Cards display lack of maturity in loss to Panthers

If the Cardinals really want to do something for their fans, they should hand out packets of Dramamine before each game. You can get seasick following this football team.

Up one week, down the next. 3-0 on the road, 1-3 at home.

NFC title contenders after they beat the New York Giants. Immature and inconsistent after losing to the Carolina Panthers, 34-21, Sunday.

Yup, team schizophrenic is back.

"To be one of the elite teams you have to be able to win the big games and not let it drain you or affect you emotionally where you don’t come back and play up to your potential the next week," quarterback Kurt Warner said.

Well, if that’s the standard, the Cardinals just spotted elite a 90-yard lead in the 100-yard dash.

How does this happen?

Simple.

Arizona still can’t handle success. It looks in the mirror, likes what it sees then forgets what it took to look so good.

Hard work. Intensity. Discipline.

You’d think the Cardinals would have learned their lesson by now.

But then Carolina rushes for 270 yards against the NFL’s top-ranked run defense — the fifth-worst total in franchise history — and you know they haven’t.

Arizona and Carolina did a 180 from the Cardinals’ 33-13 victory in the playoffs last year. In that game, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme had six turnovers — five interceptions and a fumble.

Kurt Warner’s line Sunday: Five interceptions — tying his career high — and a fumble.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt called it, "a cruel twist of fate." But that doesn’t begin to describe the carnage.

The Panthers already had lost as many regular-season games (four) as they had all of last year. Delhomme was on the verge of being benched, and coach John Fox quickly was moving up the public enemies list in Carolina.

If the Cardinals play well, they win. It’s that simple. Instead, they couldn’t tackle, they couldn’t block and they couldn’t get the ball downfield to receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.

In the process, they wasted a precious opportunity to move two games ahead of the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. It’s again a horse race, and the 49ers have the tie-breaker thanks to their season-opening win over the Cardinals.

Carolina’s rushing game was so potent — DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined for 245 yards and two touchdowns — that Delhomme had a high-school stat line (7 of 14 for 90 yards) and the Panthers still won going away.

It’s not as if the Cardinals were surprised by Carolina’s game plan. Arizona put eight men on the line of scrimmage to try to stop the run.

"That’s what’s so disappointing," nose tackle Bryan Robinson said. "We knew what they were going to do and we still couldn’t stop it."

Warner, meanwhile, was suffering through a miserable afternoon. Although two of his five interceptions were deflections that bounced into the air, he never seemed comfortable — Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers had something to do with that — and he often threw into coverage.

Like everyone else in red, he didn’t bring his "A" game.

"I feel like we’re a better team than we showed today," Whisenhunt said.

Every NFL team has its highs and lows during a season. But the Cardinals go to the extreme, leaving room for only one conclusion about this football team that thrills its fans one week then torments them the next: It still hasn’t grown up.

Pass the Dramamine.