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It is not a fun time to be an Arizona Cardinals fan right now. An eight-game losing streak! Seriously! In a league of parity, the hapless Cardinals have managed to have losing streaks of six, seven and eight-and-counting in the past three years. That's pretty hard to do, especially when your defense keeps you in most games.

Most fans want the heads of head coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves on a silver platter. And Cardinals management would be well-justified in making a change at the end of the season and starting over.

It might be time for a new voice, for new leadership. Maybe the message is no longer getting through. Sure, the team still plays hard and that is one thing in Whisenhunt's favor -- that his team has not quit on him -- not yet anyway. But you get the feeling that this team is about to implode at anytime. Poor decisions in the draft and free agency and the inability to properly evaluate the quarterback position have set this team back a few years.

There is plenty of blame to go around, but most of it lies with Whisenhunt. He is the Captain of this ship. His success in getting Arizona to the Super Bowl five years ago gave him leverage for a new contract and authority and final say that he never should have had.

It's not difficult to see where Arizona has failed. The first being quarterback play. Whisenhunt handpicked Derek Anderson and Kevin Kolb and those decisions have flopped. He ignored quarterbacks early in the draft and took John Skelton and Ryan Lindley with late-round picks. He gave a chance to undrafted free agent Max Hall. He has flip-flopped on his quarterbacks all year.

There is no way Lindley, a sixth-round pick, is ready to play at this level. I used an analogy on the radio Monday to make a point on Lindley. It's like the father that takes his 14-year-old son to the church parking lot and teaches him how to drive even though he doesn't have his license yet. But he doesn't let him drive home or take the car for a spin on a real road. Lindley is that quarterback that isn't ready to drive on the road. He needs to spend some serious time in the parking lot (practice) learning how to play.

I can spend countless hours talking about how they ignored the offensive line, failed to address the injury situations at O-line and running back when guys went down, botched draft picks and free agency. But by now everyone knows the Cardinals' shortcomings and who is to blame for them.

The real question for the Cardinals is are they committed to winning? Yes simple question. Is ownership committed to winning at all costs? Because if they are firing Whisenhunt (who has one year and $5.75 million left on his contract) and Graves (who is also in the final year of his deal) will be a decision based on what is in the best interest of the football team going forward. It won't be about money and not wanting to eat all that cash. And I do have some concerns that ownership is afraid to eat that much money.

The main factor they need to consider is defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Is it worth losing him to keep Whisenhunt and hope that he can work some magic in the final year of his contract? Horton is the key here -- his defense is very, very good. He is well-respected by his players and he will be a hot candidate for head coaching vacancies around the league. It might be wise to keep him and elevate him to head coach and let Whisenhunt go.

Either way, Graves has to go. It's time for a new voice at the top, a new direction and leader. Someone who can take control of the organization back from the coach and have full say on the draft and free agency.

A lot depends on what happens in these final four games. There is no excuse for an eight-game losing streak, but can you imagine 12? It's very possible.

And if that happens, there really is no choice but to make a change. If the team can find a way to dig deep and pull out a couple of wins in the next four weeks maybe, just maybe, Whiz can survive but he will need to make some changes on his coaching staff and answer to a new GM.

Time will tell, but things have been heading south here for a few months and I'm not sure they can right this ship with the people they currently have in place.

