1-31-12: Arizona Cardinals Bird Droppings - Waiting For The Bowl

Quiet news week in regard to the Cardinals.

Some stuff on how people are fearful about Peyton Manning's ability to return though. So, now I am going to kill your dreams even more people who were ready to ditch our current quarterbacks for a man who was great but now has a neck held together by duct tape.

Word From the Birds Blog - As Super Week commences, quiet at home
With the focus of the NFL world on Indianapolis, there isn’t a whole lot going on here in Tempe. I am guessing the Cards will fill their vacant spot on the coaching staff sooner rather than later, but that doesn’t necessarily mean this week (and for all those who keep asking, I do not expect it to be Todd Haley, even if he isn’t hired elsewhere.) I don’t have names, but I know the Cards have talked to candidates beyond those who have been discussed publicly.

Manning to Cardinals? Maybe not... - ArizonaSports.com
We're about a month into the "Peyton Manning to (fill in the blank)" rumors, and since we're over a month away from Manning's fate with the Colts becoming a known quantity, they're not going away any time soon. Manning's future was a hot topic in Peter King's Monday Morning QB column on SI.com.

NFL Hall of Famer doesn't want Peyton Manning in Arizona - ArizonaSports.com
Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, to many of us yes, yes it does. But for NFL Hall of Famer and NFL analyst Joe Theismann, that's not exactly the case. "If he can go out and play, let him be an Indianapolis Colt," Theismann told Arizona Sports 620's Doug and Wolf Monday. Theismann said the issue with Manning going somewhere else is that the new team is not "getting a quarterback," but instead getting a player who spent 14 years in a system and is the offensive coordinator.

Top Pivotal Moments of 2011
Cast your vote for the top pivotal moment of 2011 by using the fan poll on the right side of the homepage on AZCardinals.com.

Arizona Sports News:

Without Steve Nash, Suns punished by Mavericks
It was a late January night two years ago when the Suns turned around their season when Dallas came to town. It took Dallas' Jason Terry calling out the Suns defense on a TNT halftime interview and Suns coach Alvin Gentry going without Amar'e Stoudemire and Jason Richardson in the fourth quarter for the Suns to win and start a 28-7 close to the season that carried over into a conference finals run. That was the last time Phoenix has beaten Dallas in eight tries. Now national television doesn't want the Suns. Gentry had to be the one to call out the defense at halftime on this late January night. And if going without Stoudemire's and Richardson's offense has not been enough for this team to overcome, the Suns tried to beat the NBA champions without Steve Nash on Monday night with predictable failure in a 122-99 loss at US Airways Center.

NFL News:

2011 PFF All-NFC West Team | ProFootballFocus.com
The most maligned division in the NFL once again produced a mixed bag from its teams this season and for the eighth straight year an NFC West squad collected a postseason victory. The division produced one of the best sides in the NFL, one of the worst, and two teams who had up-and-down season that offered hope to the optimistic that they might make strides next season and equal evidence to doubters that they could fall back in 2012. But 2012 is for the future and right now we are honoring the best players from the NFC West for the 2011 regular season as we make the final stop on our All-Division tour. The team unsurprisingly features a high number of San Francisco 49ers, but each team had players to be proud of this season and one St. Louis Ram has a rare honor that was afforded to no other player in this series. What was that honor? Read on and find out as we unveil our last All-Division Team for 2011.

2012 NFL Mock Draft: New Trade Partner For Robert Griffin III - SBNation.com
Our last 2012 NFL mock draft before the Super Bowl reflects the fluctuations in draft stock after last week. Expect even more of that with the Combine right around the corner and a long list of school pro days and private workouts.

Sources fearful over Manning's ability to return - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
For all the discussion over Peyton Manning’s future with the Indianapolis Colts, the underlying issue is that people close to him don’t believe he’ll resume his career. The nerves in Manning’s arm are not healing as quickly as hoped and, worse, don’t appear to be progressing at enough of a rate to indicate that he will play again, according to two sources with knowledge of Manning’s rehabilitation from neck surgery. The vertebrae in his neck that were fused have healed as expected and Manning began throwing in December. But he hasn’t shown improvement in velocity on his passes, and the two sources fear he likely never will again.

Report: Peyton hits a plateau | ProFootballTalk
With each passing day, it seems less and less likely that Peyton Manning ever will play again for the Colts. The next question is whether he ever will play again for anyone. On that point, there are ominous indications. Peter King of Sports Illustrated reported during last night’s Pro Bowl pregame on NBC that Manning isn’t doing well. Now, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports reports that Manning has not shown improvement in the velocity of his passes since he began throwing again in December.

Pro Bowl draws bigger audience than MLB All-Star game | ProFootballTalk
The numbers are in. According to the NFL, an average of 12.5 million people watched the Pro Bowl on Sunday night. That’s 1.5 million more than the baseball All-Star game.