9-27-11: Arizona Cardinals Bird Droppings

Time for some links to start off your weekend, mostly about the offensive struggles from last weekend.

Arizona Cardinals News:

Offensively Frustrated
Cards lament mistakes that prevent points in Seattle

Arizona Cardinals' Ken Whisenhunt remains confident after loss
Ken Whisenhunt must have been a dishwasher in his previous life. Most of his comments after each of the Cardinals' first three games - which has left them at a very humble 1-2 - have been about how much he and his team must "clean things up." It was more of the same Monday, a day after the Cardinals fell 13-10 in Seattle against a very suspect Seahawks team, which ruined another potential golden opportunity for Arizona.

Arizona Cardinals' Beanie Wells insists it was 'smart' to sit
Cardinals running back Beanie Wells - who, fair or not, has been saddled with the oft-injured tag - insisted Monday that it was a "smart" decision to sit out Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks. The hamstring pull Wells suffered Thursday in practice was enough, he said, to play it safe and not risk losing more time, especially considering the good start he had in the season's first two weeks.

Missed opportunities costly again for Cardinals - ArizonaSports.com
Another week, another close loss for the Arizona Cardinals. In a game many thought would right the ship, the Cardinals came up short for the second week in a row losing to the Seattle Seahawks 13-10. The most disappointing part of the second consecutive loss for the Cardinals wasn't due to lack of preparation or a bad call that turned the game. For coach Ken Whisenhunt the most disappointing part was the missed opportunities.

Offense stumbles in Arizona's second road loss - ArizonaSports.com
For the second week in a row, the Arizona Cardinals blew a chance to win late on the road. This time, the offense shoulders the biggest share of the blame. Coach Ken Whisenhunt called the performance of quarterback Kevin Kolb ``uneven'' in Sunday's 13-10 loss at Seattle. The Cardinals were driving for a potential game-winning TD or at least a game-tying field goal and were at the Seahawks 36-yard line when Kolb's pass was intercepted by Kam Chancellor at the Seattle 25 with 1:04 to play. Whisenhunt noted that Kolb still is a relatively inexperienced quarterback, making his ninth NFL start and third in his new system with Arizona.

Whisenhunt pleased with Smith, hopes to have Wells, Hyphen back - ArizonaSports.com
The Cardinals were thin at running back Sunday against the Seahawks. LaRod Stephens-Howling was out for a second straight week because of a hand injury, while the Cardinals were also without the services of starter Beanie Wells, who was pulled before the game thanks to hamstring tightness. This obviously hurt the Cardinals since the two remaining running backs were Chester Taylor and Alfonso Smith. Taylor had been with the team for less than a month and Smith was seeing his first extended action in a regular season game. The tandem rushed for 74 yards and no touchdowns and Smith also had three separate chances to convert on third and one, failing each time.

Ken Whisenhunt still confident in Jay Feely - ArizonaSports.com
In his first season with the Cardinals, Jay Feely missed three field goals. In 16 games. The kicker has already equaled that number in just three games this season, and his pair of misses Sunday in Seattle proved to be rather costly, especially the 49-yard attempt he left short with the Cardinals down three and roughly five minutes left in the game. The Cardinals ended up losing the game 13-10.

Heap laments Cardinals struggles on offense - ArizonaSports.com
The Arizona Cardinals found themselves in a familiar position Sunday. They had the ball late in the 4th quarter with a chance to take the lead, and again the team turned it over. This time it was a Kevin Kolb interception rather than a Chansi Stuckey fumble that ended any chance of winning the game. While the loss could be blamed on kicker Jay Feely for missing two field goals, one thing was very clear in the game: the offense struggled. Tight end Todd Heap told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo that the offensive woes were due to the team's lack of rhythm.

Is Beanie Wells a dependable player? - ArizonaSports.com
Beanie Wells surprised football fans when it was announced early Sunday that he would not play against the Seahawks due to a nagging hamstring injury. The move that put Wells on the bench was probably more precautionary than anything else. The running back was a topic of conversation on Monday's Doug and Wolf show on Arizona Sports 620.

