Catfish
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- Aug 14, 2006
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Five years ago, after watching Ken Whisenhunt stumble around with his QB situation, I carefully looked at what he was doing, while trying to figure out why he was doing it. It became apparent that, (while he had been saddled with SC phenom Matt Leinart as the proverbial 'franchise QB'), it became apparent that there was a distinct dislike by Whiz for Leinart's Hollywood image. Yet, there also remained a very obvious belief that his next best option, Kurt Warner, was a has been who could not handle the ball without fumbling, and that the only way he could probably be useful, was to 'platoon' Warner with Leinart, using him to operate the 2 minute drill at the end of halves. Obviously, Whiz failed to see any of the promise that Denny Green saw in either option. Whiz' third option, was the young, (strong armed), kid that he brought with him from Pittsburgh, Brian St.Pierre, who was clearly Whiz' favorite option at the time.
As the season played itself out, it was quickly clear that while St.Pierre had the arm and the physique to play the position, he lacked the accuracy and the mental grasp to command the offense. It also became clear that Leinart, was more of a QB who managed to take what the defense would allow him to check down to take. Whiz' salvation lie in the fact that he discovered during the platooning, that Warner still had the magic in his ability to make quick reads and fit the ball into tight windows, thus showing he was capable of lighting up the scoreboard once given the offense to command. Thus, he scrapped the idea of augmenting the power run game, (for which he had drafted Levi Brown), in favor of the pass first offense that Warner could still run. They finished the season 8-8, and with targets like Fitzgerald and Boldin to throw to, had the local fans giddy with anticipation of things that might yet come in the coming year.
The next season, Whiz gave up the play calling to Todd Haley, who with Warner formed a great combination of play-calling and execution, to finish 9-7, and a playoff berth. They got 'hot' during the playoffs, and won the NFC Championship Game, securing a slot against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, where they were unable to hold a late lead, falling narrowly to the Steelers.
In 2010, Haley was hired away to take over the HC position for the Chiefs, and Whiz again took over the play calling. They increased their record to 10-6. and the fans were drinking the coolade, and were deliriously happy. What I noticed though, was that Whiz, while continuing to ride the coat tails of Warner, failed to secure any help for the poor pass blocking which had resulted from the power running game Whiz and Grimm had hoped to bring to the valley. Instead he opted to draft more targets for Warner to throw to. While they made the playoffs, the run was short, beating GreenBay before getting waxed by the Saints.
Meanwhile, Warner clearly felt dissed, not just from the poor handling of his new contract during the off season, (during which he actually had to take his wife to San Francisco to be wooed by the Niners), in order to get the Cards to move on a new deal. That, combining with the lack of a comprehensive plan to improve the O-line, (or to even provide help from the TE's in order to protect the QB), led Warner to forego the last year of his contract, opting instead to retire, rather than continue in Whiz' flawed system, and chancing permanent harm from possible additional concussions.
The crash that followed over the next three years was completely predictable, yet somehow Whiz confused their former success with his system, believing that he could bring in anybody to play QB who could make the throws, and coach them up to execute his system. He NEVER seemed to understand that he was the beneficiary of Warner's 'while and guile', and that his system was hopelessly flawed, and that it would only work IF he found another Warner to play QB. I don't know if Whiz even today, recognizes that it was not his system that brought the success, it was Warner.
Meanwhile, his extremely poor handling of his QB's, (dumping Leinart without even trying to get any value return for him), (working his way through Derek Anderson, Moxie, Skelton, Bartel, Kolb, and there are more that I can't name right now), led to a littany of post game pressers, which could have been recorded one time and used for all. "We just didn't execute". "There are some things we need to fix". "We just need to stay the course and ride this out"
All this conspired to show the rest of the league, that rather than being an offensive guru, Whiz was actually a ruiner of quarterbacks. Those who were gutsy enough to take the hits, were brutally beaten up by opposing defenses. Only Warner, Skelton, Moxie, and Kolb were tough enough to take the beating and come back for more. My guess is that Skelton will never be used as anything but an emergency QB in the future, and will be unceremoniously dumped ala', Leinart, Anderson, Moxie. Kolb, despite taking a terrible beating, was more game that almost anyone believed. He never will be able to read as quickly as Warner, nor will he have the accuracy to fit the ball into the tight windows necessary under Whiz' system. Warner alone, was successful in operating Whiz' system. There are no HOF'ers on the immediate horizon.
Now, no QB in his right mind would come to the desert to run Whiz' system. The ONLY fix at this time is to send Whiz packing. The hope of riding Fitzgerald to another SB has gone aglimmering. The window of opportunity has slammed shut. Warner knew when it was time to go. Whiz is the only one who seems to fail to understand the reality here in the desert, although I still wonder about a more or less inept ownership who bought into Whiz' "Stay the course" mentality. Whiz cannot fix the problem here in the desert, because no one can fix what he fails to understand is broken.
