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REPORT CARD: Cardinals Business-like Pounding of Rams Produces Several Milestones
Published: December 28, 2009
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Cards Business-like Pounding of Rams Produces Several Milestones
Admit it, Cardinals fan, that as the seconds ticked off at the end of the first quarter, you were a little anxious. This wasn’t what you expected (or I predicted). The cardinals and the Rams were having an old fashioned defensive struggle. It was the ‘85 Bears vs the 2000 Ravens! Or not.
But just as you were wondering if this team is going to be prepared for what promises to be a very difficult playoff run, Cards QB Kurt Warner reached down, and pulled out that Hall of Fame form. Our fearless leader seemed to say to himself “Ok, the heck with this! I want to rest time in the 2nd half!” (Note: Most NFL players wouldn’t actually say ‘heck’, but Kurt would.) Warner then went about securing his 99th and 100th touchdown passes as a Cardinal while throwing for an incredible 196 yards in a sweet 2nd quarter fury. He joined Fran Tarkenton as the only 2 players to toss 100+ TD passes for two different teams.
Safety Adrian Wilson showed why he was justifiably chosen as the NFC’s top safety in votes cast by the fans. A-dub joined some very talented and very select players in NFL history by getting his 20th NFL sack (He now has 20.5 in his illustrious career), and intercepting 20+ passes. His 23rd career pick, and 5th this season, was the ‘nail in the coffin’ in the 4th quarter that led to backup QB Matt Leinart’s grass-stained knee.
Those tid-bits being said, lets get to the Report Card.
Out with the Loins…In with the Lambs?
Published: December 26, 2009
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Last week’s game in Detroit proved several long time NFL adages. One being, ‘On any given Sunday’. The Loins showed in the 3rd quarter that even the weakest dog (cat?) can jump up and bite you. Yes, the Big Red came home with a ‘W’, but they did so sweating it out late in the game for what amounts to two breakdowns in the 3rd quarter.
As a fan of a team that spent decades stinking, I consider myself somewhat an expert on the subject. And one thing I’ve learned is that when you give a bad team a glimmer of hope, and a reason to believe in themselves, they can and often will pull off an upset.
Another thing is bad teams tend to play to their opposition. They often get ‘up’ for good, or ‘elite’ teams. This explains why, even as perennial cellar dwellers, Cardinals games against (at the time) NFC East division foes Dallas, Philly, Washington, and the Giants were often good games. Then the Browns would come in town and beat them by three touchdowns the following week.
The Cards’ next opponent is the same team that they clinched their NFC West crown against last year in the same building. Having secured (all together now) -their first repeat division titles in consecutive years since 1975- last week, the possibility is there that a let down may ensue.
Not the tank job we all saw in 2008, when they lost five of six before stomping Mike Holmgren’s Seahawks in his first coaching swan song. But its takes a tough team to play hard for 60 minutes with not a whole lot riding on victory, and a 1-13 team rolling into town.
“But wait a minute,” you say, “They can still get the 2nd seed!” And thats true. In fact, something thought only to be a fantasy a month ago, enhanced after rolling over to the ‘Niners on MNF a couple weeks ago, actually has more legs now than at any time this season.
If the Cardinals win their final two games, against St Louis and the Green Bay Packers respectively, and the Vikings lose their last two games, chances are pretty good that the Big Red gets to take the Big Rest! They still have a decent shot to get the week off during ‘Wild card’ weekend.
No one thought this possible a couple weeks ago. The Vikings got off the mat that the Cardinals flattened them on, and won handily the following week. This had people thinking the Cards victory and/or Vikings loss was an aberration. Those voices din only got louder when our gridiron hero’s plopped the pig on the turf at Candlestick an amazing 7 times the following night.
But then the Cards won last week, ugly as it may have been. And the Vikings lost their 2nd game in 3 weeks by getting pounded in Carolina. And suddenly, the 11-3 Vikings look vulnerable. And the 9-5 Cardinals, and the faithful, see hope.
