The New England Patriots proved themselves just for the postseason, whipping the Arizona Cardinals 47-7 with a blizzard of points on a snow-covered field Sunday. The Patriots scored the first 47 points of the game and scored on nine of their first 10 possessions.
The Patriots showed total superiority to the struggling champions of the weak NFC West. Kurt Warner was pressured more tonight than anytime in his 11 pro seasons, and had one of his worst games as he only threw for 30 yards total. The Cardinals defense was worst than the weather, which allowed the Patriots to score on nine of their 10 possessions. All this happened before Matt Cassel got the rest of the game off.
Cassel completed 20 of 36 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns. Matt Leinart replaced Warner with 3:27 left in the third quarter. Matt went 6-of-14 for 138 yards with an interception, a fumble and a 78-yard touchdown on which Larry Fitzgerald ran most of the way to cut the lead to 47-7 with 6:17 left. Kurt Warner went 6-of-18 for 30 yards, the fewest in any game in which he started. New England out rushed Arizona 183-44 yards, The Cardinals were held to under 100 rushing yards for the seventh straight game. The Cardinals went 0-5 on the East Coast this season, losing for the ninth straight time on the East Coast. Arizona had just four first downs and 45 total yards through three quarters.
The Arizona Cardinals might have clinched their Division, but if they continue to play as horrible as they did today, their journey in the playoff's will be very short.