E: Cardinals were oh so close in Minnesota

For awhile it appeared the Cardinals were going to get some help from something they had nothing to do with during the work week.

I know Ken Whisenhunt took another spin on the Cards QB "Wheel of Misfortune" flip-flopping back to Derek Anderson, but that certainly paled in comparison to the Purple Haze which hung over the Vikings.

From Randy Moss calling former coach Bill Belichick the best coach in the league, to Brad Childress deciding (by some accounts on his own) to waive Moss Monday, to an owner who desperately needs to win now in hopes of persuading tax payers to build a new stadium, to frustrated fans parading thru the Twin Cities sporting their "Can Chilly" shirts and even chanting for the coach's head...at a Timberwolves' game on Friday it was definitely a week to forget, and oddly enough, had nothing to do with Brett Favre.

The eight-point underdogs were on the verge of stealing a game from a team that nearly played in the Super Bowl just 10 months ago.

After three quarters it appeared the moving parts were finally coming together on both sides of the ball. A field goal put the visitors up 24-10 and silenced the desperate Vikings' crowd. The Cards front four was pressuring Favre into poor decisions, while Anderson was giving us a glimpse of what an even average quarterback can do for the psyche of this team. His accuracy certainly wasn't perfect (it never will be), but his decisions for the most part were, wisely not forcing throws over the middle, involving Larry Fitzgerald (7 catches, 107 yards) and showing patience in the pocket and the ability to efficiently move the offense down the field as he did hitting Andre Roberts for a 30-yard score which sent the Birds into the half with a lead for the first time all year.

Too bad they play four quarters in the NFL.

The 2010 NFL season is proving to be one of equality around the league from top to bottom. Peel back the layers of talent and you'll find most games are decided by which team plays with a greater sense of urgency and in some cases as the Vikings did, total desperation.

Old man Favre proved he at times still has magic left, engineering a six-play, 77-yard drive culminating in a 25-yard strike to Visanthe Shiancoe who got behind Adrian Wilson in the seam and pushed all momentum towards Minnesota going into overtime.

Even after winning the coin toss, you could sense the Cards were done and a trek to victory stretched wider than any of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes. A quick three-and-out followed by a steady diet of Adrian Peterson runs left the Cardinals for dead and set the script for Ryan Longwell to lower the purple curtain on a day which started with so much promise, but ended with a nearly unthinkable Whisenhunt three-game losing streak.

So for all the good (two special teams scores and another kick-six for LaRod Stephens-Howling, a pair of sacks from Joey Porter, zero Anderson interceptions), we are left to sift through the garbage to figure out if the Cardinals are close to turning into something we can believe in or merely a mediocre team surrounded by mirror-images of themselves in the NFC West.