What was thought a ‘gimme’ game in Chicago a couple weeks ago could suddenly make this race a race again. The Bears aren’t a very good football team. But they are a division foe, playing at home, with nothing to lose, and going against a hated rival that’s reeling of late. It’s a potential recipe for disaster, and few people south of Green Bay would like to see the Vikings collapse more than the Bears and their fans.
The next week, Minnesota plays the New York football Giants. Another team that started hot, played the Cardinals, got spanked, and came back to earth. Only they seem to be heating up again. Not good news for a team that’s not playing well, while dealing with coach and QB sideline-squabble questions that became the ‘news of the week’.
The final week featuring the Eagles and Dallas will most certainly eliminate one of those teams. And last week’s win against the previously unbeaten Saints aside, I think Dallas is quite capable of doing themselves in before that, against Washington.
All this is mute, of course, if Minnesota goes into Soldier Field and comes out with a win. But it does give the Cardinals that much more to play for with the ‘lowly’ Rams coming into town, and that Bears-Vikings game not kicking off until Sunday night. A ‘let down’ in this case, is unacceptable.
The Rams have one weapon. Its a good one, but Steven Jackson, as his teams 1-13 record will attest, can’t do it alone. The Cardinals have the same game plan that every team has when they play the Rams. Stop Steven Jackson, and you stop the Rams.
Granted, this is an unenviable task. But one the Cardinals can most certainly handle. IF the ‘good’ Cardinals show up, that is.
This is a team that held All-Everything RB Adrian Peterson to 19 paltry yards a few weeks back. Its also the team that allowed the Panthers gouge them for almost 300 a couple months ago. Its a team that held 49ers RB Frank Gore to 30 yards on 22 carries in week one. Then allowed the same guy to peel off over 160 in the re-match.
But the Rams are so bad at other positions, there’s really little chance of them beating, or even competing against the Cardinals with anything BUT Steven Jackson.
I just don’t see it happening. True, the Rams played a few teams tough this year (inc last weeks 3 point loss to a good Houston team), and the Cards previous matchup in St Louis wasn’t a blowout by any stretch.
But the Rams have beat only one team, and that’s the equally lousy Lions. With a win ‘earning’ them a shot at losing Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh with the top overall pick, they may feel like a ‘statement’ game against a team that has already won the division, and beat them seven straight times, isn’t ..well, in the Cards.
The Cardinals DO, on the other hand, have every reason to make this a statement game. Not so much for the masses, but for themselves. That 2nd seed looms larger than at any time this season for one. A win, combined with a Vikings loss to the Bears, sets up 3 huge season enders (including Dallas at Philly, Minn @ NYG, GB @ Az) come January 3rd.
For another, they couldn’t have felt good about last weeks win, no matter how many times coach Whisenhunt utters the ‘A win is a win’ refrain. The feeling here is that they will want to step on the Rams early, then stomp their throat coming out of the tunnel in the 2nd half.
While it may appear that the Rams come in with the hearts of the Lions, they will be leaving tomorrow night with the roar of a lamb.
The Brady Hunch:
Cardinals 34
Rams 10
—SCOTT Z BRADY
You can read this, and all my contributions to the Cardinals football lovin world at NFL.com/blogblitz/arizona-cardinals
Follow me on Twitter @cardsblogblitz for updates and occasional mindless drivel offered to quell personal boredom. Thanks!
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Our Christmas Cards Deliver All Year ‘Round
Published: December 18, 2009
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For years, even decades, be they in Chicago, St. Louis, or Arizona, Cardinals fans have had to suffer through some extremely lousy football. This is no newsflash, I know. But bear with me here.
Over the years, there had been a veritable plethora of ‘reasons why’ offered, suggested, ascribed and/or screamed from masses, both in media and fans alike. Some of those reasons had merit. Others were absolutely ridiculous. Others floated somewhere in-between.
One of the more interesting assertions regarding the Cardinals woes (a reason we haven’t heard much about over the last couple years) is that the Bidwill Family, owners to one degree or another of this woe-begone franchise since the roaring twenties, put too much of an emphasis on character.
This is one theory that falls face-first into the middle category.
