NFC West: Super Bowl XLIII
Whisenhunt can't bear to watch Super Bowl -- yet
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
DANA POINT, Calif. -- The Cardinals could conceivably improve in 2009 and still not reach the Super Bowl. That might partly explain why coach Ken Whisenhunt can't yet bring himself to rewatch his team's narrow defeat in Super Bowl XLIII. It was a missed opportunity.
"It's hard," Whisenhunt said Wednesday during the NFC coaches' breakfast at the NFL owners' meeting. "I'm just starting to be able to think about it. One of these days."
The game's ending isn't the only part Whisenhunt has a hard time thinking about. "Watching that play right before halftime is pretty tough," he said, referring to Steelers linebacker James Harrison's interception return for a touchdown.
The time will come for the Cardinals to detach from that defeat and focus solely on the future. That time hasn't yet come for Whisenhunt.
"Your focus has to definitely be on what is ahead of you and not that game," he said. "What are we, two months removed from that game? It is still something that is part of this past season that we haven't [broken from]. Until the draft and we really get on the field and start preparing, it's still hanging around out there."Unbelievable, except this is what Arizona does
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Steelers weren't going to shut down Larry Fitzgerald all game, were they? No, they were not. That 62-yard touchdown for a 23-20 Cardinals lead with less than three minutes remaining bailed out a few people wearing red uniforms, and possibly some of the guys wearing black and white stripes (depending on your interpretation of the rules.)
Unbelievable, except that the Cardinals have been making plays on every defense during the playoffs. This game started to turn for Arizona when Darnell Dockett took over on defense for Arizona. If the Cardinals' defense holds, he needs to get a lot of the credit.
Officials played it safe by ruling fumble
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- Referee Terry McAulay and crew played it safe when they initially ruled the Cardinals had suffered a sack and lost fumble, not an incomplete pass, on that play with 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
The ruling made the play subject for review, giving officials a chance to correct their mistake, if one had been made. Had the officials called the play incomplete initially, they could not have awarded possession to the Steelers.
Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt challenged the play and won his second reversal of the game. His challenge record was 2-5 during the regular season. McAulay suffered five coach-initiated reversals during the regular season.
For Cardinals, having the ball would be nice
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Cardinals haven't lost the time of possession battle this badly since the Falcons held the ball for 21:19 of the first half in the wild-card round.
Arizona dominated time of possession in the second half of that victory over the Falcons. The time of possession in this game is 12:27 to 3:32 early in the second quarter.
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- Presenting the NFL's Man of the Year award to Arizona's Kurt Warner at midfield seemed a little odd with less than 15 minutes remaining until kickoff.
Here he is, presumably immersed in the gameplan, kissing his presenter on the cheek while commissioner Roger Goodell makes the announcement.
Steelers, Cardinals aggressive -- and vulnerable?
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Arizona Cardinals and Steelers are both aggressive on defense.
Having watched Arizona, I know their defensive backs aren't afraid to take chances in trying to make plays on the ball. They've picked off lots of passes, particularly in the playoffs.
Aggressive teams can sometimes become vulnerable against a crafty quarterback, or a quarterback with the physical ability to extend a play as Ben Roethlisberger often does.
Santonio Holmes caught six passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns against the Cardinals last season. Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald caught 10 passes for 120 yards in the same game, which the Cardinals won, 21-14, at University of Phoenix Stadium.
Posted by ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas
TAMPA, Fla. -- I'm pretty sure the family of Arizona linebacker Monty Beisel just arrived at Raymond James Stadium.
Didn't have a chance to confirm it with them before they started heading up the ramp. But I'm willing to bet they have to be Beisel's family because the chances of four random people walking into the stadium wearing Beisel jerseys at the same time has to be incalculable.
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- Bob Costas brought up a good point when he said Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has taken only six sacks against more than 200 blitzes this season.
Sacks tell only part of the story, however. Warner took quite a bit of punishment in some of those games with relatively few sacks. He gets rid of the football, but he also hangs in there against the rush, taking punishment after the ball is gone.
The Cowboys knocked around Warner quite a bit in Week 6. The Cardinals had a bye the next week. Had they not, I wasn't sure how ready Warner would have been the next week. He took only one sack, but the stat sheet showed 10 quarterback hits. Arizona needed two special-teams touchdowns to win that game in overtime.