Word From the Birds Blog - Black is back Sunday
For everyone who has been asking — and it seems like I have been asked quite a bit — the Cardinals will be wearing their black jerseys again Sunday against the Giants. The Cards are trying to get into the win column with the third alternate jersey, having fallen while wearing them last year against the Bucs and 49ers.

azcentral.com blogs - Kent Somers - Day after Seahawks loss
Coach Ken Whisenhunt didn't have much of an injury update on Monday, although it turns out he could have added himself: he admitted he was still stinging from the 13-10 loss to Seattle.

Four Down Territory: Cardinals at Seahawks - ArizonaSports.com
A look at four things from the loss.

The honeymoon is over for Kevin Kolb - ArizonaSports.com
Two months ago Arizona Cardinals fans got a brand new toy that had them so excited they couldn't wait to get home and play with it. It was a toy they hadn't had in over a year and knew that once they had this toy all their other toys would work so much better. The toy was a QB named Kevin Kolb, and the Cardinals had to trade a toy they already had to get the new one. The toy they traded was a really good toy, that sometimes would frustrate the fans, but they knew in the long run they kind of needed the new one.

Arizona Cardinals-Seattle Seahawks play of the game
The setup: The Cardinals were trailing 13-10. It was 3rd and 12 from the Seattle 36-yard line. There was 1:15 left in the game.

azcentral.com blogs - Kent Somers - Post-game spread
It's early. I keep writing those words. And I almost always follow them with "but..." Here's the "But" from Sunday: The loss puts the Cardinals in a difficult situation. They are 1-2 against Cam Newton, Rex Grossman and Tavaris Jackson. They needed to come out of that three-game stretch with a winning record. Now, they face the Giants and Vikings before the bye. The schedule gets much tougher after that. A couple of wins fixes everything. A 1-1 record keeps hope alive. Lose two and you're 1-4 and looking the Steelers, Ravens and Eagles in the next month. Offensive failures were the story of the 13-10 loss to the Seahawks, so play-calling is going to be criticized.

Word From the Birds Blog - Following up with Whiz
A few quick notes after coach Ken Whisenhunt’s Monday presser and before the locker room opens up and we have some player availability:

Silver linings: Cardinals at Seahawks - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The facts: The Arizona Cardinals fell to 1-2 after suffering a 13-10 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in Week 3.

Alfonso Smith gains experience, increased confidence - ArizonaSports.com
Arizona Cardinals running back Alfonso Smith gained some valuable experience in his NFL debut against the Seahawks on Sunday. "It was a great opportunity for me. I just wanted to go out there and show everybody I can play in this league," said Smith after practice on Monday. Smith carried the ball 17 times for 54 yards rushing and also caught three passes for 21 yards.

On illegal hits: Heap shot no cheap shot? - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Kam Chancellor's huge hit on Arizona Cardinals tight end Todd Heap during the Seattle Seahawks' 13-10 victory Sunday drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. "It was as clean a hit as you can get," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told reporters Monday. I've been going through the rulebook and replaying the hit before making a judgment. I've also watched again the video NFL officials showed to players differentiating between illegal hits on defensive players and hits delivered within the rules. Carroll appears to be right. I can't imagine what officials could have instructed Chancellor to do differently.

Cards Daily - Dealing with a Tough Loss
Even a day later the loss to the Seattle Seahawks is still painful. Coach Whisenhunt and others talk about what the Cardinals must do in order to right the ship.

In the Red Zone with Ken Whisenhunt - SEA Review
Coach Ken Whisenhunt joined the Doug and Wolf Show on Arizona Sports 620 to review the loss against the Seattle Seahawks.

Arizona Sports News:

Arizona Diamondbacks fall to Los Angeles Dodgers
The Diamondbacks missed a chance to move a step closer to home-field advantage in the division series, but that seemed secondary to the condition of star right fielder Justin Upton, who was held out of the starting lineup a day after getting hit on the head by a fastball from San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum. The Diamondbacks called the decision not to play him "precautionary" and gave no specific details as to why he was held out other than to say he felt slightly amiss. Neither Upton nor manager Kirk Gibson sounded overly concerned about the situation, even with only two games left in the regular season and the playoffs set to begin Saturday. "I just talked to him during (batting practice) and stuff, and it didn't seem like he was totally right," Gibson said after the Diamondbacks and Daniel Hudson lost 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field.