There are approximately 1800 NFL players dotted all along the fruited plain. Some are from places like golden Southern California, or beautiful, sunny Florida, or the rolling melting pot of gleaming city and rural burgs of the great Midwest, or the upper coastal regions from cosmopolitan sea to gorgeous, shining sea. (Insert big cheesy smiley face)
Others are from the hard, mean streets of East Los Angeles, or the dark, poverty riddled streets of Miami, Tampa, or Jacksonville, ..’getting where they got’ from the graffiti’d city parks and foreclosed properties of the greater Chicago area, and from the dirty, debris-strewn alleys of metropolitan New York to the gloomy, dark cloud and rain drenched byways of the upper northwest. (Insert dark, sullen, sad face).
Perception.
Many Cardinals fans, followers, and foes alike somehow got the perception that in order to be a top flight, all-pro type winning football team, you had to have a few bad apples. You had to have high character guys with a hard edge, and guys that had a hard time staying out of principals offices to police lineups.
The Cardinals couldn’t win, you see, because of their insistence as an organization, as well as member of whichever community they hung their hat, that character mattered. And there just weren’t enough ‘character guys’ in the NFL to fill a roster that also happened to play above the level of their peers.
Frankly, that perception would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad.
But stubborn ol’ Bill Bidwill, who must have as thick of skin as God ever happened to wrap a body in, dug in his heels and held to his belief. Being a winner and having talent beyond that of many of their co-workers had nothing to do with whether a player was more apt to get in trouble as a youth, or get in the volunteer line at a soup kitchen. A winner in life can be perceived as a loser, but character guys are winners from either side of perception.
It’s also no newsflash that the media focuses vastly more on what is wrong in society, than whats good about it. They don’t do this (solely) because they’re heartless, sadistic egotists soaked in real or imagined power because they wield that massive ‘pen’. They do this because, for whatever reason, society has more interest (and therefore a financial gain to be had for the purveyors) in the negative.
Therefore, while the fact is that the vast majority of NFL players, be they white or black or other, be they from Baltimore, Burtonsville or Bel Air, are good, solid citizens, it’s only natural for the media to use it’s intellectual but time/space limited influence on those that combine their football greatness, and spiced with crime blotter happenstances, whenever possible.
This whole scenario came to mind today with the announcement that two more Cardinals players were recognized for their gridiron greatness as well as their Herculean hearts. And while two more players on this team are at or near equals in their stature at their position, the perception of the two is largely different.
Larry Fitzgerald has long been acknowledged as one of the NFL’s good guys. A high character fellow that has forever had positive influences molding his present high character persona. He’s been long established as a ‘character guy’.
Darnell Dockett, on the other hand, is more known for his boisterous, tattoo’d, uncaged animal-like persona between the lines, forged (obviously) from his incredibly difficult childhood wherein his father died just four months after his mother was murdered in their home when Double D was the tender age of 13 years old.
Both players, today, were chosen as two of just 26 of those 1800-ish NFL players to the “All-Fundamentals” Team. This is a 26-man roster chosen by fellow players (NFLPA), as well as USA Football, the sport’s national governing body on youth and amateur levels. Its an award that honors “the NFL’s most fundamentally-sound players who also commit themselves to service in their communities”.
“In addition to their fundamentally-strong play, Fitzgerald and Dockett do exemplary work in their communities. The Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund (after Larry’s mother, who also passed away when he was young) raises money for urban education, HIV-AIDS and breast cancer. Dockett devotes free time to visiting local children’s hospitals and contributing to team charity function”, according to the Cardinals web site.
Perception.
A ‘good guy’ and a ‘bad boy’. Two decidedly different players from two clearly different backgrounds. Two completely different perceptions to most. Two individuals who many would perceive only alike in talent and uniform, were recognized for their similarly outstanding personal as well as professional contributions to their craft and their community. We’ve had our share of perceived good guys (Kurt Warner) and bad boys (Anquan Boldin) recognized in the desert this year, their common bond fused in their high caliber character.
Character matters. Bill Bidwill believes that, and he always has. It may show up in different colors, or be dressed in different backgrounds, but it can come from any neighborhood in America. And it does.
