It would be so easy to write off the Arizona Cardinals in 2010. Their star quarterback retired, replaced by a former glamour-boy quarterback known more for his off-field activity than what he’s done on it in the NFL.

Strike one.

Then the Cardinals saw two key defensive starters bolt for other teams the first day of free agency, losing Karlos Dansby and Antrel Rolle from a defense that, quite frankly, wasn’t very good late last season and into the playoffs.

Strike two.

And then they traded receiver Anquan Boldin, a big part of their dynamic receiving group, to the Baltimore Ravens for draft picks.

Strike three.

So they’re out? Not so fast. Go ahead and make the assumption that the Cardinals will go from NFC champ in 2008 to playoff team in 2009 to not even being in the mix in 2010.

It’s an easy thing to do. But I’m just not buying it. Neither is Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt.

“I know a lot of people will count this team out,” Whisenhunt said. “I’m OK with that because we’ve shown we respond pretty well when that happens. Worst playoff team ever. Super Bowl loser jinx, can’t get back to the playoffs … etc.”

The Cardinals beat down all of that talk, which is why they’ll beat back the notion that they are going in the wrong direction. They seem to respond when big things aren’t expected.

Kurt Warner was a great player. There’s no denying that. He made their offense go. Warner would stand in and make all the throws in the face of pressure. He knew how to read the field.

Will he be missed? You bet. But Leinart can play. The Cardinals believe that. Whisenhunt believes that.

“Matt narrowly lost out in competition to Kurt in the summer training camp of 2008, the season Kurt went on to have an MVP-type season,” Whisenhunt said. “The fact that he was able to raise his game to that level of competition, coupled with the work and study that we have seen him do over the last two seasons, makes us feel he has matured as a player and is ready to step in.”

Maturing as a player is the key there. When Leinart came into the league, the Cardinals had concerns about his work ethic. Did he truly love it? But as he’s matured, and sat behind Warner, Leinart won them over.

They believe he can be a quality starter. Will he be Warner? He won’t be asked to be that. They will tailor the offense to him. Whisenhunt, who calls the plays, will lean on second-year back Chris Wells more in the run game to help take the pressure off Leinart.

My guess is Leinart will be more than just OK. He knows how to play quarterback, and he was a winner in college. The early part of his career in the NFL can be chalked up to a learning experience.

“That is the one thing you can say about Matt: he has won when he’s played, at the college level especially,” Whisenhunt said. “He’s started some games in the NFL and hasn’t done badly. He’s never gotten the chance to settle in and play. But I think he does have the pedigree of having had success. He’s a good football player. That’s why he was drafted where he was drafted. When you get into a situation like he did, playing behind a quarterback like Kurt and the level he was playing, that’s tough. But Aaron Rodgers has seemed to certainly respond to that very well after being behind Brett Favre. And we’re obviously hoping for a lot of the similar things to happen.”

How much will the Cardinals miss Boldin? Maybe not as much as some expect. (Getty Images) Leinart, despite the trade of Boldin to Baltimore, still has Larry Fitzgerald and the Cardinals are high on Steve Breaston and Early Doucet. They played without Boldin in two playoff games in January and the passing game was fine.

Plus, Boldin was a bit of a pain at times. Whisenhunt wouldn’t comment on that part, but word is Boldin’s preoccupation with getting a new deal became tir including being told he wasn’t active for the Chicago ga grew into an on-going thing. It didn’t help that he couldn’t run by defenders.

He was, in a word, replaceable.

“We obviously feel that we have had success with our young receivers in games in which ‘Q’ has missed,” Whisenhunt said.

Losing Dansby and Rolle is not what the Cardinals wanted. But Dansby’s price became too high, so they let him walk. The Cardinals released Rolle because of the bloated $8 million salary and a roster bonus of $4 million due last week.

Dansby signed with the Dolphins, while Rolle signed with the Giants. The Cardinals quickly filled Rolle’s spot by trading for Jets safety Kerry Rhodes. They are looking to sign a linebacker in free agency, and have been linked to the Lions’ Larry Foote, who is an unrestricted free agent.

“Losing players of that magnitude would be difficult for any team, we understand that,” Whisenhunt said. “But we also recognize that teams that become consistent winners in this league have to go through that.”

There is still a lot of talent on this roster. The Cardinals have become a good drafting team and that will guide them through this transition.

“The main thing is we are a football team that I think is positioned correctly to withstand transition, whether we lose Karlos Dansby or Kurt Warner,” Cardinals general manager Rod Graves said. “I feel Ken has done a tremendous job in instilling the right qualities and setting the proper standards for the football team. If we lose players from time to time, I feel we can keep going.”

Don’t bury the Cardinals just yet. There will be a lot of change, but they will still be the class of the NFC West in 2010.

Posted on March 11th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: NFL football news