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Whisenhunt faces fans’ ire, tough calls in 1st year at helm
Mike Tulumello, Tribune
The honeymoon is winding down. For the first time since he took the Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching job nearly a year ago, Ken Whisenhunt is getting ripped by fans and pundits.
That’s what happens when you suffer a potentially season-ruining loss to a division rival that had lost eight straight games.
“It’s tough. … Emotionally, it’s been a difficult week,” he admitted.
“We have to find a way to win a game like that. It would have done wonders for our team to have done that.”
That said, Whisenhunt is moving on.
“I’ve been more focused on getting ready for this game … In this league, if you don’t let it go and move onto the next opponent, it’s going to hurt you the next week.”
Whisenhunt has fielded questions lately on whether he’s had second thoughts about trying to act both as a play caller and a game manager.
The questions have been raised as a result, in large part, of the Cardinals’ clock-management
decisions.
In a game at Tampa Bay last month, the Cardinals had used all their timeouts and couldn’t challenge an incorrect call that a Bucs player had intercepted a Kurt Warner pass just before the two-minute mark.
The Cardinals had used an offensive timeout on a third-and-goal play, which they converted for a touchdown.
“We wanted to make sure we got it in (the end zone),” Whisenhunt said.
Without admitting any particular mistake, Whisenhunt said later, “As a young coach, as a new head coach, that’s something you learn as you go. You try to do the best you can and learn from.”
Whisenhunt had learned a different lesson in an earlier game: a down-to-the-wire loss at Washington.
At one crucial point deep in Redskins territory, Whisenhunt blamed himself for failing to call a timeout, “And we got a delay of game. The next play we were sacked and fumbled the football.”
The lesson: Sometimes you need to call a timeout on offense to make sure you have the best chance to score.
In Sunday’ loss to the 49ers, the Cardinals had the ball inside the 1-yard line with six seconds left, down by three points.
The clock was stopped, yet the Cardinals called their final timeout, all but eliminating the chance of running the ball for a game-winning score.
They threw a pass, which was broken up in the end zone. So they settled for a short field goal and ventured into overtime.
Quarterback Kurt Warner couldn’t explain the timeout after the game.
The next day, Whisenhunt said he called the timeout for two reasons: 1) He wasn’t sure where the ball was going to be spotted and that would affect his choice of personnel and the play; and 2) He was expecting a replay that was slow in coming after Bryant Johnson made a catch and went out of bounds inside the 1-yard line.
“In hindsight,” he said, “We should have spiked the ball” to beat the play clock and avoid the penalty while still not calling the final timeout.
The rookie coach also continues to learn about his team.
From the start of training camp, he’s talked about how he wants to be a running team, especially late in games when the Cardinals are protecting a lead.
But he may be deciding, like his predecessor Dennis Green, that his most reliable weapons can be found in his passing game.
With 5:43 left in the 49ers’ game, the Cardinals led by four points and had the ball.
Instead of running, they threw four straight passes.
The first was good for a first down, the next two were incomplete, while the fourth — in a third-and-10 situation — resulted in an 8-yard completion to J.J. Arrington.
The Cardinals used up just 1:10 on the clock, and the 49ers responded with a 70-yard drive for a touchdown to take the lead.
In this past trying week, Whisenhunt has pointed to the positives of this game.
A major one came immediately after the 49ers’ 70-yard drive: Though the Cardinals failed to get the winning touchdown, Warner drove them 84 yards in just 1:09 to get that game-tying field goal.
“You can say there were some negatives,” Whisenhunt says. “But there were also a lot of positives that people seem to overlook.
“Obviously we’re working on both sides,” correcting the negatives and trying to extend the team’s strengths.
Whisenhunt, asked what he’s learned from his head coaching experience (as opposed to his former role as an offensive coordinator), said, “I think the biggest thing is keeping the focus short term.”
Big-picture concerns have their place, “But what I’ve learned especially with a young team like this you have to keep the focus week-to-week.”
More specifically, he’s learning about “being involved with the defense and special teams. And on the sidelines during the game, being involved with the clock and clock management and all the situations that arise.
“Now, it’s staying on top of the whole game.”
As to whether he can do this and still call the plays, “I certainly wouldn’t point the finger at that.”
At the same time, “Obviously, I have to make sure I’m better getting the plays in quicker so we don’t use those time outs.”
Whisenhunt admits “this has been a different year” than the ones he’d gone through before in that every game seems to go down the wire.
“It’s frustrating because we’ve been so close in so many games. Emotionally, it takes its toll.
“We feel like we’re working hard in practice. We’re doing a lot of good things on the field. And we’re not getting the wins. That’s tough.”
The 49ers game “was a great example. You’re up, then you’re down, then you’re back up. The emotions turn so quickly. For us to have, we thought, the game won, then not win it is very difficult … one of the most difficult losses I’ve been around.
“Not only are the players physically exhausted but they’re mentally exhausted.”
One thing that’s certain is that — unlike in past years — the Cardinals have at least been competitive in every game they’ve played.
Had a single play gone differently in both games against the 49ers and in the losses at Baltimore and Washington, the Cardinals could have had four more wins.
The solution: “We have to stay the course,” Whisenhunt said. “We have to continue to do what we’re doing and know that at a point in time those things will start coming our way.
“We hope one of those kicks will go through, one of these plays at the end of the game we’ll make and that will push us over the top.”
It’s all part of the job for the Cardinals’ first-year head coach.