—SCOTT Z BRADY
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Cardinals—49ers Report Card
Published: December 15, 2009
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Oh boy, it looks like someone’s staying after school. Or spending a few days in detention. Or maybe even getting shipped off to some far-away military school! It seems our gridiron heroes tricked us, and lead us to believe they had it together, and after the stomping of the previously un-stomped Minnesota Vikings, lead us to believe that they were a disciplined bunch.
I’m not sure at this point if we, the faithful, should be the ones disciplined. I mean, isn’t it our responsibility to see through the bologna? Isn’t it up to us to support them, no matter how unruly, but still provide the tough love necessary?
Nahhhhh, this is all on them. I mean, we didn’t fumble the ball like it was dipped in pig fat. We didn’t throw ill-advised passes, miss tackles, and allow opportunity (and the division crown) slip through our mitts. This one is on our Cardinals, and therefore, I must dish out the scholastic justice. That said..
Arizona Cardinals Q&A
Published: December 14, 2009
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Scott Z: Ok Chris, we just came off one of the Big Red’s most important quality wins in…well, forever, when the Cards dismantled the Vikings Sunday night in Glendale. What surprised you the most in that game?
Chris: It was way too easy. Sure, the Vikings were due for an off game, and maybe they hadn’t faced a team all season playing as well as the Cardinals did that night, but I still expected more of a fight. Jared Allen was double-teamed and made irrelevant in the process, and the Vikings didn’t appear to attempt any adjustments to take that advantage away from the Cardinals.
Scott Z: To me, the biggest surprise has been the business-like attitude the players seem to be taking. This was obviously a huge game, and a huge win against a very good football team. But the team didn’t act like they just won the Super Bowl, where in previous years, they would have. This is a solid and mature team, and it showed following that win.
Who’s performance (OK, besides backup LT Jeremy Bridges; that’s too easy) surprised you the most, and why?
Chris: I’m a huge Tim Hightower fan as you know. I defended him all offseason when people tried to make the assumption that Beanie Wells was the present and future of the team, ignoring Tim’s existence altogether. I have been saying all along that this guy brings a lot to the table, including some things that are not quantifiable, like determination. I think his running has improved in the way it needed to this year. He doesn’t dance behind the line of scrimmage as much as he did last year, and that was his biggest weakness.
But to answer your question, Hightower surprised me the most in this game, not just for his pass protection blocking, which was a key to the game, but his nasty streak. It seems to me Tim Hightower is becoming more of a menacing presence on the field, and I am absolutely loving it. Opponents are starting to really fear this guy. He is a punisher.
Scott Z: Tim is playing himself into a fine NFL running back. Frankly, his play in general this year has been a bit of a surprise to me. He has really grown up, and while he showed signs last year, he really has blossomed this year. I don’t think Beanie Wells playing as well as he has didn’t effect Tim’s play. It has, for the better.
But I have to say that the play of the defensive line in general, and Calais Campbell in particular was a big key to this win. In the first half he was huge in putting pressure on Favre. Bryan Robinson caused trouble, and Darnell Dockett was his typical maniacal self, but C.C. quietly had a great game that kept the Vikings offense off balance all night. It was beautiful!
As they go into San Francisco on Monday night, a few questions. First, what do you think of Mike Singletary’s comments about how he “doesn’t care about the Cardinals,” in 10 words or less?
Chris: I have to be honest, I was unaware of those comments until just now. Ten words or less? Okay how about this: I guarantee a Cardinals victory now; thanks Mike.
Scott Z: I didn’t want to spend too much time on that, but I had to ask! For me, I would say: You better start caring, since you’re looking up at them.
Ok, what would you consider the “matchup to watch” on Monday night, and why?
Chris: I’d have to say the San Francisco secondary without Nate Clements, matching up against any of our receivers. Clements usually plays us tough, but frankly, Dre Bly has never scared me, and I am not sure their other DBs pose much of a challenge for our receivers. Safety Dashon Goldson is a very promising player, but from my point of view if that’s all they have to slow us down, I don’t see it happening.
