Bordow: Cards give their critics ammunition

PHILADELPHIA - The Cardinals hoped to slip into something comfortable late Thursday night — T-shirts and hats commemorating the team’s first division title since 1975.

Cardinals carved up by Eagles

Cardinals notebook: Warner plays subpar against Eagles

Instead, they were laid bare for all the NFL to see.

And it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Arizona served up a turkey in its 48-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. And in doing so, the Cardinals confirmed what their cynics have been saying for weeks.

Get them outside, in the cold — you know, playoff football — and they’ll melt like a Popsicle on a warm summer day.

“Coming into these games on national TV, we’ve got to show what we’re about,” fullback Terrelle Smith said.

Maybe that’s exactly what the Cardinals did.

You knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game for Arizona. The NFL did the Cardinals a disservice when it forced them to fly across the country and play the Eagles on three days’ rest.

But the loss can’t be blamed on some guy with a pencil behind his ear. Arizona was supposed to be better than this. It was supposed to have more talent, more character, more toughness.

Sure, the game was on the road and on the East Coast, where the Cardinals have fared about as well as the Brits did.

But these weren’t the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants the Cardinals were playing. Or even the Washington Redskins.

And yet Arizona was never in the game.

“It’s tough. We knew it was going to be tough,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “But that doesn’t excuse the way we played.”

This was worse than Arizona’s 56-35 loss to the New York Jets back in September because the Cardinals were physically dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Philadelphia, which ranked 26th in the league in rushing, had a ridiculous 185 yards on the ground. That 70-yard drive on the Eagles’ first possession? They hadn’t scored a point on their previous 21 series.

Someone should send a search party out for the Cardinals’ defensive line, because it never made it here.

“It sure seemed like we came out flat,” Whisenhunt said.

You want to blame Kurt Warner? Go ahead. He threw three interceptions and never settled into an offensive rhythm. He didn’t get any help from his receivers, either. They dropped at least five passes, and Anquan Boldin had his worst day in memory, fumbling twice and dropping at least two balls.

But it’s unrealistic to expect Warner, Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald to rescue the Cardinals every week. They’re going to have off days. Yet here we are, 12 games into the season, and Arizona still doesn’t have a running game to fall back on.

I know. It’s a broken record. But Arizona rushed for just 25 yards Thursday. Tim Hightower had seven yards on seven carries. The running game was so pathetic the Cardinals had to throw the ball four times to score on first-and-goal from the Philadelphia 3.

“I’m frustrated,” Smith said. “Games like this, when our passing game isn’t working, let’s try to run it a little bit more.”

It may be too late for that. And with no running game to worry about, it’s easier for defenses to neutralize Warner.

“It’s tough to be a one-dimensional team and be successful week in and week out,” Warner said.

The good news? Well, the Cardinals have the weekend off to rest up and figure things out. And then the woeful St. Louis Rams come to town.

Thank goodness for the NFC West, huh?