Now or Never for Matt Leinart and the Cardinals
Things can change so quickly in the NFL, for any team, for better or for worse. Unfortunately, the Arizona Cardinals certainly are on the negative side of those two faces.
While the San Francisco 49ers are improving and are priming to reclaim the NFC West Crown, the Cardinals are trying to hang on to it after losing four of their stars, all of whom were big reasons why the Cardinals won the last two division titles and made it to the Super Bowl two seasons ago.
For one, Kurt Warner has retired. He was the team leader for the last two seasons and was perhaps the biggest reason for the Cardinals recent success. When he retired, you just have to wonder if the franchise’s era of prosperity ended too. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt and the franchise begged Warner to stay, offering him a lighter offseason schedule, and of course, Warner was set to make $11.5 million this season.
General Manager (GM) Rod Graves made some moves that Cardinals fans will be biting their tongues over. First, the team released Antrel Rolle rather than offering him the $4 million bonus he was due. Graves also decided not to use the franchise tag on Karlos Dansby, letting him walk to free agency. But perhaps the worst of all, Graves continually refused to offer Anquan Boldin a new contract and traded him to Baltimore instead.
The team did make some good acquisitions though. They brought in Joey Porter to help their pass rush. They signed Pro-Bowl guard Alex Faneca and drafted Dan Williams and Daryl Washington to strengthen the defence.
Now all those holes will have to be filled by unproven guys, among them, Matt Leinart, who has the toughest job and the biggest shoes to fill in leading the offence. Leinart’s problem so far in his career hasn’t been football IQ or maturity. He has both those things and he got to learn even more from Warner. His problem is his skills. He has decent arm strength, but may have trouble leading a highly potent offence.
At receiver, Larry Fitzgerald is one of the best in the league. His ability to catch in double coverage always makes him a threat. He also has the best hands in the league and is very big, making him an easy, reliable target for any quarterback to fare with. Leinart also has Steven Breaston, who will now move up to Boldin’s old No. 2 spot, and Early Doucet is also a very capable receiver.
What Leinart will need to help him out is better pass protection than what Warner got. One of the things that made Warner so successful was his ability to release the ball quickly. That masked certain weaknesses in the offensive line (O-line). Leinart will either have to develop a similar habit or the front five will have to be better.
Adding to the O-line are some good blocking tight ends in Stephen Spach, Ben Patrick and Anthony Utecht. They are all fantastic blockers and will have to help in the running game as well given the Cardinals weak fullback choices.
Many are hoping that Beanie Wells could be that explosive runner that Tim Hightower isn’t. Hightower is a good third-down back, but Wells will have to carry the load and be a help to Leinart if he struggles in the passing game.
The defence’s pass rush was surprisingly good last year, registering 43 sacks. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis certainly did a tremendous job in turning Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell into monsters on the line.
The Cardinals will hope that Joey Porter and Cody Brown can provide that spark at linebacker. Porter though does carry some character issues and may cause some disharmony as he did in Miami. Nevertheless, he is still an effective pass-rusher.
Adrian Wilson at safety is a great run-stopper, but has weak coverage skills, while Kerry Rhodes is a free-ranging zone coverage type.
At cornerback, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is one of the best as he can play full-time man coverage without any help from a safety.
The problem for the Cardinals may be stopping the run. They will be relying heavily on rookie Dan Williams at nose tackle and Alan Branch on the line.
On special teams, the Cardinals let Neil Rackers walk and brought in Jay Feely, who was released by the Jets. Feely doesn’t have Rackers’ range, but he is more reliable in pressure situations.
The Cardinals drafted Andre Roberts to assume punt-returning responsibilities as Breaston is now a starter. Also, LaRod Stephens-Howling is still a good option on kick returns.
While the team still has some very strong parts, they are still weak at linebacker. The offence may be average this year unless Leinart plays like the quarterback he was drafted to be. Luckily, the Cardinals still play in a weak NFC West. However, the window may still be closing on the franchise’s run at the top.
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