Scott Z: I want to keep my eye on the trenches. The last time these teams met, San Francisco was able to get a lot of pressure on Kurt Warner. Justin Smith and Parys Haralson were able to get a sack each, but also maintained pressure the entire game. It’ll be interesting to see if Bridges or Gandy on the left side, and RT Levi Brown will be able to pick it up in the rematch, and give Warner the time he needs to throw, as well as allow play action to bring all-everything LB Patrick Willis (who dominated in the first game) closer to the line.
IF, (and I’m NOT trying to put a whammy on them, but..) if the Cardinals win Monday night, how do you think they react the following week, with the division title in their hands, playing one of the NFL’s weaker teams on the road in Detroit?
Chris: Last year I wouldn’t have said this, obviously. This year, I think the Cardinals have the ability, and by that I mean the mental focus, to win out and end their season with a 12-4 record. I really like what Ken Whisenhunt is building. He has a very methodical, patient approach to most things, and if you look at Arizona’s improvements since he has taken over it is a reflection of that.
He took an underachieving team that was loaded with talent to an 8-8 record his first year, then last year they were improved, even dominant at times, but inconsistent. This year he has his best team. They have less moments of inconsistent play and more moments of complete dominance, and they just keep maturing and building character, even in losses. They are resilient now, something you could never have associated with a Cardinals team in the past.
That said, you know there are no guarantees, and Arizona will have their hands full versus San Francisco—this is their Super Bowl in a way—but I believe THIS Cardinals team more than others is built to win…
Scott Z: This to me, goes back to my take on the post game non-celebration following last weeks win over Minnesota. I don’t see anything like last years let down, whether they clinch Monday night, or not. This is a good team, and they’re no longer surprised by success. In fact, they’re starting to expect it of themselves.
Good stuff! Thanks once again Chris!
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Cardinals-Vikings Preview: It All Comes Down to Who Wants It More
Published: December 5, 2009
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The statistics are startling. When you combine the quarterback stats of Brett Favre, a certain Hall of Famer who could have retired over two years ago (before the sea-saw unretire/retire charade), and Kurt Warner, a certain Hall of Famer who became one in the last 2 years, it nearly boggles even the most sophisticated football mind.
Chances are very good that together, before their Sunday Night Football match-up in Glendale is through, they will have thrown for over 100,000 total regular season NFL yards. 100,000 yards! That’s almost 57 miles! As you might imagine, with Favre being in the league nearly twice as many years as Warner, he has thrown for about 38 of those miles, to Warner’s 19 or so.
For a little national perspective, that’s approximately from Manhattan to Bethlehem, Pa.; Dallas to Waco, Texas; New Orleans to Biloxi, Miss.; Orlando, Fla. to Daytona Beach, Fla.; Chicago to Kenosha, WI, or San Diego to Long Beach, CA. It’s ridiculous!
They have league MVPs, Super Bowl MVP’s, and many, many ‘good guy’ awards between them. They both play on and guide extremely potent offenses, either handing off or throwing to guys almost two decades their junior. And all the hype, as you might expect, is surrounding this HoF match-up. Even NBC saw the potential beauty (as well as rating$), and ‘flexed’ it to the marquee game of the week.
Sorry Buffalo and Miami, but…well, no. No I’m not sorry. You both stink. No soup for you!
But (and there’s always a but), this classic-in-the-making may not even happen. What with Warner missing last weeks game (a loss in Tennessee) because of lingering effects from a face plant/concussion in St Louis, the Cardinals may be going with backup Matt Leinart. If that happens won’t be known until nearly game time, according to Cards head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Last year, as most Cardinals fans know, Favre tied yet another NFL record when he tossed 6 touchdown passes against our befuddled gridiron heroes in ‘Jiosey.
It was an embarrassing loss wherein the Cards defense was lit up for 56 points! Eight (8) total TDs! And that’s with Favre wearing NY Jets green, and not having Adrian Peterson and this cornucopia of young receivers behind him!
Favre has been ridiculous this year. His stats are off the charts! He has thrown 24 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. You read that right. I didn’t forget the one or the two before that three, something you’d typically see from the former Green Bay Gunslinger. The mellowed but more dangerous former mustard and relish madman has matured into the wise, experienced, and patient deadly force.
