Definitely a good game had by all tonight – oh, and the Cardinals winning and going 3-1 in the pre-season ain’t bad either.

Derek Anderson was out for about 1 series – clearly he’s going to be the starter come next week in St. Louis. Matt Leinart took a few snaps, and looked like he normally does – not very commanding and out there going through the motions (can you tell I’m a little sour with him already?).

Beanie Wells looked ok – but it’s pre-season, and I really hope he gets more carries this year than he did last year. I’ve got nothing against Tim Hightower, but Beanie has better foot-work, and Tim is a far better blocker and can catch better…much better for those dump out routes for 5 yards.

The receivers looked great, except when Onrea Jones grabbed a punt that landed on the 5 yard line just about 1 yard INSIDE the goal line! Ugh…but he redeemed himself a few plays later catching some balls across the middle from Max Hall – damn that kid looked good tonight – future #2 for sure…for right now. Did you know that Max Hall is also Danny White’s (Dallas Cowboys) nephew – learned that little factoid tonight.

Also check out Darren Urban’s Redskins Aftermath post on the Word From the Birds Blog – it’s a good blog – if you love the Cardinals, you should read this regularly.

All in all, it was a great game to end the pre-season – off to the regular season – we’re all back at 0 – time to turn that shit up!

<end sarcasm>

Not like this wasn’t coming after Leinart opened his mouth on Monday spitting off comments about how “this goes further than football” about coach Ken Whizenhunt.  Come on Matt – really?  The Arizona Cardinals have dished out a ton of cash for you and have said “he’s the franchise” on more than one occasion – so like I yelled all season long at Clinton Portis, I now turn to you, play like you’re paid, and stop being a bitch.

Now the Cardinals are shopping him around – ESPN is reporting that they are in talks with the Giants, Bills, and the Raiders.  What spots are they going to fill?  We definitely don’t need to fill up a QB spot – Andersen, Skelton, and Hall have all played up to par this pre-season, and even though Skelton and Hall are super young and relatively untested, I think they’ll perform way better than Leinart will this season.  Leinart is not a “leader” – Fitz is a leader, Kurt was a leader, Dansby was a leader – Leinart doesn’t possess the quality that those players have.

I’ve now had 2 separate conversations about “how much do you think Fitz is involved in this decision?”.  Honestly, the leagues best receiver has to have a pretty big part in this conversation.  Matt strung him out, threw high, and bam, Larry busted up his knee (not to mention came down upside down on his head).  Leinart has a history of interceptions, and over the past few years, he looks like he’s scared on his release and he throws high so hopefully his staff of tall receivers will just jump up over the backs and grab the ball.  This is a dangerous situation though – no receiver in his right mind would want to (even though they’ll likely make Sportscenter) go up and catch balls like that for 16+ games a season – that’s a recipe for disaster when one over-zealous linebacker goes in for the kill.

We should have (and it pains me to say this) snagged up McNabb when we had the chance, however, we’ve done pretty well with picking up QB’s for a “second shot” at their career – look how well Kurt played after backing up Manning in NY, and then backing up the now defunct Leinart.

Well its about damn time!  Today the Arizona Cardinals and Kurt Warner agreed to a $23 million 2 year deal with $19 million in guaranteed cash to Kurt.  He gets $15 million up front and $4 million base salary for 2009/2010 seasons.

ESPN Article: Warner, Cardinals Agree

All week long I have been biting my nails and screaming that the Cardinals just pay the man – the old man was definitely a large piece of the catalyst that got the Arizona Cardinals to the #2 spot for the 2008 season (although I would have preferred #1, #2 sits just fine with me).

Now on to other issues – Anquan Boldin and Edgerrin James.  I am still on the fence about Anquan, he’s a great player, but he’s no Larry Fitzgerald.  He does bring a certain David Boston’esque feel to the receiver line up tho with as big and as physical as he is, and having a big dude on the squad that can catch a ball and lead the league in TD’s while he was out for 3 games…ummm…the Cards better re-sign his ass!

Edgerrin…bye bye.  Yeah, you pulled some great stats out of your ass in the playoffs, but give me a break – we had to pull a McNabb on your ass to get you there.  See ya…I’ll take Hightower and Arrington over your ass any day of the week.

Exciting times right now…now only if we could trade Lienart to Detroit for that #1 pick in the draft???  Stafford > Lienart!

I have waited 20 years for this:

I remember the first home game I went to with my Dad – it was against the Tampa Bay Bucs when they were still sporting the ugly orange uniforms.  I also got my first Cardinals hat that day when they were the Phoenix Cardinals.

Last night the Arizona Cardinals upset the Carolina Panthers 33-13 in Charlotte – a sureal experience for sure!  I’ve been a fan through the good, the bad, and the Denny Green/Joe Bugel/Buddy Ryan days…you know…the fuckin’ horrible days.  I’ve said “there’s always next year” for as long as I can remember…

…the “next year” is right now!

Cardinals are 1 game away from the Super Bowl…1 game that could be played at home if the Philadelphia Eagles dish out a beating to the New York Giants today…

Like I’ve said all season long…bring it on!!!

For the past 10 years or so, I’ve participated in Fantasy Football with the same group of friends.  However, this year, I decided to change it up a little and also got in on a pick-em league.  Basically, you just go through the games each week and pick who the winner is.  There was a $20 buy in, and there is about 40+ in the league.  Right now, I’m sitting in 8th place (I’ve been as high as 5th).  The first place prize is $600…and I’ve got my sights on it!  Figure I can keep my blog a little less stale if I start adding these little posts – so here are my picks for this week:

• Cleveland vs. Denver (Pick: Cleveland) – Incorrect
• Atlanta vs New Orleans (Pick: New Orleans) – Incorrect
• Tennessee vs. Chicago (Pick: Tennessee) – Correct
• Jacksonville vs. Detroit (Pick: Jacksonville) – Correct
• Miami vs. Seattle (Pick: Miami) – Correct
• Minnesota vs. Green Bay (Pick: Green Bay) – Incorrect
• New England vs. Buffalo (Pick: New England) – Correct
• New York Jets vs. St. Louis (Pick: New York Jets) – Correct
• Baltimore vs. Houston (Pick: Baltimore) – Correct
• Carolina vs. Oakland (Pick: Carolina) – Correct
• Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis (Pick: Pittsburgh) – Incorrect
• San Diego vs. Kansas City (Pick: San Diego) – Correct
• Philadelphia vs. New York Giants (Pick: New York Giants) – Correct
• Arizona vs. San Francisco (Pick: Arizona)

So how do you think I did?  I’ll find out soon enough I suppose! LOL  Oh…and the Arizona Cardinals are tearing it up this year!  Lovin’ every minute of that.  Playoffs…here we come!