Bob McManaman

azcentral sports

There's good news and there's bad news concerning the Cardinals and their two-game losing streak.

The good news is, since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule, no team that has ever started 9-1 has failed to make the playoffs.

The bad news is, it would be one colossal kind of collapse should the Cardinals cave and miss out on the postseason now.

And yet that is a very real possibility considering how badly this offense is sputtering and how tough the final four games of the schedule look.

"Ah, who cares? Honestly, right now, the outside opinions mean nothing," cornerback Antonio Cromartie said, alluding to suggestions in the national media that Arizona could be primed for a mighty fall. "We have the utmost faith and belief in every single guy in this locker room that we can go out and play football the best way we know how.

"We've got four weeks left and the most important game of the season right now is Kansas City and that's all we need to think about."

Cromartie might want to huddle with buddy Patrick Peterson about that. Speaking to reporters on Monday a few moments later, the Cardinals' other starting cornerback said it will be up to Arizona's defense to save the day given how shaky things have gone on offense with a backup quarterback.

"I wouldn't say it puts pressure on us, but there's a sense of urgency that we've got to strip the ball away and put the ball in the end zone," Peterson said. "… We have to play lights-out football regardless. We still have all the confidence in the world in Drew (Stanton), but we're still playing with a backup quarterback. That changes the dynamics of everything.

"As a defense, we have to go out there and do what got us here to this point of the season, which is going out there and taking the ball away from offenses and as an offense, protecting the football."

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians didn't want to believe it, but a day after his team's 29-18 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, he said his team finally took an opponent for granted.

"That was the thing that probably what amazed me the most about this game, was how well they bounced back (from last week's loss in Seattle) and practiced on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday," Arians said. "It was an outstanding week of preparation. But you can't play in the National Football League without passion and energy and we brought none of the above to that game (in Atlanta).

"It's our first time in a long time, but I think some guys fell into the trap that the Falcons weren't any good. That's a bad trap to fall into."

A team that allowed 500 yards to the Falcons on Sunday and went 10 quarters and 28 straight possessions without scoring a touchdown on offense shouldn't look down upon anyone but itself.

And right now, there ought to be a lot of soul searching going on at Cardinals headquarters.

"There ain't no panic, man," right tackle Bobby Massie said, adding the coaching staff gave it to them pretty hard on Monday. "They were fine. Obviously, there's things we need to correct and they coached us up, but there's no panic in this building."

But there are real problems. Peterson was made to look like a rookie by Falcons receiver Julio Jones. The running game is averaging only 43.5 yards a game the past four weeks. Stanton and the offense have converted only three total third downs the past two games.

Arians suggested the Cardinals should look in the mirror if they want to know whom to blame. Problem is, if they got anywhere near a mirror right now it would probably crack right down the middle.

Giving his team a good tongue lashing isn't the answer, Arians said. That's not how to get his point across.

"I'm just honest," he said. "When you stink, you stink. You point out how you stunk and you get it corrected. No, I don't throw chairs and holler and do all that stuff. That's non-productive. That's not teaching. You have to teach in order to get things corrected."

They've got four weeks left to figure it out. Either they will, and make it to the playoffs, where every team has gone after a 9-1 start. Or they won't, and they'll be remembered for one of the greatest collapses in the history of professional sports.