Warner never was the outwardly chance-taking kind. He’s certainly confident enough in his own abilities to throw ‘chancy’ passes, and it has obviously served him well. But as a pocket passer that runs and scrambles more akin to Brett Michaels than Brett Favre, and therefore wasn’t throwing across his body, underhanded, shot-putting, or behind the back, on the fly, etc., his true gunslinger opportunities were more limited.
Both have been on a literal tear of late, too. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find two more inferno-like QBs in the entire NFL at the moment. Yes Vince, that even includes you.
In his last 4 starts, Favre has thrown 12 touchdown passes and a quite un-Favre-like zero interceptions. In his three most recent starts, Warner has tossed 9 TDs, and the same amount of picks. Lets be honest, with these two guys, the superlatives and the hype are justified.
And while both will obviously have an impact on the outcome, its how those around them play, that will determine who wins and who loses this game. The Vikings arguably have the most talent in the NFC. The Cardinals aren’t far behind, if at all. It will depend on which Cardinals team shows up.
The football Gods saw fit to break up the Cardinals offensive line’s 41 game starting streak this week, of all weeks. Mike Gandy hasn’t recovered from a nagging groin injury, and looks to be out for Sunday night. That means former Cardinal Jeremy Bridges, who returned this year after a three year hiatus in Carolina, will be making his first start of the year. And he’ll be making it against all-everything DE Jared Allen. Yikes!
That means that the Cards must give Bridges help, or they’ll be scraping Warner off the field with a snow shovel. The Bears tried to put their LT, Orlando Pace, on an island against Allen. He answered with 2 sacks, an interception, and general havoc-wreaking.
The guys in the middle, Reggie Wells, Lyle Sendline, and Deuce Lutui, will have their hands full with the non-related Williams brothers. The last thing Warner needs is to have Allen on his back all day.
Maybe Lutui can somehow induce a punch in the face from Allen on the game’s 4th play, and get tossed from the game. That’ll help.
RB Tom Hightower is becoming a decent blocker, and expect him to chip either Allen, or help out RT Levi Brown a little, before making himself a relief valve in the flat for Warner. Don’t be surprised if he has double digit receptions, regardless of who starts for the Cardinals. Don’ be surprised to see 2 TE sets relatively often, too.
If given enough time, there’s no reason to think that Warner, or to a lesser degree Leinart, will be able to get the ball to Larry Fitzgerald (who still yearns to beat his hometown Vikings), Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. Both the top two should, and all three can have a very good game. You won’t see a lot deep, but if Hightower and Beanie Wells can keep the safeties honest, there will be a few shots at big plays. RAC yards will be especially important.
On the other side of the ball, I expect a huge game from recently beastly DT Darnell Dockett. Double D, Nine-O, or whatever he’s going by this week, wants to show the world he’s the next defensive lineman deserving of ridiculous Albert Haynesworth-type money (how’s that working out for you, Daniel Snyder?).
He’ll want to show the country, as well as his peers ..and their coaches, and Allen, and Haynesorth, and ..well, everybody, that he’s just as good as the more marquee Allen, and the best D-lineman on the field Sunday night.
He’s been sneaking up the chart for a Pro Bowl invite, and this could be his last big chance to show his stuff before a national audience until…well, next Monday night in San Francisco.
Favre, as noted above, has been fabulous in avoiding picks this year. But he IS Brett Favre, and he has been prone to 20+ interception seasons over the years. I’m not saying that just tossing three picks this year for Brett Favre is a fluke in that regard…
Well wait, yes I am, because it is a fluke. That’s not ‘mean old biased Cardinals fan-hater’ saying that, the record book says it. His history says it. While you can’t prop 488 touchdown passes enough, you can’t say this year isn’t a fluke from a guy that has thrown over 300 interceptions, either.
I have the feeling with a little pressure from Dockett, fellow D-lineman Calais Campbell, and with an occasional LB (or our All Pro safety Adrian Wilson) blitzing, this could be the game that those picks he prone to, will come to light.
