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I’m a long-time Cardinals fan. My first game was in 1999 at Sun Devil Stadium, a Jake Plummer versus Donavan McNabb duel. It was a sloppy, low-scoring, turnover-ridden affair. But the Cardinals won in a dramatic comeback, winning on a late Jake Plummer QB sneak. I remember cheering wildly with http://www.cardinalscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-markus-golden-jersey my dad from up in the nosebleeds.But the team wound up finishing 6-10 that 1999 season. They wouldn’t finish above .500 again until that storied 2008 Super Bowl season.Those were dire times to be a Cardinals fan. I vividly recall being surrounded by drunken, foul-mouthed Eagles fans—for there was far more green than red in the stands that day. Any cheers for the Redbirds were drowned out by “E-A-G-L-E-S!” chants. Most games were like that (especially Cowboys games). If there was such a thing as negative homefield advantage, the Cardinals had it at Sun Devil Stadium.The team bottomed out with a 3-13 record the next season, the worst record since the Cardinals played in Chicago 40 years prior. That season was the absolute nadir of the franchise.Or so we thought.University of Phoenix Stadium—now known as State Farm Stadium—opened in 2006, and the rest is history. Super Bowl run under Ken Whisenhunt two years later, then the Bruce Arians era and another NFC Championship Game appearance, and 100+ sellouts in a row. We’ve been, in many ways, a model NFL franchise for the last decade or so.Not anymore.I haven’t been to a game in Glendale this season, but from what I’ve seen, it looks like a lot like the Sun Devil Stadium years in the stands—empty seats, more (and louder) fans of the other team, plenty of boos. And we’ve been just as incompetent on the field.We’re a dismal 1-6 with one of the worse offenses in the history of the sport—which has already gotten the OC fired. Our new DC has tried to switch to a 4-3 without the proper personnel in place—which has predictably backfired, as we’re getting gashed by the run and are prone to big plays via the pass. We have a first-year head coach who routinely blows elementary decisions and seems on the verge of losing the locker room. We can’t run, throw, catch, or tackle, we consistently commit boneheaded penalties in all phases of the game, and we just got stomped 45-10 by a 2-4 team in our only nationally televised game of the season.And, oh yeah Cheap Larry Fitzgerald Jersey , our best player, defensive captain, and a pillar of this team and community for the past seven years just asked for a trade. At this rate, Cardinals fans better pray Larry Fitzgerald retires now before he, too, asks for a trade.We’re a joke, an embarrassment, a disgrace. I’ve rooted for this team for over 20 years, and this is the first time I’ve been ashamed to be a fan.Talk about dire times.During the Sun Devil Stadium years, that shame wasn’t possible. No one cared about the team, not really. They had only been in the Valley for 10 years, and Phoenix has always been a transplant city, so there were no homegrown fans. Plus the Suns and Diamondbacks were challenging for NBA titles and winning the World Series.But a lot has changed since then—since the new stadium opened, since the Super Bowl run. Since we drafted Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson, since Bruce Arians and his Kangol and undeniable swagger strolled into town. Since Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer and their aerial prowess. Since David Johnson’s dual threat abilities and Chandler Jones’s reign of QB terror.People actually care about this team now. Younger fans have grown up on the team. The national media has started paying attention. The Valley’s first love—the Suns—have been mired in the league basement for years now, leaving a void in Valley sports fandom that the Cardinals have admirably filled since time ran out on the Seven Seconds or Less teams.Expectations have been built, hopes raised, allegiances strengthened.And now, all of that could come crashing down.We could be at the dawn of a new dark ages for the Arizona Cardinals. Our players seem like they’re giving up, our coaching staff is utterly incompetent, our front office comically inept, and our ownership seems oblivious to it all.At 1-6, we’re on pace for a 2-14 record, which would be the worst record in a 16-game season in the history of the franchise—even worse than that hopeless 2000 team Corey Peters Jersey , the team that sent the franchise into a multi-year downward spiral that actually had the team considering relocating.With the talent we have on this team, the goodwill it has built with the fanbase, and the specter of Larry Fitzgerald’s impending