Arizona Cardinals

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Bad Luck And Just...Bad

2005-12-08T16:03:00.000-05:00

This Arizona Cardinals have long been thought of as..well...bad. It has been among the the poor performers for decades. Yet bad luck has also played its part.

Top first-round draft picks, top free agents and re-signed 'star' players have not done the business for them in terms of investment. Things seemed to be getting better for the Cardinals last year, when Arizona drafted Larry Fitzgerald, third overall. Fitzgerald had a great rookie year and in his second season he has 1,128 receiving yards, leads the NFL in catches of twenty yards or longer and is tied in th NFC with 82 receptions. Then there was free-agent Bertrand Berry who became a Pro Bowler with 14.5 sacks.

Then Berry suffered a season-ending injury that required surgery and landed him on injured reserve. Next, kicker Neil Rackers, who was setting all kinds of accuracy records tore a calf muscle late last week. He missed last Sunday's win at San Francisco but is lobbying hard to be active this weekend against Washington for short and mid range kicking.

Two months ago first-round pick Antrel Rolle, injured a knee after only three games as a pro. He returned to practice Wednesday and may play against the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Cardinals have been dreadfully thin at corner during his absence.

It's not a complete disaster - these players will return - but others need to step up or else a downtrodden franchise is only going to go one way.

Cardinals In Free Fall

2005-11-10T11:43:00.000-05:00

The Arizona Cardinals' year is fading quickly - surprising for a team that had such lofty expectations in August.

Arizona visit Detroit on Sunday with starting quarterback Kurt Warner, who is 0-4 as the Cardinals' starter, even though Josh McCown is 2-2 as starter. "I don't think any coach wants to change," Green said after Wednesday's practice. "If you're winning, people rarely change. If you're not winning, then sometimes you do change."

Green added this regarding Kurt Warner - "He had missed a bunch of games. I don't think you can knock the rust off as well as you'd like to in one game. I think he thinks he'll play better this week, and hopefully he will."

Warner said - "the plan is to get this thing moving in the right direction and to stand pat with all our guys. No coach ever wants to shuffle guys in and out and try to find the best mixture. You want to know it and have it and play with it."

Green clearly is on the verge of losing his status as an offensive guru - he doesn't like it, he doesn't like being in a 2-6 year and he seems unnaturally at a loss on how to extract himself and his team from the situation.

Warner returned after five weeks out to throw three interceptions against Seattle in a 33-19 loss last Sunday.

Cardinals Woes On Green?

2005-11-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

With their very poor running game, too much pressure is being placed upon Cardinal's quarterback Josh McCown to make plays. The problems are up front - and that's just the beginning;

Right tackle Fred Wakefield, who started the past four games instead of Oliver Ross (injured) has not done well and appears to be having problems blocking the run. This is a new position for him and the sub-standard performance comes as no real surprise - he just maybe should not be in that position.

Has Dennis Green made a big mistake in cutting Anthony Clement and L.J. Shelton in the off-season? Neither player was was super star, but both are better than unfortunate Wakefield.

Arizona Zone

2005-10-27T12:19:00.000-05:00

Arizona didn't have it all their own way at first. The Titans took control of this game early with a touchdown on their first drive. But a field goal and a David Macklin interception return (60 yards) in the second quarter changed the game. The Tennessee defense held until McCown was able to pick out Fitzgerald with the pocket collapsing. Fitzgerald finished with four catches for 71 yards and that score to take down the Titans 20-10.

McCown said after the game; "I had a shirt when I was a kid, because I played so much basketball, that said when you're off, shoot until you're on. That's kind of the mentality. You just keep fighting through it until you get into a rhythm."