It is not for nothing that the Western Division of the National League has been called the Group of Death this season. The San Francisco 49ers are one reason, the Seattle Seahawks are another, and the Arizona Cardinals count as half a reason.

Last year, the Arizona Cardinals finished with an 8-8 record and finished second in the National League West Division, behind only the San Francisco 49ers.

Patrick Peterson, a rookie cornerback from the same class as Cam Newton and Lu Ke, came out of nowhere, and although he was not able to fully occupy the starting position as a substitute rotation cornerback, he appeared in all other positions of the team - wide receiver in the offensive group, rebound attacker in the special service group, and cornerback in the defensive group, and became the most important all-rounder in the team without dispute.

At the end of the season, Peterson was also selected for the Pro Bowl. If it weren't for last year's rookie quarterback, he would have received more than that.

This year, Peterson went one step further and took over the position of the main corner-back, and his performance was really outstanding; In the second week of the regular season against the New England Patriots, Peterson made a last-minute interception of Brady to tie the score at 20-18 and give the Cardinals a home victory.

This game can show the value of the Arizona Cardinals' strength this season.

Incidentally, Sherman intercepted Brady, and the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots; And Peterson intercepted Brady, and the Arizona Cardinals defeated the New England Patriots. Interestingly, Sherman and Peterson were both rookies in 2011, and both Sherman and Peterson didn't like each other with Lu Ke.

First Sherman, now Peterson. Lu Ke has now become the key defensive target of all the top corner backs in the league, and there will only be more and more such confrontations with Mai Mang in the future, but the three players are all students in the same grade, and the topic will inevitably become more interesting.

However, the Arizona Cardinals' record this season has been up and down, and the most concentrated and direct manifestation is the extreme struggle at the quarterback position.

John Skelton was confirmed as the starting quarterback at the start of the preseason, but he only lasted four preseason games and most of the regular season, and in the fourth quarter of the season's regular season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, he had to go off the court with an ankle injury and substitute quarterback Kevin Colb took over.

After his debut, Kolb performed well, beating the Seattle Seahawks and then leading the team to a four-game winning streak to start the 2012 season, becoming one of the best teams in the league and making the National League West a group of death.

But then their unbeaten streak came to an end in a divisional civil war against the St. Louis Rams, and Colb suffered nine sacks throughout the game, which also allowed them to break their own record of shame, and after the Arizona Cardinals in 2003, the first team in the league to let out eight or more sacks in two or more consecutive games.

Immediately after facing Buffalo Bill, Kolb once again proved his worth, and performed exceptionally strong and exceptionally well, biting the score tightly throughout the game, but in the second half of the fourth quarter, when the score remained tied at "16:16", Kolb unexpectedly suffered a rib injury and had to be forced to leave the game, and Skelton, who returned from injury, reappeared.

After Skelton came on the court, only two of his ten passes were successful, and the disastrous passing performance eventually led to the Arizona Cardinals giving up the victory in the overtime matchup, "16-19", and Buffalo Beal won the up-and-down matchup.

The Cardinals' nightmare is still not over.

In the seventh week of the regular season, the team lost to the Minnesota Vikings on the road, and the score of "21-14" was not ugly, but they suffered three consecutive defeats after a four-game winning streak; The following week they will face the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers, a game that will not only be a division battle, but also determine the state of the Arizona Cardinals.

Because next, the Cardinals will usher in the devil's schedule, the San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers, and the Atlanta Falcons, after three consecutive absolute strong teams, will once again usher in a divisional civil war with the St. Louis Rams. This also means that they will face tough tough roads for four consecutive weeks.

If the previous three defeats were more or less affected by the turmoil of quarterback injuries, it is understandable; After a game of adaptation, the team should have regained order, facing the San Francisco 49ers this week, they have no way back, only by giving it a go, the season can see the light of day again!

First four wins in a row, the last three in a row.

The Arizona Cardinals have experienced a lot of ups and downs this season, and the turmoil and chaos at the quarterback position has become a long-standing problem for the team, but after a game of adjustment, it has finally returned to the way the coaching staff envisioned it before the start of the season, but is this a good thing or a bad thing? No one can be sure.

