There were many on this board calling Whiz an idiot. I think Whiz knew a week ago that Warner was going to be his starter and I also think Whiz and Warner had their own dialog going since the end of last season.
Whiz gave Leinart a shot at proving he was BETTER than Warner (at this point) . Matt may be closer than many of us want to believe but if the 2 QB's were neck and neck the nod would HAVE to go to Warner based on experience alone.
If you are a Warner fan you are happy. If you are a Leinart fan you are probably a little disappointed. If you are a Cardinal fan you recognize what a great situation we have a the QB position.
Leinart needs to get his head on straight and be ready to play after EVERY snap. That's how quick things could change.
I support Whiz's decision and I have come to the conclusion it is the right one. This team is poised to make a run. I don't remember any Cardinal team being this ready to start a season.
Obviously, I was one who was very critical of Whiz's handling of the QB situation. I think that Whiz did have Warner in mind when he tabbed Warner to start pre-season game 2, seeing as Leinart played well in week one and if Leinart was indeed the intended starter, there'd be no reason to start Warner.
The context here is significant too. Because Whiz alternated between Leinart and Warner the first five weeks of the season last year, Whiz was conjuring up that same dynamic by naming Warner the starter in game two. Let's remember that Leinart wasn't all too thrilled with the arrangement last year...nor would any starting QB. Had Whiz wanted to diffuse any talk of a QB competition and/or controversy this year, he would not have started flip-flopping starting QBs in the pre-season games. So, in essence, Whiz wasn't exactly being sensitive to Leinart's psyche by again flip-flopping the two.
However...be that as it may...what threw a monkey wrench into Whiz's plans was Leinart's embarrassing performance versus the Raiders...and the subsequent national media speculation that Warner was "expected" to be named the starter. The timing of these occurrences was such that if Whiz elected to officially name Warner the starter immediately following Leinart's poor showing, that would have certainly humiliated and demoralized Leinart even further. Now Whiz IS being sensitive to Leinart's psyche.
It can be assumed that Whiz realized that the team will in all likelihood need Leinart at some point this year, and thus he had to somehow find more amenable circumstances in which to name Warner the starter. And what happened this past week could not have been more favorable, because Leinart picked himself up...was impressive with the media, even joked about making a good tackle...and went out and played his best football of the pre-season.
Whiz deserves a ton of credit for this...if and when Leinart plays next, he certainly will be in a far better frame of mind, having re-estabished his confidence level.
However, there's a potentially negative flip side to the late timing of Whiz's decision...and this is what I have been worried about and why I was so critical of the delay. Whiz, in wanting to build Leinart's confidence back up was gambling that the team and the QBs could handle the late distractions of the starting QB resolution.
I thought too, Slan, that Whiz had let Warner know privately that he was going to be named starter, so he would have more time to adjust mentally in order to get ready for the Niners. But...if you look at Warner's comments all the way up to game time on Friday, it's clear that he didn't know, and that no one did...otherwise he wouldn't have been making comments like, "it's better to know sooner than later."
But...by keeping the team in the dark as well, the team, that was told all week there was no change in the QB situation, that Leinart was still the starter and "no decision" has been made...now has to adjust to the reality of the decision. The question is...has Warner, Leinart and the team had enough time to absorb the reality of the decision and be ready to focus 100% on the Niner game?
The Niners named T.J. O'Sullivan their starter ten days ago.
We will see a week from today which team is more settled in and focussed.