NFL News:

The passing yardage insanity, in one stat | ProFootballTalk
Ross Tucker wrote something last week that has stuck in my head since. Which means it must be true. "Yards passing [are] quickly becoming the most overrated stat in the NFL," he wrote. We couldn’t agree more. This is like the steroid era in baseball, except yards are inflated instead of home runs. We need to re-calibrate what is truly an exceptional quarterback performance. 300 yards, so long a clean benchmark for a big game, means so much less.

Michael Vick Injury: Hand Not Broken, Injury Called 'Hand Contusion' - SBNation.com
Michael Vick was removed from the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 3 game against the New York Giants due to a hand injury, which the team said was a suspected broken non-throwing hand. Now, new reports have emerged stating that the hand is not broken and that Vick has a 'hand contusion'. NFL.com reporter Adam Kaplan passed on the news via twitter.

NFL Week 3 Debrief: Somehow, The Bills And Lions Keep Winning - SBNation.com
The Jets and Patriots lose? The Lions and Bills are undefeated? Michael Vick goes down ... again? We review another week of expecting the unexpected in our Week 3 NFL Debrief.

DeAngelo Hall Rips Coaches, Refs After Getting Burned By Dez Bryant - SBNation.com
Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall was burned by Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant on the final drive of Monday's game, giving up a 30-yard reception on 3rd-and-21. It was a game-saving play, one that helped set up Dan Bailey's sixth field goal of the game, which sealed Dallas' 18-16 win. Adding insult to injury, Hall was flagged for a facemask penalty while making the tackle, giving Dallas another 15 yards. After the game, Hall ripped the defensive play-calling that he felt put him in position to fail, as well as the official who threw the flag. From the AP:

The View From The Stands Of The Jaguars-Panthers Monsoon - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
The Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers squared off on Sunday, and then a monsoon broke out. Jags offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter had a hard time calling plays in the weather. "That was severe weather conditions for a while for both teams. If you were in long yardage, it was just ... We had difficulty just getting the snap. Just the condition of the footballs. I don't know how many footballs we take into a game, but we ran out." Thanks to the power of Twitter, we have a picture of just how ridiculous it was for the fans in Charlotte actually attending the game.

...But Why Jerry Rice? WHY? - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
I've never felt strongly one way or the other about benefits for retired NFL players, but between this video game and that Deion Sanders fairy commercial, we may have to do something soon, lest NFL Hall-of-Famers guys ruin every single memory from my childhood.

Mark Sanchez Suffers 'Minor Break' In Nose, Will Continue To Play - SBNation.com
Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has a "minor break" in his nose, the team announced today. He's not expected to miss any time, and should be able to play without any limitation.

NFL Week 3, Best And Worst Plays: Comeback Victories And Missed Opportunities - SBNation.com
From comeback victories to missed opportunities, here's the top-five best and worst plays from Week 3 of the 2011 NFL season.

Tony Romo Presents Cowboys DERPFEST 2011 - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
Tony Romo's passer rating was just 70.9, but all things considered he had a pretty good Monday night. Playing with an injured rib and a recently punctured lung, he put the "Tony Romo: choker" meme to rest -- for this week -- and replaced it with "Tony Romo: competitor" in a win against the Redskins. But who wants to live in a world where Romo is more than a walking punchline? We cannot abide all this Romo love without providing a little schadenfreude. So fire up the Benny Hill theme song and hit the jump for some sloppy play and animated GIF fun time.

DeAngelo Hall: "I told the ref he’s going to [bleeping] lose his job" | ProFootballTalk
Late in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game, Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall gave up a 30-yard completion to Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant, then got called for facemasking on the tackle, giving Dallas 45 yards to set up a game-winning field goal. Hall was angry afterward, but not at himself.

2011 49ers Week 3: Five observations - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Five things I noticed while watching the San Francisco 49ers during their 13-8 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3:

Silver linings: Rams vs. Ravens - NFC West Blog - ESPN
The facts: The St. Louis Rams fell to 0-3 with a 37-7 home defeat to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

NFL Game Recaps:

Washington Redskins vs Dallas Cowboys Recap - September 26, 2011 - NFL - SB Nation
Rookie Dan Bailey kicked six field goals, including the game-winner with 1:47 remaining, boosting Dallas to an 18-16 win over the Washington Redskins.