National Football League

Lindley better than expected, defense worse in loss to 49ers

Published Dec. 28, 2014 9:54 p.m. ET

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When the Seahawks and Packers opened two-touchdown leads on the Rams and Lions in their respective fourth quarters on Sunday, the Cardinals knew their game in San Francisco had become meaningless.

There would be no NFC West title. There would be no first-round playoff bye. There would be no extra week for quarterback Drew Stanton to heal.

There were lesser goals they still could have achieved with a win. But they didn't reach a franchise-record 12 wins in the regular season. They didn't sweep the rival 49ers for the first time since 2008. They didn't prove they could win a road game with Ryan Lindley at quarterback.

Still, there was important information gleaned from the 20-17 loss at Levi's Stadium that left the Cardinals 11-5, in second place in the NFC West and headed to NFC South champion Carolina for a wild-card game on Saturday. 

As coach Bruce Arians stresses the importance of moving on from a disappointing finish to the regular season, here are five constructive takeaway from the regular-season finale.

The bar was set low. We didn't expect the third-string (fourth-string?) QB to move the Cardinals offense.

But he did, completing 23 of 39 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. There were balls he threw exceptionally well and there were big plays like his 41-yard TD pass to Michael Floyd, proving that Arians can work magic with just about anybody. But Lindley couldn't produce a single point in the second half after the Cardinals took a 17-10 halftime lead.

He also threw three interceptions. It's a lot to ask a quarterback with so little experience to play turnover-free football, but the Cardinals will not survive with the mistakes he made in San Francisco -- especially with the defense playing the way it is.

We've talked a lot about the offense's challenges but the truth is the Cardinals defense hasn't been very good over the second half of the season.

We don't want to take that thought too far because the Cardinals still aren't giving up a ton of points, but the team hasn't produced a turnover in its last two games, something it will need to do to at least give the offense short fields, if not produce points on its own.

San Francisco also was the fifth of the last six Arizona opponents to rush for more than 100 yards, and the second straight to top 200 when it hit 206 (Seattle had 267 the week before). Making offenses one-dimensional is always priority No. 1 in defensive coordinator Todd Bowles' game plan. Arizona's once-dominant run defense isn't doing that anymore. That may be more concerning than the offense's known shortcomings. 

The Panthers are just the second team in NFL history to win a division with a losing record (7-8-1), but this still figures to be a tough matchup.

The Cardinals have been shredded by two mobile quarterbacks the past two weeks -- Seattle's Russell Wilson (six carries, 88 yards, TD) and San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick (seven carries, 63 yards). Now they get Cam Newton, who has rushed for 246 in his past four games, a stat that coincided with the Panthers' four-game winning streak.

Carolina is hot. Its run game entered play Sunday averaging the eighth-most rushing yards in the NFL (122.8) and its defense is playing opportunistic football, creating nine turnovers in this four-game streak. 

Arizona wasn't as effective running the ball on Sunday, but it ground out 98 yards. Running back Kerwynn Williams led the attack with 67 yards on 17 carries.

In three of the past four games, the Cardinals rushing attack has managed to keep defenses off balance, giving its backup QBs better odds for success. It is critical that Arizona establishes and sticks with a run game in Charlotte.

This is not to overlook the contributions of the rest of the Cardinals offensive linemen. Right tackle Bobby Massie has played better than expected and the interior linemen have all played a role in the team's pass protection, but Veldheer was brought here to anchor a line that had struggled to protect QBs even in the Kurt Warner years.

He has been worth the five-year, $35 million free-agent deal he signed, so far. Arizona QBs were sacked 28 times this season. Only five teams allowed fewer. Last season, the Cards allowed 41. The year before, they allowed an NFL-high 58. The left tackle spot used to be a turnstile. Now it's an iron gate.

Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter

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