9-18-11: Arizona Cardinals Bird Droppings - Gameday

Time for some links to start off your morning. And after the Diamondbacks, ASU, and U of A lost yesterday, gotta hope that the Cards can get a win today to help make up for that.

Arizona Cardinals seek a boost from ugly Week 1 win
As the Cardinals showered, changed clothes and prepared to leave town Friday, ESPN just happened to be showing highlights from Arizona's victory over the Panthers in Week 1. Panthers highlights, that is: Quarterback Cam Newton throwing a 77-yard touchdown pass, then another for 26 yards, then diving over the goal line from the 1. "I didn't know Carolina won the (expletive) game," said a voice in one corner. They didn't, of course. The Cardinals won 28-21, although they made more than enough mistakes to lose it. And in a twisted bit of logic, it might have been the best way to win a season opener, because no one should be overconfident entering Sunday's game against the Redskins at FedEx Field.

Arizona Sports: Cardinals vs. Redskins predictions - ArizonaSports.com
It's a battle of undefeated teams as the Cardinals visit the Washington Redskins. Former NFC East rivals, the teams are each hoping to go from worst-to-first this year. What is your prediction? Do you completely disagree with any of our staff's predictions and why?

Mailbag: More appreciation for Kolb, please - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Simeon from Phoenix thinks there was too much praise for Cam Newton and not enough for Kolb following the Cardinals' 28-21 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1.

Wired - Calais Campbell vs CAR
Cardinals defensive lineman Calais Campbell was wired for sound against the Carolina Panthers. Check out the sound and fury of the NFL!

Options Emerge in the Passing Game
After lots of training camp speculation about the wide receiver position behind Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals and QB Kevin Kolb found the options to be plentiful in week one against the Panthers. Paul Calvisi explains.

Building the Gameplan @ WAS
Ron Wolfley breaks down what was successful for the Cardinals on offense in week one and also looks at the NFL debut of CB Patrick Peterson.

Cards Fan Cheats Death, Lives Dream
Cardinals fan Jason Taylor was the victim of a random violent act that nearly took his life. Watch Taylor's incredible story of survival and join him as he experiences a special week with his favorite football team.

Arizona Sports News:

Padres use home runs to hand Diamondbacks third straight loss
Just how interesting things have gotten for the Diamondbacks in the National League West over the past few days depends entirely on your level of cynicism. Those who have been skeptical of this upstart team all along might be wondering if it can hold onto a lead that is down to five games with 10 to go. But for the believers, it's perhaps nothing more than false alarm, a laughable little worry that will be forgotten in a matter of days. Not long after the Diamondbacks lost their third consecutive game, this one by a 3-1 margin to the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, the team they're trying to fend off, the San Francisco Giants, won for the seventh consecutive time, beating the Colorado Rockies 6-5. Don't think the Diamondbacks haven't noticed.

ASU football suffers first loss of season to Illinois
Last week, at home in front of 70,000 fans, Arizona State found a way to play through its mistakes, winning in overtime, looking like a team that was ready to push its past of always coming up short from memory. Life is different on the road. Margin for error, smaller. A visiting team has to not only seize the moment, but every opportunity. ASU, a program seeking its first bowl invitation since the 2007 regular season, simply isn't there yet. Saturday's 17-14 loss to Illinois isn't a season-breaker. The No. 22 Sun Devils have plenty of time to pursue its dreams of a BCS Bowl. What it was, however, was proof that learning to win requires more than just cashing in on an opposing kicker's missed field goal, as ASU did last week against Missouri.

Stanford makes big plays to rout Arizona Wildcats football
Arizona coach Mike Stoops wanted his team to leave all its hesitancy in Stillwater, Okla. The slow starts to games from the end of last season and the battering at Oklahoma State were not going to be welcome at Arizona Stadium on Saturday night. The slow start got past security as UA did not get a first down until it trailed 10-0. The attack was back in the Wildcats to a fault, leaving UA to get burned on critical plays to turn a half of decent battle against sixth-ranked Stanford into a Pac-12 inaugural 37-10 loss to forget.

Candice Dupree, Diana Taurasi help Phoenix Mercury avoid elimination in WNBA first round
As teams do when facing the threat of elimination, the Mercury fought. Through screens. For rebounds. For survival. The Mercury needed a win Saturday night. And they played like it. The Mercury extended their season with a 92-83 win over the Seattle Storm on Saturday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals in front of 9,356 at US Airways Center.

NFL News:

Updated: NFC West roided-out rosters - NFC West Blog - ESPN
A few roster-related thoughts after making available for download updated 26-column rosters breaking down players who have spent time on NFC West rosters over the last three-plus seasons:

Fans vote Randall Cobb rookie of the week | ProFootballTalk
Apparently, Panthers fans were so giddy about rookie quarterback Cam Newton’s performance in his debut that they forgot to vote for him in NFL.com’s Pepsi Rookie of the Week contest.

Devin Hester on kickoff changes: "That rule is pointless" | ProFootballTalk
Bears return man Devin Hester thinks it was stupid of the NFL to move kickoffs up five yards, and he’s not afraid to say so. After a Week One that saw more touchbacks than usual but also more touchdown returns than usual, Hester said nothing really changed, and that the NFL passed a rule that was ostensibly about player safety but didn’t really have an impact.

Bears defense attends funeral for Urlacher’s mother | ProFootballTalk
Bears defensive end Julius Pepper spent some of his fortune on a great cause Saturday. Neil Hayes of the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Peppers rented a private plane so that the majority of the Bears defense could attend the funeral of Brian Urlacher’s mother, Lavoyda Lenard.

Colts won’t be tanking to get Andrew Luck | ProFootballTalk
Though it would be fitting for a quarterback named Luck to play for a team with a horseshoe on its helmet, anyone who thinks that the Colts will deliberately lose games to win a shot at the Stanford quarterback needs to think again. The so-called “Suck for Luck” campaign, which fans of several teams are at least pondering early in the season, makes no sense in Indy, for several reasons.