By ANDREW BAGNATO
AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz.(AP) -- For much of their history the Arizona
Cardinals haven't had to deal with success.
Even after reaching the Super Bowl, they're still figuring it
out.
The Cardinals (4-3) followed one of their more memorable
victories - a nationally televised road win over the New York
Giants - with a mistake-filled 34-21 loss to the Carolina
Panthers (3-4). One day later, coach Ken Whisenhunt struggled to
explain what had happened to a team that had looked so
formidable on national TV seven days earlier.
"You always are crossing bridges or facing obstacles as a
football team in this league," Whisenhunt said Monday.
"Obviously, one for us is being able to play consistently after
we've had some success."
Whisenhunt said he planned to address the issue with the players
on Monday. In the locker room, there was a mix of puzzlement and
frustration.
Strong safety Adrian Wilson, normally a go-to guy for the media,
shook his head when approached by reporters.
"I ain't got nothing polite to say, so I'd rather not say
anything at all," Wilson said.
Wide receiver Anquan Boldin said the Cardinals "let one go
yesterday."
"There's no excuse for it," he said. "Good teams win games that
they're supposed to win."
Boldin re-aggravated a right ankle sprain against Carolina but
said he hopes to play this week at Chicago.
From the Cardinals' vantage point, the only good news coming out
of Sunday was San Francisco's loss at Indianapolis. That kept
the Cardinals one game ahead of the 49ers in the feeble NFC
West, where the four clubs are a combined 5-14 outside the
division.
Otherwise, it was mostly bad news.
Start with six turnovers - all charged to quarterback Kurt
Warner, who had five interceptions, matching a career high, and
also lost a fumble.
Whisenhunt gave the Panthers' defense credit for making big
plays, but he indicated the offense also deserved blame for the
miscues.
"Regardless of what they were, six turnovers in a game is
certainly unacceptable," he said.
The loss left the Cardinals at 1-3 at University of Phoenix
Stadium, where they went 8-2 a year ago, including two playoff
victories.
The Cardinals thought they had established a true home-field
advantage in their sparkling stadium in Glendale, west of
Phoenix, but it hasn't looked that way this year, with boo-birds
occasionally greeting the Redbirds.
Even Arizona's lone home win was shaky; the Cardinals blew a
21-point lead against Houston and had to repel the Texans three
times at the 1-yard line in the final minute to preserve a 28-21
victory on Oct. 11.
"All the games that we've played here, I felt like we should've
played a lot better," Boldin said. "But we can't do anything
about it now. Just move on and play better the upcoming weeks at
home."
Whisenhunt has no explanation for his team's poor play at home.
"I'm surprised and disappointed, I think more so for our fans
because of the great support they have given us," he said. "We
haven't lived up to our end of the deal."
Given their struggles at home, the Cardinals may be relieved to
visit Chicago this week. The Cardinals are 3-0 on the road, with
victories at Jacksonville, Seattle and the New York Giants.
The Cardinals have four home games left - against Seattle,
Minnesota, St. Louis and Green Bay. After Sunday's clunker, the
Cardinals aren't likely to take any of those games for granted.
The loss to the Panthers evoked memories of a 35-14 home
drubbing by Minnesota last season. Many chalked it up to a
letdown because the Cardinals had clinched the division title a
week earlier.
Sunday's loss seemed more puzzling, because it came after three
straight victories. The Cardinals fell behind 28-7 at halftime
and couldn't pull closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Whisenhunt dismissed a suggestion that the Cardinals need to
play with more emotion, although he conceded that "our team
plays better when we have a chip on our shoulder."
Whisenhunt said it's natural for teams to play with varying
degrees of emotion during a 16-game grind. But he said technique
and discipline should be consistent.
"I think we have made progress here with that," he said.
"Obviously, we are not there yet."
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