Whisenhunt faces fans’ ire, tough calls in 1st year at helm
Mike Tulumello, Tribune
The honeymoon is winding down. For the first time since he took the Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching job nearly a year ago, Ken Whisenhunt is getting ripped by fans and pundits.
That’s what happens when you suffer a potentially season-ruining loss to a division rival that had lost eight straight games.
“It’s tough. … Emotionally, it’s been a difficult week,” he admitted.
“We have to find a way to win a game like that. It would have done wonders for our team to have done that.”
That said, Whisenhunt is moving on.
“I’ve been more focused on getting ready for this game … In this league, if you don’t let it go and move onto the next opponent, it’s going to hurt you the next week.”
Whisenhunt has fielded questions lately on whether he’s had second thoughts about trying to act both as a play caller and a game manager.
The questions have been raised as a result, in large part, of the Cardinals’ clock-management
decisions.
In a game at Tampa Bay last month, the Cardinals had used all their timeouts and couldn’t challenge an incorrect call that a Bucs player had intercepted a Kurt Warner pass just before the two-minute mark.
The Cardinals had used an offensive timeout on a third-and-goal play, which they converted for a touchdown.
“We wanted to make sure we got it in (the end zone),” Whisenhunt said.
Without admitting any particular mistake, Whisenhunt said later, “As a young coach, as a new head coach, that’s something you learn as you go. You try to do the best you can and learn from.”
Whisenhunt had learned a different lesson in an earlier game: a down-to-the-wire loss at Washington.
At one crucial point deep in Redskins territory, Whisenhunt blamed himself for failing to call a timeout, “And we got a delay of game. The next play we were sacked and fumbled the football.”
The lesson: Sometimes you need to call a timeout on offense to make sure you have the best chance to score.
In Sunday’ loss to the 49ers, the Cardinals had the ball inside the 1-yard line with six seconds left, down by three points.
The clock was stopped, yet the Cardinals called their final timeout, all but eliminating the chance of running the ball for a game-winning score.
They threw a pass, which was broken up in the end zone. So they settled for a short field goal and ventured into overtime.
Quarterback Kurt Warner couldn’t explain the timeout after the game.
The next day, Whisenhunt said he called the timeout for two reasons: 1) He wasn’t sure where the ball was going to be spotted and that would affect his choice of personnel and the play; and 2) He was expecting a replay that was slow in coming after Bryant Johnson made a catch and went out of bounds inside the 1-yard line.
“In hindsight,” he said, “We should have spiked the ball” to beat the play clock and avoid the penalty while still not calling the final timeout.
The rookie coach also continues to learn about his team.
From the start of training camp, he’s talked about how he wants to be a running team, especially late in games when the Cardinals are protecting a lead.
But he may be deciding, like his predecessor Dennis Green, that his most reliable weapons can be found in his passing game.
With 5:43 left in the 49ers’ game, the Cardinals led by four points and had the ball.
Instead of running, they threw four straight passes.
The first was good for a first down, the next two were incomplete, while the fourth — in a third-and-10 situation — resulted in an 8-yard completion to J.J. Arrington.
The Cardinals used up just 1:10 on the clock, and the 49ers responded with a 70-yard drive for a touchdown to take the lead.
In this past trying week, Whisenhunt has pointed to the positives of this game.
A major one came immediately after the 49ers’ 70-yard drive: Though the Cardinals failed to get the winning touchdown, Warner drove them 84 yards in just 1:09 to get that game-tying field goal.
“You can say there were some negatives,” Whisenhunt says. “But there were also a lot of positives that people seem to overlook.
“Obviously we’re working on both sides,” correcting the negatives and trying to extend the team’s strengths.
Whisenhunt, asked what he’s learned from his head coaching experience (as opposed to his former role as an offensive coordinator), said, “I think the biggest thing is keeping the focus short term.”
Big-picture concerns have their place, “But what I’ve learned especially with a young team like this you have to keep the focus week-to-week.”
More specifically, he’s learning about “being involved with the defense and special teams. And on the sidelines during the game, being involved with the clock and clock management and all the situations that arise.
“Now, it’s staying on top of the whole game.”
As to whether he can do this and still call the plays, “I certainly wouldn’t point the finger at that.”
At the same time, “Obviously, I have to make sure I’m better getting the plays in quicker so we don’t use those time outs.”
Whisenhunt admits “this has been a different year” than the ones he’d gone through before in that every game seems to go down the wire.
“It’s frustrating because we’ve been so close in so many games. Emotionally, it takes its toll.
“We feel like we’re working hard in practice. We’re doing a lot of good things on the field. And we’re not getting the wins. That’s tough.”
The 49ers game “was a great example. You’re up, then you’re down, then you’re back up. The emotions turn so quickly. For us to have, we thought, the game won, then not win it is very difficult … one of the most difficult losses I’ve been around.
“Not only are the players physically exhausted but they’re mentally exhausted.”
One thing that’s certain is that — unlike in past years — the Cardinals have at least been competitive in every game they’ve played.
Had a single play gone differently in both games against the 49ers and in the losses at Baltimore and Washington, the Cardinals could have had four more wins.
The solution: “We have to stay the course,” Whisenhunt said. “We have to continue to do what we’re doing and know that at a point in time those things will start coming our way.
“We hope one of those kicks will go through, one of these plays at the end of the game we’ll make and that will push us over the top.”
It’s all part of the job for the Cardinals’ first-year head coach.
