NFL-Cardinals rue meek surrender against Panthers

Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Arizona Cardinals spent an entire season building their case as serious contenders yet it all went up in flames in a shambolic NFC Championship performance on Sunday. The high-powered offense and dangerous defense that earned the Cardinals a 13-3 mark and the NFC West title was nowhere to be found in Carolina, and the Panthers mauled Arizona in a 49-15 blowout to deny them a trip to Super Bowl 50. "You come in with a ton of confidence and excited about this moment and the game," Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer told reporters. "They jumped out early and got on top of us. We dug ourselves a hole and never came close to coming out of it." Palmer was at the center of the team's letdown as he committed six of the team's seven turnovers, including four interceptions. A 12-year NFL veteran, Palmer had not won a career playoff game until last week when he prevailed against the Green Bay Packers despite an uneven outing. His shaky playoff form continued against the Panthers as the Cardinals fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter and their offense devolved into a string of miscues. Larry Fitzgerald, the team's dependable veteran standout who put up 176 receiving yards in last week's triumph, managed just four catches for 30 yards as his team went out with a whimper. "If we would've lost in a shootout and it went down to the wire it would've hurt. But we just didn't have it today and that really stings," said Fitzgerald, fighting back tears. Arizona's defense may have lost some of its sting when Pro Bowl safety Tyrann Mathieu went down with a season-ending ACL tear last month. The Cardinals showed little resistance against Carolina's offense and Cam Newton, surrendering 476 total yards. "We didn't play near well enough, especially our best players, to win this game," said Cardinals coach Bruce Arians. "Cam (Newton) made some plays and we didn't do as good a job on Greg (Olsen) that we hoped we would and they found him." Arians has helped Cardinals to improve since taking over in 2013. They have won at least 10 games in each of his three seasons and made the playoffs the last two. But Arizona still had one more step to take before they can make it back to their first Super Bowl since the 2008 campaign, and they learned that in the most painful way possible against the Panthers. "This is about as bad a feeling as you can feel," Palmer said. "Staring over at their sideline and seeing that feeling the other team has is something that's probably going to stick with me for the rest of my life." (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)