golden opportunities and Arizona just couldn\u2019t capitalize on them.<\/p>\n

Safety Tyrann Mathieu<\/strong> <\/a>batted down a pass from Taylor intended for Bills receiver Robert Woods<\/strong><\/a>, which would\u2019ve resulted in a fumble recovery, but the ball was never fully recovered and it bounced out of bounds.<\/p>\n

Palmer was finally able to get the offense going in the second half and should\u2019ve been able to close the gap, but sometimes it just isn’t meant to be. Palmer, who had no interceptions through the first two games of the season, finished\u00a0Sunday’s game 26 out of 50 for 287 yards, with no touchdowns and four interceptions.<\/p>\n

David Johnson had 19 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns for the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always want to put teams down early in the season,\u201d Arians also said of the Bills. \u201cThat\u2019s a good football team. It\u2019s tough to win on the road in all the noise, but those are all excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hopefully the now 1-2 Cardinals learn from their Week three debacle and right the ship for their Week four matchup at home against the Los Angeles Rams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n