Whether the current Arizona Cardinals is the indomitable team that has won four in a row or the embarrassed team that has lost three in a row, I'm afraid even the coaching staff itself can't tell: with all the staffing basically the same, just the difference between the two quarterbacks John Skelton and Kevin Colb, is the chemistry so different?

The problem is that Kolb isn't a top quarterback either, having been a backup quarterback for the Philadelphia Hawks since entering the league with the 36th pick in the second round in 2007.

He was named the starting quarterback in 2010 but was plagued by injuries, and Michael Vick was both injured and sidelined, and the two took turns playing with injuries throughout the season. At the end of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles chose Vic over Kolb, who moved on to the Arizona Cardinals.

Last year was the same with the Cardinals, in the first game of the regular season, Kolb delivered a very high quarterback rating of 130.0, but then he was injured, and the whole season was full of injuries and ups and downs, and those excellent passing performances were not coherent at all, and before the start of this season's preseason, the team also selected Skelton as the starting quarterback.

It can be said that Kolb has a certain ability, but he is constrained by injuries.

So, will the Arizona Cardinals, now in the hands of Skelton, the season's original quarterback, still be the same team that defeated the New England Patriots at Fort Fox in the second week of the regular season? Next, facing the San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, and Atlanta Falcons, what kind of answer can the Arizona Cardinals deliver?

By the way, in the three consecutive defeats, two away and one at home; And in the four consecutive wins, one away and three at home.

So while the Arizona Cardinals aren't a typical home-and-away team, playing at home is still a big plus, and this week's game against the San Francisco 49ers at the Cardinals' home of the University of Phoenix should be factored into account.

Despite the mystery, it's hard to guess where the game will go; But one thing is for sure, no one can and no one should underestimate the Arizona Cardinals.

Of course, for the San Francisco 49ers, and especially for Lu Ke, no matter what, they never lacked the motivation to beat the Arizona Cardinals, whether it was a home loss to an opponent last year or a bad treatment on the road, which made the team full of fighting spirit, and an all-out victory was their only goal.

In a sense, it's even more memorable than the Seattle Seahawks-

Because of the game against the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers have been undefeated for two seasons and have a psychological advantage; Against the Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers have the shadow of an undefeated golden body, as well as a storm of discrimination that they feel first-hand, and in all aspects, this is an opponent that must not be lost.

Even if the opponent is going through the turmoil of the quarterback, even if the opponent has just suffered a three-game losing streak, the San Francisco 49ers will definitely not take it lightly.

This is the real mortal enemy in the same area, it has nothing to do with the strength of the opponent, nothing to do with the opponent's state, nothing to do with the opponent's ranking, as long as the two sides stand on the court, they will inevitably do their best to fight, unyielding, unstoppable, even if they trample the opponent under their feet again and again, they will never be satisfied-

Because there's always a next encounter; And when the next encounter comes, it's another cycle.

What's more, the current San Francisco 49ers are not invincible, and behind the victory after victory, the team still needs to face up to its hidden dangers.

Jim Hubble opened his mouth slightly, looking at Lu Ke in front of him, with a look of surprise on his face, "Are you sure?" ”

Lu Ke nodded earnestly in affirmation, "Yes, I'm sure." ”

Hubble couldn't help but laugh dumbly, "Bambi, I know you're worried about the state of the team, but it's the job of the coaching staff, as a quarterback, to concentrate on the training, that's your job." As for the content of the training, it's up to the coaching staff to worry about, I think Colin and Scott are still doing well in the second team training, are you sure you want to take the initiative to be relegated? ”

"Ha, no, no, you misunderstood, I'm not asking for relegation, but asking to take on the responsibility of captaining the offensive team." Lu Ke laughed happily and waved his hand again and again to deny it, "I know that Colin and Scott's training has always been excellent, which also urges me to work harder, otherwise the starting position will be unstable, for now, I don't mean to take the initiative to let Xian." ”

The joking words made Hubble chuckle, and it could be seen that his mood was still very relaxed.

"But in the passing training, the current second-team receivers are still not enough to cooperate, and the tactics are still not enough, I think they need to quickly integrate into the team's tactical system." Lu Ke then expressed his thoughts.