NFC West News

Originally posted by lazy:
Anderson gets the start this Saturday....lets hope he sucks too.

It'll be tough for Matt Leinart to recover

Well, that didn't take long.

Matt Leinart lasted two exhibition games as the Arizona Cardinals' starter before coach Ken Whisenhunt announced Derek Anderson would start the team's game against Chicago on Saturday. The move comes as a mild surprise because Leinart didn't get many opportunities to this point in preseason. What it tells us, bigger picture, is that Whisenhunt hasn't seen enough from Leinart all offseason.

That pretty much jibes with what I saw at training camp. Leinart wasn't bad, but he was pretty nondescript. Nothing much about him stood out.

This demotion midway through preseason undermines Leinart's ability to lead the team in the future, affirming questions about his viability in Arizona beyond August, let alone beyond this season. This also shows Whisenhunt's willingness to tolerate and even promote competition -- even at the expense of stability -- at the most important position.

It's not an ideal situation, but this is what happens when a team doesn't have an established quarterback. There's no sense in trying to fool players in the locker room. Arizona has too many veterans for that. Whisenhunt will give Anderson an extended look, see how he plays, see how Leinart reacts, see how the team reacts and then make his decision for the regular season.

It's an upset if Leinart recovers from this. Then again, it might have been an upset if he had performed well during the regular season, anyway. That's the statement Whisenhunt is making.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/22048/itll-be-tough-for-matt-leinart-to-recover

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Ken Whisenhunt would not demote his starting QB in third week of preseason if he thought that QB had earned the respect of the locker room.

The Arizona Cardinals are a six win team. That's just the way it is.

They were a 10 win team that got swept by the 2nd place team last year. Hardly dominating. They had a significant net loss of talent over the offseason, the most of any team in the entire league. This includes the most valuable player on that team, Kurt Warner. Fitzgerald means nothing if nobody can get the ball to him.

And Beanie Wells, their savior? Well he's still Beanie Wells, 2nd string RB. If you can't beat out Tim Hightower, for crying out loud, then you're not really much to be feared.

Six wins.

Arizona fans freaking the f**k out

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Sure. RT: @TheRealOsCruz: @espn_nfcwest @mortreport just said it's DA's job for sure. Think Leinart could be put on the trade block?

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Have never sensed that. RT: @chirobrandt: @espn_nfcwest You think the Cards are wishing that they had landed Whitehurst?

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The damage is permanent unless Leinart rallies. RT: @AZcep76: @espn_nfcwest its not permanent. Whiz wants to see how Lienart reacts.

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Seattle would want him, I'm pretty sure. RT: @ymmij2k: @espn_nfcwest Would @peteCarroll give up a 6th or 7th rounder for Leinart?

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Timing a surprise. RT: @TheRealOsCruz: @espn_nfcwest Sando, you had me convinced Leinart wasn't so much in trouble earlier in your chat.

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Timing a surprise. RT: @TheRealOsCruz: @espn_nfcwest Sando, you had me convinced Leinart wasn't so much in trouble earlier in your chat.

the idiot cardinals fans that think theyre gonna win the division with leinart or anderson need to put the crack pipe down. they need to stop the homerism and face the facts that both qbs suck

Originally posted by FredFlintstone:
the idiot cardinals fans that think theyre gonna win the division with leinart or anderson need to put the crack pipe down. they need to stop the homerism and face the facts that both qbs suck

not like Smith strikes fears into defenses.

I just dont know what we will see from Smith this season.

I found it interesting in Matt Sando's article on most indispensable players (ours is P52, AZ's is Fitz, Rams' is SJax) that the Seattle player is Russel Okung. Is the rest of their team really that bad? He says it's because this is a QB driven league and that the depth is an issue and Okung is there to change all that uncertainty. I just was shocked because thinking about it now, SEA has NO stars. Are they really that bad to say a player that has taken 0 NFL starts is their indispensable player?!

Here's the article:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/19770/nfc-west-most-indispensable-players

PFT has the news about Leinarts demotion as well and got a tip that the Cardinals could be working to trade Matt Leinart to Seattle:

Matt Leinart benched for Saturday; could be done in Arizona

Originally posted by ads_2006:

Originally posted by FredFlintstone:
the idiot cardinals fans that think theyre gonna win the division with leinart or anderson need to put the crack pipe down. they need to stop the homerism and face the facts that both qbs suck

not like Smith strikes fears into defenses.

I just dont know what we will see from Smith this season.

STFU! We're Cardinal bashing right now. Let us enjoy it.

damn Matt Leinart is screwed. what a lazy bum

At least give Leinart a chance at the regular season. I want to hear Dockett's tweets after his team is sitting at 2 - 8!

Originally posted by SFL49ER:
At least give Leinart a chance at the regular season. I want to hear Dockett's tweets after his team is sitting at 2 - 8!

blah blah blah Vernon blah blah Willis blah blah blah blah Gore blah blah 49ers blah blah I'm in the shower.

Originally posted by ads_2006:

Originally posted by FredFlintstone:
the idiot cardinals fans that think theyre gonna win the division with leinart or anderson need to put the crack pipe down. they need to stop the homerism and face the facts that both qbs suck

not like Smith strikes fears into defenses.

I just dont know what we will see from Smith this season.

who would you rather have smith or leinart???? smith has shown flashes while leinart has been s**t

This report made my day. The season is getting more and more auspicious for the 49ers; if Singletary can't work with this he should be gone.

Originally posted by chico49erfan:
I found it interesting in Matt Sando's article on most indispensable players (ours is P52, AZ's is Fitz, Rams' is SJax) that the Seattle player is Russel Okung. Is the rest of their team really that bad? He says it's because this is a QB driven league and that the depth is an issue and Okung is there to change all that uncertainty. I just was shocked because thinking about it now, SEA has NO stars. Are they really that bad to say a player that has taken 0 NFL starts is their indispensable player?!

Here's the article:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/19770/nfc-west-most-indispensable-players

I think Okung got the nod for Seattle because their O-Line depth truly is awful. With other, more accomplished players like Tatupu, the loss would be horrible too, but the Seahawks have at least some Linebacker depth. But look at what happens right now as Okung misses time: They have to reshuffle their entire line and move guys around from guard to tackle and so, because they have more or less no depth behing Okung.

Besides, they have no other guy who is a leader of his team and a premier player the other guys follow and rally around like the Niners have in Willis, the Cardinals in Fitzgerald and the Rams in Jackson. Hasselback and Tatupu had that status once, but must bounce back from injuries and disappointing seasons first to reclaim that sort of status for the Seahawks again, especially with a new coaching staff (Hasselback would not have qualified for that article anyway).

So as shocking as that Okung pick might be, I think Mike Sando is onto something there