A blindside cornerback blitz or two wouldn’t surprise me either. The Cards may blitz a little more with Favre this week than they did against Vince Young last week. But like last week against Chris Johnson, they have the NFL’s other best running back in Adrian Peterson to respect, too. So they won’t go blitz crazy.
I see at least one, and maybe 2 picks from the ancient yet golden arm of Mr. Favre. And it won’t be solely based on whatever pressure the Big Red D can muster.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will look to take advantage of the youth and relative inexperience of WRs rookie Percy Harvin and 3rd-year pro Sydney Rice, respectively.
As I mentioned last time I wrote about this guy, Rice recently had a three game stretch wherein he caught more passes for more yards, than he did in his first two seasons combined. I see DRC with at least one pick.
I’m obviously basing this on Warner starting, in general. But it pretty much applies if Leinart plays too. He was able to take 50 percent of the snaps with the starters this week, and last week’s performance should give him the confidence to build on. The only real advantage would be that, as a southpaw, Leinart wouldn’t have Allen on his blindside. But this will be a better, more meaningful game, if Warner gets the nod.
The defense kept the Titans out of the end-zone for the most part last week, and they’ll need to step up again and do it this week. No one cares how many yards they give up, as long as most end in punts and field goal attempts. If Leinart starts, the defense will just have to step up that much more, and they have the players to do it.
The team that wins, regardless of who starts, will be the team that wants it more. These are two pretty similar teams in talent. Minnesota and Favre have worked hard to get to that lofty 10-1 record. Statistically, Favre is having the best year of his superstar career, as his equally lofty 112.+ QB rating will attest to.
Forget the fact that 40 percent of those Viking wins were against teams with a combined 4-29 record, and 60 percent against a combined 12-43 mark. Forget that a miracle pass as time ran out against San Francisco, and a shanked, otherwise very makeable field goal as time ran out against Baltimore, turned two of their would-be-losses into 20 percent more of their W’s. Forget that the only team they played with a winning record (besides Favre’s former mates in Grudge-Bowls I & II – 2009), beat them by double digits.
This is the reigning NFC Champs against a team many say will unseat them. This is Hall of Famer, former MVP sizzling-hot Brett Favre vs Hall of Famer, former MVP, inferno-hot Kurt Warner (maybe). This is a game that showed so much promise, it was flexed to the national stage. This should be a hell of a football game! I can hardly wait! That being said…
The Brady Hunch:
Cardinals 31
Vikings 29
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Arizona Cardinals’ Road Test Just Got Tougher; Kurt Warner Out, Matt Leinart In
Published: November 29, 2009
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Cardinals’ quarterback Kurt Warner, who has been nothing short of spectacular ever since that five interception outing against Carolina a month ago, has been ruled out for today’s game against the Titans in Tennessee. Warner, it seems, woke up with blurred vision this morning, and was made inactive by head coach Ken Whizenhunt.
Warner took himself out of the Rams game last week after a face-plant gave him a slight concussion.
In his place will be back-up Matt Leinart. Ironically, Leinart was chosen just behind Titans resurgent QB Vince Young, who has lead Tennessee to four straight wins. I’m sure Leinart would like nothing better than to perform at his best. Not only for personal and team reasons, but to possibly silence the ever growing list of critics.
Well Matt, here’s your chance!
This will be the first time in the past 42 games that Kurt Warner didn’t start at QB for the Big Red. Cards WR’s Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston shouldn’t have any problems related to the southpaw, except that Warner took almost all the snaps in practice with the first team this week.
I/we, of course, wish Leinart the best in his quest to extend the Cards road winning streak to six!
GBR
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Wells, Cardinals Romp and Rolle Over Seahawks 31-20
Published: November 16, 2009
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Wells, Cardinals Romp and Rolle Over Seahawks 31-20
Published: November 16, 2009
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Arizona Cardinals Face Another Week, Another Hurdle
Published: November 14, 2009
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I don’t speak meteorological here, but as sure as the nations fairest weather resides here in the Valley of the Sun once October arrives, so do the fairest weather fans. If the Cardinals started the season at 3-5, or worse, you can bet that many wearing Cardinal red in September would be digging in their closet for their “second favorite” team’s jerseys at 2-6.
Consistency.
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