Cardinals set NFL playoff record for fewest yards
The Arizona Cardinals were pretty bad on Saturday. Historically bad.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Cardinals set an NFL record on Saturday, and it wasn't one of the good ones. Arizona put up 77 total yards on the offensive side of the ball on Saturday, which is the fewest amount of yards in a playoff game in NFL history. The previous record-holders were the Cleveland Browns, who put up 86 yards against the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game in 1958.
To be fair to the Cardinals, they were on pace to finish with 97 yards of total offense, just above the previous record-low mark and out of the history books, but the final play of the game saw the offense lose 20 yards. It was an ill-fated play in which they tried to lateral it multiple times, despite there not being enough time on the clock to get the ball back to tie the game.
Still, that lateral play didn't look too much different from how poorly they'd been playing the rest of the game. Arizona averaged 1.7 yards per play, with 51 passing yards from quarterback Ryan Lindley and 27 rushing yards from four players. Lindley had a touchdown and two interceptions, while the Cardinals had three fumbles. Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart managed to put up 123 yards on his own, eclipsing the Arizona offense on his own by a solid margin.
Cardinals vs. Panthers
Despite this incredibly poor play, it was actually a close game for a while. Arizona held the lead heading into the second half thanks to some costly Carolina turnovers, but the Panthers took the lead with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns and did not look back en route to their 27-16 victory.
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