Surprisingly, many still believe Whiz has a future here. I don't believe that for one New York minute. I don't know if Horton is HC material. I DO know that he has built a VERY successful defense here in Cardinal Land. I also believe that he did this without much help, (if any), from Whiz. I like the way he studied his personnel, and then tailored his defense to their individual skills. Had Whiz done the same with the offense, we may well be a championship franchise right now.
I still believe that this franchise NEEDS a true football GM, who can go through this organization and purge the dead weight, and provide a workable plan to fix the problems. I will be surprised, however, if the ownership gives that kind of control to anyone who is not family.
As the season played itself out, it was quickly clear that while St.Pierre had the arm and the physique to play the position, he lacked the accuracy and the mental grasp to command the offense. It also became clear that Leinart, was more of a QB who managed to take what the defense would allow him to check down to take. Whiz' salvation lie in the fact that he discovered during the platooning, that Warner still had the magic in his ability to make quick reads and fit the ball into tight windows, thus showing he was capable of lighting up the scoreboard once given the offense to command. Thus, he scrapped the idea of augmenting the power run game, (for which he had drafted Levi Brown), in favor of the pass first offense that Warner could still run. They finished the season 8-8, and with targets like Fitzgerald and Boldin to throw to, had the local fans giddy with anticipation of things that might yet come in the coming year.
The next season, Whiz gave up the play calling to Todd Haley, who with Warner formed a great combination of play-calling and execution, to finish 9-7, and a playoff berth. They got 'hot' during the playoffs, and won the NFC Championship Game, securing a slot against Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl, where they were unable to hold a late lead, falling narrowly to the Steelers.
In 2010, Haley was hired away to take over the HC position for the Chiefs, and Whiz again took over the play calling. They increased their record to 10-6. and the fans were drinking the coolade, and were deliriously happy. What I noticed though, was that Whiz, while continuing to ride the coat tails of Warner, failed to secure any help for the poor pass blocking which had resulted from the power running game Whiz and Grimm had hoped to bring to the valley. Instead he opted to draft more targets for Warner to throw to. While they made the playoffs, the run was short, beating GreenBay before getting waxed by the Saints.
Meanwhile, Warner clearly felt dissed, not just from the poor handling of his new contract during the off season, (during which he actually had to take his wife to San Francisco to be wooed by the Niners), in order to get the Cards to move on a new deal. That, combining with the lack of a comprehensive plan to improve the O-line, (or to even provide help from the TE's in order to protect the QB), led Warner to forego the last year of his contract, opting instead to retire, rather than continue in Whiz' flawed system, and chancing permanent harm from possible additional concussions.
The crash that followed over the next three years was completely predictable, yet somehow Whiz confused their former success with his system, believing that he could bring in anybody to play QB who could make the throws, and coach them up to execute his system. He NEVER seemed to understand that he was the beneficiary of Warner's 'while and guile', and that his system was hopelessly flawed, and that it would only work IF he found another Warner to play QB. I don't know if Whiz even today, recognizes that it was not his system that brought the success, it was Warner.
Meanwhile, his extremely poor handling of his QB's, (dumping Leinart without even trying to get any value return for him), (working his way through Derek Anderson, Moxie, Skelton, Bartel, Kolb, and there are more that I can't name right now), led to a littany of post game pressers, which could have been recorded one time and used for all. "We just didn't execute". "There are some things we need to fix". "We just need to stay the course and ride this out"
All this conspired to show the rest of the league, that rather than being an offensive guru, Whiz was actually a ruiner of quarterbacks. Those who were gutsy enough to take the hits, were brutally beaten up by opposing defenses. Only Warner, Skelton, Moxie, and Kolb were tough enough to take the beating and come back for more. My guess is that Skelton will never be used as anything but an emergency QB in the future, and will be unceremoniously dumped ala', Leinart, Anderson, Moxie. Kolb, despite taking a terrible beating, was more game that almost anyone believed. He never will be able to read as quickly as Warner, nor will he have the accuracy to fit the ball into the tight windows necessary under Whiz' system. Warner alone, was successful in operating Whiz' system. There are no HOF'ers on the immediate horizon.
Now, no QB in his right mind would come to the desert to run Whiz' system. The ONLY fix at this time is to send Whiz packing. The hope of riding Fitzgerald to another SB has gone aglimmering. The window of opportunity has slammed shut. Warner knew when it was time to go. Whiz is the only one who seems to fail to understand the reality here in the desert, although I still wonder about a more or less inept ownership who bought into Whiz' "Stay the course" mentality. Whiz cannot fix the problem here in the desert, because no one can fix what he fails to understand is broken.
Surprisingly, many still believe Whiz has a future here. I don't believe that for one New York minute. I don't know if Horton is HC material. I DO know that he has built a VERY successful defense here in Cardinal Land. I also believe that he did this without much help, (if any), from Whiz. I like the way he studied his personnel, and then tailored his defense to their individual skills. Had Whiz done the same with the offense, we may well be a championship franchise right now.
I still believe that this franchise NEEDS a true football GM, who can go through this organization and purge the dead weight, and provide a workable plan to fix the problems. I will be surprised, however, if the ownership gives that kind of control to anyone who is not family.
