Cardinals replace Leinart with Anderson as starter for Week 3 of preseason
Matt Leinart’s coming out party for the 2010 season has taken a hit. Coach Ken Whisenhunt has announced that Arizona will start Derek Anderson in Saturday’s game against the Chicago Bears.
The change is a result of Leinart’s play against the Tennessee Titans on Monday night. In three series against the Titans, Leinart failed to convert a first down, going three-and-out on all three of his series.
Anderson entered the game and threw 11-19 for 105 yards. Anderson converted for three first downs but still failed to lead the Cardinals to a touchdown, settling for a field goal in the second quarter. He had the Cardinals inside the 10-yard line but the drive stalled and the Cardinals would not score their first touchdown until the fourth quarter after Anderson had been pulled from the game.
With the poor play of their quarterbacks so far this preseason, fans had been lobbying for Kurt Warner to come out of retirement. Warner insisted that he is done with football and will not come back. Unlike Brett Favre, he meant it when he said he was retired.
Leinart still has yet to live up to expectations. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2006 draft but he lost his starting job to Kurt Warner after he was injured in the 2007 season. Warner led the Cardinals to back-to-back NFC West titles in 2008 and 2009, leading the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance in the 2008 season.
When Warner retired in January, the door was open for Leinart to win over coaches and fans and to revive his career. He has failed to do so thus far this season as his starting job heading into the season is now in dire jeopardy. The job is now Anderson’s to win and if his audition goes well this Saturday he’ll likely start the season. You’d have to wonder after whether the Cardinals will cut their losses and cut Matt Leinart as his development has not gone the way they’d hoped.
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