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    Hummer71 wrote...
    Graves ?
    Who's Rod Graves. Oh yea, the GM. I guess he is making a lunch run for the staff. When was the last time he made a statement. An angry coach and players spitting on each other. I knew it was too good. This team is reverting back to the future. The Chicago game will seem like soldier field. Just like old times at SDS.
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    rdgroce wrote...
    Good article
    Wiz is not worth losing Horton. I have been a huge fan of Wiz, but this year is enough. First, letting talent go, then the lame draft, and finaly, the big screw up, the QB situation. Seriously, how much more do we need to see. Imagine how good this team would be this year if we addressed the Oline in the draft. Kolb likely would not have been hurt (as much, right when the offense was clicking. He obviously has something against Skelton, just like Linehart. I don't like Skelton but he gives us a better chance to win, isn't that what it's all about?
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    FitzIsMyHero wrote...
    @ John Gambadoro
    I agree with you 100%. And you are right, the main question, after they get rid of Graves & Whiz (or, if they keep them with the goal of beefing up talent on the offensive side of the ball) do they want to win? At all cost'$? Bidwill's history of winning at all cost'$ has been non-existant-limited. They've allowed Whiz to bring in sufficient-enough Offensive FA's here and there, but, no-one that would make a impact huge enough to make us a play-off caliber team. When SF brought in Manningham, Moss, and Jacobs to beef up their already playoff-caliber offense...
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    FitzIsMyHero wrote...
    @ John Gambadoro II
    2 keep up, they brought in Snyder a over-the-hill Guard FA, drafted: Michael Floyd a potentially good enough WR to succeeed Fitz, Massie, and some other linemen. They didnt do good enough to keep up with the 49ers and how many points they can put up. It was cheap and a big misjudgment of talent. We all felt that way about it coming into this season after all these acquisitions were done. We have a Defense that is ready RIGHT NOW. That should've been the same standard for the offense now, and, into the future, and, it shouldnt be any less, IF, THE BIDWILLS ARE TRULY COMMITED TO WINNING.
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    FitzIsMyHero wrote...
    John Gambadoro, tell the Bidwills
    I've paid for tickets to DET and CHI games. Im going to go tailgate and eat at the restraunts by the jobing.com arena. Im going to go into the game and buy drinks and food from their concession stands. But, if they dont acquire offensive talent with a "win-now mentality/standard" and make the offense a win-now unit to contend with opposing offenses in our division and in our conference, I'll wait until december to buy my tickets (if I buy tickets) because Im tired and exhausted of being disappointed. And I put the blame equally on them as I do Graves & Whiz for this mess.
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    cbarnes40 wrote...
    Can't blame the Bidwill's on this one.
    I think the majority of the blame falls on Whiz and Graves. Kolb didn't come cheap and they spent money on the O-line, but on players that haven't worked out and that Whiz picked. If the Cards had drafted a QB in the 1st or 2nd round and drafted O-linemen before the 4th round then we might not be in this mess. The Bidwill's put their trust in this staff and it hasn't worked out the last 3 years.
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    cbarnes40 wrote...
    Horton will be HC for Bears Game if not sooner.
    If the Cards lose to SEA I can see the sellout streak ending with the game against DET. With 10 straight losses and Michael Bidwill seeing the sellout streak end he will turn to Horton. He might even do it after the SEA game to keep the streak going and bring a change to Cards fans.
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    CardsFan_ wrote...
    Graves yes, Whiz no
    I agree that it's time for Graves to exit. The failure to obtain OL and QB talent can't be ignored, and he's been unsuccessful when it comes to getting FA talent (Bradley, Heap, etc.). However, I think Whiz deserves one more chance given the injuries this season, although I also agree that it's probably time to take back some of the control he got after the new deal. The wild card in this is Horton - while I'm not certain he's going to be a good HC (different skills needed from coordinator), don't know if giving Whiz one more year is worth losing Horton for.
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    oldie wrote...
    WHY PICK ON GRAVES
    I don't understand all the gunning against Graves didn't he work out a deal to keep campbell, and get all the rookies signed in like record time for how the cards usually do. Then get washington resigned before he even needed to be and at a prices that is extremely cap friendly?? The way I see things is the gm is supposed to work with the coach to get the players that he wants especially when you give the coach a lot of power in the team makeup. So I don't think Graves is being given a fair shake in this mess, and that Whiz is the main reason for team failure not Graveas
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    1stalarm wrote...
    Coaching
    I had questions about Grimm, but he's got two rookies that are doing a decent job now with some exp. Injuries have killed this teams chemistry on offense, however the good teams seem to have talent to overcome injuries. Players play and coaches coach, some of these players are just not that good. Coaching only goes so far, ultimately you have to have talent otherwise the NFL would be full of ivy league players with lots of heart.
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