retirement hanging over everything, a 2-14 record would be unforgivable, the lowest of possible lows.But here we are, facing down that grim reality. Can anything be done to avoid it?No.That’s the painful truth. This dumpster fire of season is a lost cause. There is no hope of salvaging it. None.But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope for the future. There’s still a chance this season can be a (particularly ugly) black mark in this recent era of team success. But things have to be handled very carefully from here on out.First, the team needs to take a hard line and refuse to trade Patrick Peterson—for now. The last thing we need is a trade rumor circus in the middle of the season. Rather than make a panic trade now—when we have no reason to do so—wait until the offseason and reevaluate then. Perhaps the drastic changes to come will allay Peterson’s concerns and convince him to stay—and remember that quick turnarounds are commonplace in the NFL. Just look at the Rams last year, or the Bears this year. And Peterson’s trade value isn’t going to change between now and the offseason, even if he gets hurt. So hold off on that.Then, the second Week 17 is over, Michael Bidwill needs to clean house. Fire EVERYONE, including head coach Steve Wilks and his staff and GM Steve Keim and his staff. It couldn’t be any more clear that Wilks is in over his head and isn’t cut out to be an NFL head coach. Full stop. And Keim is the architect of this collapsing house of Cards and needs to be let go as well. Thanks for leaving us with Josh Rosen, but the rest of this mess is on his hands.To fill the coach and GM vacancies, we need to pluck an executive from the front office of one of the league’s marquee teams—the Patriots, Steelers, Saints, Eagles, and the like. Someone with football acumen and vision—and who is equally comfortable with crunching numbers as they are with listening to scouting reports. For coach, hire the brightest offensive might you can find, whether from the pro or college ranks. Add a young OC who understands the concepts of the modern NFL (and can build one of these new pinball offenses around Rosen) and a DC who can adapt his scheme to the talent on the roster and we might have a shot at a turnaround in the next season or two.We’ll talk which players should go and who we should add in a future article, but suffice to say that the new GM and head coach should be in lockstep when it comes to player evaluation, tendencies, and skill sets. We need a unified vision of our team’s culture, offensive/defensive philosophies Josh Bynes Jersey , and mental makeup—something this year’s patchwork team sorely lacks.But what about the fans? What can/should loyal Cardinals fans do as the team stands on the brink of a 2-14 abyss?Honestly?Stay away. Don’t go to games, cancel your season tickets, switch to Red Zone and rooting for your fantasy team on Sundays. These 2018 Arizona Cardinals don’t deserve your support in any capacity.But what will that accomplish?The only thing that might actually convince Bidwell to make the changes we discussed above.End the sellout streak.End the madness.End the ineptitude.End these new dark ages before they really start.Combat the darkness with a raging fire as we burn it all down鈥︹€nd rise from the ashes like our city’s namesake in 2019, ready to set fire to the rest of the league and draw the fans back like moths to flame. This is the first time in Larry Fitzgerald’s fabled career that he has not caught a TD pass in 6 games. After the Cardinals’ 27-17 loss in Minnesota, Fitz’s father tweeted his frustration with offensive coordinator Mike McCoy.It is mystifying that in three trips to the red zone, the Cardinals looked disorganized and squeamishly tentative and not once in those three occasions did the Cardinals take a shot into the end zone for Larry Fitzgerald (that is when he was on the field). No chances for Fitz, in Minnesota of all places—-and with Fitz’s “Make a Wish” pal Tennyson in the crowd.Upon Fitz’s and the team’s return to Arizona, Fitz’s father, Larry Sr., had deleted his tweet. And while meeting with the press, Fitz displayed extraordinary empathy for Mike McCoy. Fitz said, “It’s a team game. Everybody’s got to be held accountable. None of us has done a good enough job to this point to be successful. To try to blame one person is not fair or right. Unfortunately in this profession, there always needs to be a finger pointed at somebody. Somebody has to be blamed. It’s always been that way, and it’s unfortunate.”Wait, there’s more.Fitz went on to laud Mike McCoy’s work ethic and dedication—-“I know people outside the building don’t understand what it’s like to see guys working so hard. Mike McCoy is in this building