Login

Register | Forgot Your Password? | Close
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.

16 Comments   |   Join the conversation »
  • Add A Comment 
  • Abuse
    tysonaba wrote...
    Why not Horton for HC?
    Before we lose Horton to be a HC next year somewhere else why don't we give him the reins? He may have never been a HC before but he did turn around one of the worst defenses in the league. Maybe we still have a great defense and a mediocre offense. So does Pittsburgh under Tomlin and what have they done in the last decade? Whats the worse that could happen? The Cardinals end up last in the division? They have terrible losing streaks? Season ticket sales decline? I think we're already there.
  • Abuse
    stevenanimator wrote...
    Give Horton the HC Position and Let Whiz Go
    Wiz needs to go in order for Horton to stay. Losing Horton, which will happen if he's not offered the HC position with the Cardinals would set this team back and destroy everything positive with the D.
  • Abuse
    tcfromaz wrote...
    This project is getting very large
    Do you realize how big this rebuilding project is? 1. Quarterback, No, Lindley is not going to be Tom Brady. 2. Running back, Beanie Wells? Really? 3. Receiver, After Fitz it gets a little shaky 4. Offensive line. Huh! thats a two year job in itself. I have to say when you remove the years of Warner and Halley from the record, has this team really changed? Not so much.
  • Abuse
    Joe R. wrote...
    Why pick on Teflon Don Graves?
    Because he sucks, you are happy that he gets picks into camp on time? Is this Bidwell? How about making some picks that will help us shore up an obvious hole, maybe stand by what you feel is needed. This team is fundamentally broken, without a line no QB can function. That brings me to Grimm, who completely sucks and should be embarrassed. We are playing 2 rookies because we are short sighted, not because they were coached up by Grimm. Name another player that Grimm has coached that is playing for another team. Can't do it, there aren't any. No one is coached up on the OL in AZ
  • Abuse
    Sect113rw10 wrote...
    Graves, meh - Miller to be fired 2 wks ago
    Great article. I'm inpartial regarding Graves. He has extended contracts on good players - but he hasn't really brought in the correct talent. Albiet, I don't think that is really his function. Miller on the other hand is the iceberg to Whiz's titanic. Miller has gashed Whiz's offense to unrepairable and Whiz is going down with the sinking ship.
  • Abuse
    tb0830 wrote...
    Must Elevate Horton
    Defense-lone bright spot. Why keep Whiz if you won't keep him long term? Lame duck. Cards streak of straight sellouts-Bidwill has his answer. Fan base primed for a winner. Get rid of Sun Devil Stadium culture and get a GM, a proven NFL guy like Holmgren-Banner-Casserly. Beanie and Kolb can't play hurt-stealing money. Floyd a bust- no work ethic and effort. I'm mad no draft of Decastro 1st Rd. Keim is incompetent Graves' cronie. Whiz's offensive schemes suck! He develops no offensive players. Fitz develops himself.
close

Share: