ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski Picks Arizona Cardinals To Finish Behind 49ers and Seahawks
"Arizona Cardinals -- Uhh, what happened to the up-and-coming, perennial playoff-caliber Cardinals? They were here a minute ago. And then … Anquan Boldin left. Antrel Rolle left. Karlos Dansby left. Kurt Warner retired. His replacement, fifth-year QB Matt Leinart, imploded. It's hard to win if nobody on your team, including the head coach, thinks you can lead. That's basically what happened to Leinart, who failed to inspire confidence or first downs during the preseason. So Ken Whisenhunt cut Leinart and promoted Derek Anderson to starter. Whooee."
Yet another "expert" barley skimming the surface of a very complex offseason for the Arizona Cardinals. He's forgetting everyone who left, sans Warner, has been replaced with someone as skilled. What do we know know though, we're just the guys who watch the team every week and follow their every move.
over 1 year ago
Greg Esposito
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Get 'em Greg
Be much more vicious though….I just wonder the logic of some of these guys…Let’s take our defense for instance…It wasnt good enough to close out or keep us in games against high octane offenses…So instead of keeping the same ol’ people they shook it up a bit…A bit of a crapshoot no doubt, but in my most humble opinion it seems Whiz and Co. are betting the pass line…little chance of risk…moderate chance of reward, fact of the matter is Berry and o’keafor never belonged as OLB’s we now finally have the pieces of the WHOLE puzzle put together for a 3-4 defense….as for as offense goes…WOW everyone is shocked that Warner retiredd (Dont get me wrong I wish warner could one up Mr. Indecision himself) Take one good look at our offensive line…do they look like small nimble pocket protectors? If you say yes (please feel free to go skydiving without a parachute). Hightower is solid all around but not great at anything…Beanie hasnt proven he’s anything more than a high reward-high liability runner, and LSH looked awfully sharp this year so far (counting it’s only preseason, but we all know he’s an ACE absolute ACE at gunner on Special teams) and the most talented (in their own way) WR’s in the NFL hands down…As long beach has pointed out Leinart not firing bullets downfield only hurts our running game….Our Qb situation is up in the air…i think they were eyeballing Skelton before Warner retired, and Warner was going to groom him for a year, but he left early…Either way we’re following a cowher blueprint….We’ll never have a 14 or 15 win seasons, but we sure as he!! will be getting our shot at the lombardi every post season year in and year out.
o-o these idiots count us outcause warner retired
but the thing is they dont get that DA has been getting better each game. With that said I predict not only do we win the division but a 11-12 win season isupon us. Reason is this team is too good not to win and go to the playoffs for that trophy. But hey what do I know as almost every analyst thinks we, Arizona are barking mad for picking the cardz for a three-peat
Isn't it just as bad
..to make claims based on the preason? I believe in the Cards, but 11-12 wins? Seriously? Based on last season and comparing notes, I’m aiming for a 8-9 wins season and still winning the division, but it will a tightly contested battle with the 49ers. That’s all I can really “claim” without seeing any action and that’s stretching it.
Basically, we took out Leinart, who could have given us a 7-9 wins season, for Anderson, who could give us a 5-11 wins season. While it’s certainly not impossible to get 11 wins and I am behind Anderson all the way, there’s still too much rolling of the dice.
Seriously...
We’ve improved one win per season under Whisenhunt and I dont expect much to change now. We couldnt get it done with what we had so we kept the most productive’s ones let the teeter-toter elite to pro bowler level players walk, and brought in some new faces that want a chance to prove some doubters wrong…we also didnt have an upheaval of our coaching staff like last year…and I’m soo sick of everyone saying the 49ers have improved this offseason…How exactly can you say some popular draft picks are an improvement, we picked a popular first rounder 4 seasons ago…Look how that went.
Accuracy of fact isn’t relevant to sports media. Never has been.
It’s about getting the viewership/listenership or even about the almighty modern click.
Most of the people who aren’t Cards fans aren’t so interested in the nuances of the moves; they just want them to gloss over it and move on to some in depth stuff about their team.
I let the world do its thing and know that I know better (without still knowing a thing at all).
Gene has no clue
Any person who believes the gutted out roster of the Seahawks will be better than the Cardinals has no idea what is going on within the division. The comments people make who forecast teh Cards will be terrible just showcase their ignorance with every word. I think we will have to fight it out with the 49ers for the division title and will take it with 9 wins to the 49ers 8.
Haven't followed the Cards' offseason as closely as you guys
…But the general sentiment here is pretty interesting. I agree that the media is too dismissive, and that the team’s coaching and scheme are strong enough to ensure a certain measure of success.
However, the argument that everyone who left has been replaced by someone just as skilled seems overly optimistic to me, particularly in the cases of Dansby and Boldin (and this is coming from a huge Daryl Washington fan, and someone who thinks that Fitz/Breaston/Doucet are a fantastic WR corps). Am I missing something?
Missing, maybe?
Rolle left…He was a playmaker and the biggest liability on defense…Replaced with someone who has proven better in coverage which is what we needed…Time will tell if Washington is an improvment over dansby…Dansby was more of a coverage LB not exactly a fit for an inside 3-4 backer…We proved Boldin was a luxury not a necessity….see our record without him…and last but not least…Warner is the only one that left a void…Which was inevitable
my take
Boldin left-Doucet replaces, no big deal
Rolle left, Rhodes replaces- a slight downgrade
Dansby left, not shure who replaces-theres a though one
Warner left, Anderson replaces, ouch
end close race between 49ers and cardinals
dont eb discouraged by the caps avatar, im a cardinals fan, just traped in DC
Hard to say
Rhodes is a downgrade he was a pro bowler….Rolle wasnt all the great, and he was a first round bust that they converted to try and get SOME production out of him
well...
look I know one of you think that me saying 11-12 wins is out there but listen to me when I say weve drastically improved. Yes we had some star quality players leave and you can not replace a Kurt Warner but weve replaced those stars with other stars of equal to better talent. Our draft picks have already shown us they are better than the picks of others not only in the pre-season and the combine. We have improved 1 win every year and that’s a fact. Our defense is going to be better at turnovers and our offense is still built to score so you do the math. Defense wins and whisenhunt knows this. Forget what mike says on mike&mike and what other people like cowherd says cause they dont respect us as a team. When was the last time the 49ers won anything on an unproven quarterback? Or an offense line for that matter. Just watch and youll understand after game 1 this week.


