every day at 4:30 (a.m.) and leaving here at 10:30 (p.m.). I don’t even know if he sees his wife and kids. He’s a tireless worker. These guys put in a lot of time and effort to give us the recipes to go out there and have success. So when blame is placed on guys like that, it’s tough on all of us. The relationships we have, it’s not just football. It’s personal. You want to do well for everybody.”Notice that Fitz said—-”It’s personal.” So there sat Fitz in front of the media and defended the one offensive coordinator in his tenure in Arizona who hasn’t made it a point or even a priority to throw to him in the end zone and called the criticism of McCoy or anyone who has something to do with the Cardinals struggling offense “personal.”Clearly, Fitz has been hearing all of the noise and sharp criticism that McCoy has been receiving by members of the local and national media. Yet, yesterday during Mike McCoy’s press conference, McCoy appeared to be unfazed and unaware of the criticism.“No offense, but I don’t watch a lot of TV,” McCoy said. “I don’t read papers. I don’t get on the internet. I’m too busy doing other things, putting plans together. And when my family is in town, I spend every minute I can with them Cheap Chase Edmonds Jersey , or talking to them at night when they’re in San Diego, things like that. I’ve been in this long enough (to not get wrapped up in the fervor).”This is sad.if what Fitz said is true, Mike McCoy, whose family still lives in San Diego where he was once the head coach, is putting in 15 hour days at the Cardinals’ facility and when he goes back to his hotel or apartment, he calls his wife and kids to say goodnight and then turns out the light and tries to get a good whopping five hours of sleep so that he can be in the shower by 4 AM to go do it all over again.But even Mike McCoy knows how all of this works.This is a results oriented business which requires salesmanship. If people aren’t buying what you are selling, the company has to hire someone else who can. It’s a numbers game—-if the numbers are good, you stay. if not——you’re gone.In the first half of Mike McCoy’s first game as the Cardinals’ offensive coordinator, he and his 3-and-out offense were getting resoundingly booed. It took all of one half! That much, McCoy cannot tune out. McCoy’s answer to establishing the Cardinals’ running game is to be #1 in the NFL at running up the middle. As a result, potential superstar RB David Johnson is averaging 3.2 yards per carry and he is taking a beating doing it. His backup, rookie Chase Edmonds is averaging 2.9 yards per carry.Every week we’ve been hearing from Steve Wilks that the plan is to move David Johnson around and get him more involved in the passing game where they can get him out in space—-yet each week goes by and Johnson has not been moved around much and he gets thrown to 2 or 3 times on flare passes or screens. The one time they ran a corner pass to him, he scored a TD. Take that one throw away and Johnson has 16 catches in 6 games for a mere 112 yards. David Johnson is capable of gaining 112 yards receiving a game—-let alone in 6 games.But each week it seems Mike McCoy still hasn’t gotten the message.To McCoy’s credit—-he and OL coach Ray Brown have been diligently piecing together pass protection packages—-versus the 49ers, they used 7 blockers to ensure that Josh Rosen would have time to throw downfield on the first play deep post TD to Christan Kirk. Last week versus the Vikings, they had their hands full with Mike Zimmer’s elaborate blitz schemes and for the most part the protection was well designed—-good enough for Rosen to complete 67% of his passes (21/31 for 240 yards, 1 int.).McCoy and the offense will have to have very good pass protection plans versus Von Miller and the Broncos’ pass rush on Thursday Night Football. That—-and a more creative play calling approach particularly for David Johnson—-or the boobirds will make it impossible for McCoy to turn off the noise.Curious too that while McCoy seems unaware of “the noise,” Steve Wilks, his head coach, is so aware of the noise that he has put his own job on the line this week. From one extreme to the other—-isn’t it?Von Miller has promised the Broncos are going to “kick the Cardinals’ asses.”One would think that Mike McCoy would have added incentive in this game, seeing as the Broncos fired him as their OC in mid-season last year. Sadly, if McCoy doesn’t start throwing to Fitz in the red zone instead of calling a chicken sheet hitch pass screen to Fitz on 3rd and 22 with the game still on the line, no matter how much empathy Fitz has for his OC, history is likely to repeat itself for McCoy—-because the Cardinals’ offense can’t fly—-if it can’t spread its wings.