Action picking up as kickoff approaches
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| Matt Cashore/US Presswire | |
| Cardinals and Steelers fans arrived early to Raymond James Stadium. |
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Super Bowl atmosphere picked up dramatically Saturday as fans and partygoers lined some streets and packed hotel lobbies.
The limousine driver I chatted with outside the downtown Hyatt Hotel confirmed the dramatic increase in late-week action. He said business was horrible early in the week. He charges $200 an hour during Super Bowl week, up from $125 an hour normally. His company owns three stretch Escalades, each about $150,000 in value and nearly 15,000 pounds in weight.
I arrived at Raymond James Stadium within the last hour or so. If someone told me Steelers fans outnumbered Cardinals fans 10 to 1, I wouldn't argue. Three Cardinals fans did stand out. Each wore a white hard hat with an imitation cardinal leaving its mark on a Terrible Towel, which was draped over a faux steel girder. Not bad.
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Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Steelers won Super Bowl XL without a strong showing from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
They have won games this season when Roethlisberger wasn't particularly sharp -- he had a 15.1 rating in beating the Redskins -- but his numbers were poor in three of the Steelers' four defeats. And opposing quarterbacks were more efficient each time.
Roethlisberger and the Cardinals' Kurt Warner have been efficient so far in the playoffs. Roethlisberger has two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 90.8 rating. Warner has eight touchdowns, two interceptions and a 112.1 rating.
Overall, Roethlisberger's rating during the regular season was 80.1, down from 104.1 in 2007. He was more efficient against his own division (90.4) than outside the division (75.4), and more efficient against the AFC (89.8) than the NFC (45.9) -- thanks to poor games against the Redskins, Eagles and Giants.
Ron Jaworski and Mark Schlereth break down the most important matchups heading into Sunday's game.
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Brad from San Jose writes: Did you know that after Sunday, the only team in the NFC West that the steelers have not met in the super bowl would be the San Francisco 49ers? If they beat the cardinals, San Francisco will also be the only team they have not beat as well. I certainly would like to see a 49ers vs the Steelers in the super bowl.
Mike Sando: I had not thought of that, so thanks for sharing. It's hard to keep all the NFC West Super Bowl teams straight. That is one of the challenges associated with covering such a dominant division. On a slightly more serious note, who would have won a game between the 1978 Steelers and the 1989 49ers?
Ezra from Las Vegas writes: OK, here is the overly confident prediction. The D comes out and plays good for AZ, 31-7 Az domination, and is still a underdog next year. Edge is the MVP, rushes over 100 because the O-line makes a good statement. I don't think anyone has made this prediction yet.
Mike Sando: And probably for good reason, Ezra! I'll be surprised if anyone on the Cardinals rushes for 100 yards against this Steelers defense, unless someone can break loose for one long run on a draw play or some other act of deception.
I could see Arizona running just well enough to avoid second-and-9 or worse most of the time. But if Arizona runs the ball consistently well against this defense, I'll be watching closely to see if Russ Grimm sneaked onto the field as one of the guards.
Creativemind from San Diego writes: I have been reading your comments for a long while. I have one question -- what is your beef with Mike Vick? I mean you have never said one single positive thing about the guy. In one blog you even made reference to his career passing percentage, as though that is the only stat that he brings to an organization.
You failed to take into consideration or mention that he has a career winning percentage somewhere around 60 percent and has taken his team to the championship game in 2004 and was the first qb to beat Brett Favre on the road in the post season in Green Bay. He has taken his team to the post season twice and has been elected to the pro bowl 3-times in only 4-full seasons as a starter. If he had the team that Atlanta now has, they would have made it to the super bowl and not gone 1 and done.
It is obvious to the readers that your comments are more of a personal nature and less than professional. You need to seriously stop the biased attacks and report the facts, because you can be replaced as easily as you got this gig. Word of advice.
Mike Sando: To say I have "never said one single positive thing about the guy" fails to recognize the fact that I was one of the very few people supporting Vick following his indictment and premature conviction in the court of public opinion. I got pummeled for it at the time, but I felt he deserved the benefit of the doubt early on.
