The Cardinals’ loss was agonizing TV
Watching the Season 3 finale of “Succession” Sunday night was agonizing in the best possible way.
Watching the Arizona Cardinals lose to the LA Rams 30-23 on “Monday Night Football” was also agonizing. In the worst way possible.
That’s the difference in great TV and painful TV.
After a relatively uninspired performance for most of the game by Arizona — and the announcers, frankly, though they weren’t awful — the Cardinals recovered an onside kick with time running out in the fourth quarter.
All of a sudden a lackluster contest was great sports TV, mondo exciting, a chance for the great Kyler Murray to maybe salvage a tie and put the game into overtime.
Instead the Cardinals made mistakes galore and lost. It was ugly enough that Scott Van Pelt spent a fair amount of time dissecting it on “SportsCenter” after the game.
Steve Levy: Cardinals ‘continue to fight for league-wide respect’
Yep. Agonizing for sure. It was like finding a dollar and promptly losing it. Only this game, which would have clinched a playoff berth for the Cardinals and kept them with the best record in the league, was worth a lot more than that.
Something seemed a little off all night, even though fortune seemed to favor the Cardinals. As play-by-play announcer Steve Levy and analysts Louis Riddick and Brian Griese said — again and again and again and again — the Rams had to play without cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Tyler Higbee, who were added to the COVID-19 list before the game.
This was going to be the narrative and piano wire and nail guns couldn’t dissuade the broadcast team from it. They pounded the absences every chance they got. Meanwhile, on the field, the Rams simply outplayed the Cardinals so thoroughly they probably could have lost a few more players and come out all right.
Levy kicked off the broadcast saying
it was a “most comfortable 69-degree night in the desert.” Indeed. Arizona’s good for that kind of thing this time of year. But then he added that the Cardinals “continue to fight for league-wide respect.”
It wasn’t much of a fight Monday night.
Where the ‘Monday Night Football’ broadcasters fall flat
About that: A Monday night game is the only NFL game going on. All eyes are on you. That’s not a good thing for the Cardinals. As Levy pointed out at one point, “There’s been a lot of helmet tossing on that Cardinals’ sideline tonight.”
Levy is OK. Griese is OK. Riddick is good, but he has to compete for air time with the other two. Which is none of their faults. With the exception of the legendary “Monday Night Football” crew of Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell and Don Meredith a million years ago, a three-person booth is too crowded. Everyone’s fighting for their few seconds to speak, which doesn’t leave enough time for improvisation or goofy banter, two elements of a great broadcast.
(Gifford, Cosell and Meredith conquered that problem by ignoring the
game when they felt like it.)
There were some worthy moments Monday. As the fourth quarter started with the Rams winning 27-13, Levy welcomed viewers back from a commercial with, “The Cardinals at 10-2 with the best record in the NFL.”
Beat.
“Check back in 15 minutes.”
Steve Levy can be snarky fun
That’s snarky and kind of funny. Levy should play to that strength more often. Griese … maybe not.
Come to think of it, maybe Levy should go lighter on the goofing, too.
“They need some CPR, ASAP,” Levy said of the Cardinals in the second half.
“I saw what you did there,” Griese said.
“So clever, nothing gets by you,” Levy replied.
This is not top-quality banter.
Levy has something of a volume problem. James Conner, who made a great one-handed catch in last week’s win against the Chicago Bears, made another nice one-handed grab Monday. Levy said, in just this tone: “JAMES CONNER, ONE-HANDED, MAKING A WEEKLY HABIT OF IT!”
Shhh.
Speaking of, in a weird development toward the end of the game you could hear a fan screaming in a way that sounded just like Ozzy Osbourne’s laugh at the beginning of “Crazy Train.” It was maddening. Wisely, the broadcast team ignored it. Wish the viewers could have.
What’s next on the Cardinals’ schedule?
Riddick is the brains of the operation, with insightful observations. He doesn’t joke around much, but he knows what he’s talking about. He’s straightforward, but he’s on target. After the game — the Cardinals’ third home loss in a row (they’re undefeated on the road), he said, “The differences in their performances at home vs. the road it is a real problem here, and something (coach) Kliff Kingsbury is going to have to go back to the drawing board and address once again.”
He’s right about that. Who thought a trip to Detroit next week would be so welcome?
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