The column I wrote -- "Let's not rush to judgment" -- is available here if you'd like to read it. I'll include one passage:
Animal-rights activists are organizing protests outside NFL offices, demanding action and threatening boycotts. Their outrage is understandable. Vick bears some responsibility for even putting himself in position to be indicted.
And yet a civil society can't let emotions interfere with due process. No matter how repulsive the charges, no matter how much we love our pets, no matter how bad the indictment makes Vick appear, it's unfair to judge without weighing the evidence.
Several phone conversations with defense attorneys and legal scholars drove home a point easily lost amid the outrage: No one has seen all the evidence. An indictment is all we have, and it's not enough.
In short, I refused to jump on Vick when he was at his most vulnerable. He has since become a convicted felon, and that affects how teams should approach him, in my view. The head coach and quarterback tend to become the face of an organization. The decisions teams make in filling those positions are important ones.
I think a team would be foolish to invest hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in a person with Vick's criminal background, particularly at the most important position. Society will give Vick a second chance. That doesn't mean an NFL team would be wise to give him one.
On the field, Vick was a terrific runner. He played with passion. He was not a good passer by starting NFL quarterback standards. The skills that made him so dangerous are the ones that will diminish as he gets older. Vick turns 29 in June. Buyer beware.
Aarownhere from Springfield writes: Hey sando, do you think the rams will trade down from the second overall pick? Their needs are lower round, right? Is there an o-lineman worth a second pick is there? I like Crabtree, but i see Devaney and Spags building the lines first. Thanks
Mike Sando: The Rams do need to rebuild their offensive line and teams can find offensive linemen later in the draft. If a team is targeting quarterback or another position of less interest to the Rams, I do think the Rams would be wise to consider moving back. However, teams rarely trade into the top few picks, for reasons outlined here. And with teams worried about their financial bottom lines, how many will want to make the investment associated with one of the top few choices in the draft?
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic says the Cardinals have finally shed the loser label.
Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic says Cardinals players credit coach Ken Whisenhunt for turning around the team.
Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic says Cardinals fans will never forget Super Sunday.
Also from Bickley: A look at Super Bowl safeties Adrian Wilson and Troy Polamalu.
Paola Boivin of the Arizona Republic lists the reasons she thinks Kurt Warner should return to the Cardinals next season.
Also from Boivin: A look at the 1947 championship Cardinals. They won a title after ownership lavished a four-year, $100,000 contract upon Charley Trippi.
Mark Faller of the Arizona Republic looks back at the Cardinals' colorful past. A disputed 1925 championship still doesn't sit well with some in Pennsylvania.
Scott Bordow of the East Valley Tribune checks in with Gabe Watson for a humorous look at the best and worst inside the Cardinals' locker room. 
Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee sees "echoes" of Norv Turner in the 49ers' recent offensive hires. Barrows on new quarterbacks coach Michael Johnson: "The first thing that jumps out: He was dismissed as receivers coach by the Ravens in 2008 and replaced by ... wait for it, wait for it ... Jim Hostler, who began his 49ers' tenure as QBs coach. He comes recommended by two men Mike Singletary has worked for, Brian Billick and Norv Turner. He's a former quarterback who I'm told relates well to his pupils. And, of course, he mentored Michael Vick for three seasons in Atlanta. Now whether he was successful in that venture ... that's a judgment call."
Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News says the buzz around the 49ers vanished during the month-long search for an offensive coordinator, particularly after the team hired Raye.
Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News explains how he thinks the 49ers and Raiders could learn from the Cardinals and Steelers. 
Clare Farnsworth of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer says Cortez Kennedy' turn for Hall of Fame induction will have to wait for another year. Farnsworth: "As one member of the selection committee commented after Kennedy's presentation was made, it would be a 'crime, ridiculous and crazy' to not think that Kennedy belongs in the Hall of Fame."
VanRam of Turf Show Times sizes up the Rams' unrealized potential. In mentioning Alex Barron, Joe Klopfenstein, Tye Hill and others, he cites a 1972 book passage from Don Shula: "A lot of coaches have a tendency stay too long with people with potential. We call them coach killers. As soon as you find out who the coach killers are on your team, the better off you are. You go with the guys who may have lesser talent, but more dedication, more singleness of purpose. You spot them and stick with them because in a big game, they'll win it for you."
Mailbag: When Cardinals, Steelers were one
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Sal from parts unknown writes: Do you know if anybody has written a story on the steelers and cardinals 1944 season when they merged due to players serving in WWII?Mike Sando: Yes, and I regret having failed to link to such stories before now. Thanks for asking.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provided this story by Robert Dvorchak, who wrote, in part:
"The two teams, owned by patriarchs Art Rooney and Charley Bidwill, formed a single entity in a marriage of necessity to survive a season. History called this merger the Card-Pitt combine.
"But this winless, luckless group of military rejects was commonly called a name that sounded like 'carpets' because, in the published words of one disgruntled fan, every other team in the league 'walked all over them.' "
Tig from Ashland, Ore., writes: 1st, love your blog, I have the RSS feed on my iGoogle homepage. 2nd, I don't remember if it was your blog, or the Seahawks Insider at the Tacoma Tribune, but someone mentioned a full break-down of the injury year the Seahawks had. Something laying out games missed by starters at each position compared to the league average for this season.
Is that something that you could put together? Is there a source for that info online somewhere? The 'Hawks are being very clear that they aren't blaming injuries for their 2008 woes, but I think they got hit pretty hard, and I just want to see if ANYONE got hit as hard or harder, and if not to see the distance between the Seahawks and the next most injured team of 2008. If the numbers fall the way I expect them to, I will quit looking *quit* so hard at other answers for their 2008 debacle. Thanks
Mike Sando: Thanks much. Tim Graham over on the AFC East blog did provide a chart showing how many starters each team had used with one game remaining in the regular season. I ran a copy of the chart on the NFC West blog.
The Seahawks were hit hard, but they didn't do a very good job fighting through the injuries. The Patriots fought through them more effectively and won in Seattle despite using linebackers signed shortly before the game. Greg Knapp, the Seahawks' new offensive coordinator, is trying to set up the offense so that Seattle will have an easier time assimilating players into the lineup. That could conceivably help the Seahawks deal with injuries better.
Cardinals made right moves for right reasons
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| Jamie Squire/Getty Images | |
| Cardinals coaches chose to start 37-year-old Kurt Warner this season instead of developing their apparent QB of the future, Matt Leinart. |
Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
TAMPA, Fla. -- An ego-driven coaching staff might have left Edgerrin James on the sideline as punishment after the veteran running back complained rather loudly about his diminished role.
The Arizona Cardinals went back to James, a player the current staff inherited, at the expense of their own draft choice, rookie Tim Hightower.
A stubborn coaching staff might have backed quarterback Matt Leinart well into the regular season after publicly committing to the 2006 first-round choice months earlier.
The Cardinals? They made a last-minute decision to start 37-year-old veteran Kurt Warner once they thought Warner might give them a better chance to start the season quickly.
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| Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images | |
| The coaching staff used a patient approach with rookie Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. |
An impulsive staff might have rushed talented cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie into the lineup as an immediate upgrade instead of waiting until midseason, when the rookie had more seasoning.
An undisciplined staff might have shaken up the offensive line when right guard Deuce Lutui lacked consistency early in the season. The Cardinals valued continuity enough to stick with their same five starters, a move that has paid off during Arizona's run to Super Bowl XLIII.
"Sometimes dollars, sometimes draft picks will dictate [decisions]," Warner said. "Sometimes even not knowing something about a young guy will dictate the decision that is being made, even though deep in their heart or in the back of their mind they think the other guy should be getting the job."
Warner was with the New York Giants in 2004 when the organization named rookie first-round choice Eli Manning to start ahead of him. The Giants, 5-4 with Warner starting, lost six of their final seven games and failed to win in the postseason until three years later.
The Cardinals could have made a case for developing Leinart this season. While Warner had led the NFL in touchdown passes over the second half of the 2007 season, the coaching staff wanted him to become more careful in avoiding turnovers. That's why Leinart headed into the exhibition season as the starter. The job went to Warner only after Leinart faltered and Warner showed a willingness to alter his approach.
"The compliment to this coaching staff is that they have tried to make every decision based on what they think is best for this football team," Warner said this week. "I think that is something in this day and age that is to be complimented because I don't think everybody goes about it that way."
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Mike Sando
Sando joined ESPN.com in 2007 after nine seasons covering the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune. He lives in the Seattle-Tacoma area with his wife and two sons.
