Leinart announced the starter

[PACardsFan]

This is what you get from a young QB playing a complicated Ravens defense. Warner is a vet that isn't going to be confused as easily. What you hope is that Matt will learn and grow out of that.

Warner was successful because we threw an entirely different scheme at the Ravens & they couldn't adjust. Kudos to our OL, because they gave Warner time to look down the field & beat an exhausted defense. Had Warner started this game & we ran our standard scheme, he wouldn't have nearly as successful. Whis was brilliant in his gameplan. Even if Leinart was great yesterday, he planned all along to throw Warner in for a couple of series to run that 2 minute, no huddle offense.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Look, I love Matt but that's not a good decision.

Told you it would only take one more week until people started calling for Matt's head on a platter.

 

[Linderbee]

Warner was successful because we threw an entirely different scheme at the Ravens & they couldn't adjust. Kudos to our OL, because they gave Warner time to look down the field & beat an exhausted defense. Had Warner started this game & we ran our standard scheme, he wouldn't have nearly as successful. Whis was brilliant in his gameplan. Even if Leinart was great yesterday, he planned all along to throw Warner in for a couple of series to run that 2 minute, no huddle offense.

Exhausted defense? They were hardly on the field at all. OUR defense was the one that should have been exhausted.

 

[D-Dogg]

Told you it would only take one more week until people started calling for Matt's head on a platter.

I've actually changed my mind.


Keep Matt starting. Whis post game comments comparing it to bringing in a third down RB or a certain WR to exploit a matchup sealed it up for me. Kurt was inserted for that specific package, which is a spread offense no-huddle which is going to send any defense on its heels. Unless I see Kurt running the standard offense, I'm not going to want him running the whole shebang.

Whis successfully installed a QB by committee aspect to the game. Inventive.

 

[D-Dogg]

Exhausted defense? They were hardly on the field at all. OUR defense was the one that should have been exhausted.

I think he means because we put them on their heels with the no-huddle, hurry up offense. That tends to beat down a defense.

But I wouldn't call them exhausted by any stretch.

 

[Hollywood]

I've actually changed my mind.


Keep Matt starting. Whis post game comments comparing it to bringing in a third down RB or a certain WR to exploit a matchup sealed it up for me. Kurt was inserted for that specific package, which is a spread offense no-huddle which is going to send any defense on its heels. Unless I see Kurt running the standard offense, I'm not going to want him running the whole shebang.

Whis successfully installed a QB by committee aspect to the game. Inventive.

My cousin has been saying this for years. Why can't you switch QBs if one is better suited in certain situations. He is feeling like a genius right now.

 

[Gambit]

My cousin has been saying this for years. Why can't you switch QBs if one is better suited in certain situations. He is feeling like a genius right now.

You should only have one chef in the kitchen.

For the same reason it would be a bad idea to promote Grimm to Co-Head Coach, it's a bad idea to have QB Musical Chairs.

 

[slanidrac16]

My cousin has been saying this for years. Why can't you switch QBs if one is better suited in certain situations. He is feeling like a genius right now.

Funny thing is during a commercial break I said to my son," We should go to a no huddle offense for a series or two." When the game came back on Warner was in the huddle.
And I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn or anything.

 

[Wild Card]

Whis successfully installed a QB by committee aspect to the game. Inventive.

Donald:

Ever hear about necessity being the mother of invention? Ken Whisenhunt isn't the first coach to alternate QBs when he doesn't have an established starter. I don't see the Patriots running in Matt Cassell to run the hurry-up for Brady, or the Colts changing it up with Jim Sorgi against a defense that's game-planned for Peyton.

The better teams in this league know who their starting quarterback is. And it's someone who knows the entire offense, can run it all in every situation, and only comes out if he's hurt or the game's been decided. It's the teams still searching for an answer that have their QBs swapping starts and series.

WC

 

[Zeno]

Donald:

Ever hear about necessity being the mother of invention? Ken Whisenhunt isn't the first coach to alternate QBs when he doesn't have an established starter. I don't see the Patriots running in Matt Cassell to run the hurry-up for Brady, or the Colts changing it up with Jim Sorgi against a defense that's game-planned for Peyton.

The better teams in this league know who their starting quarterback is. And it's someone who knows the entire offense, can run it all in every situation, and only comes out if he's hurt or the game's been decided. It's the teams still searching for an answer that have their QBs swapping starts and series.

WC

I agree 100%. Whisenhunt isn't smart for doing this, to me it looks like desperation, indecision or throwing in the towel. If Leinart isn't getting it, bench him, don't split series, this isn't preseason. You don't use "relief pitchers" in the NFL...heck most COLLEGE teams don't do stupid things like this...this isn't like Florida with Leak and Tebow last season. Stupid idea, no matter how anyone spins it.

 

[ajcardfan]

I agree 100%. Whisenhunt isn't smart for doing this, to me it looks like desperation, indecision or throwing in the towel. If Leinart isn't getting it, bench him, don't split series, this isn't preseason. You don't use "relief pitchers" in the NFL...heck most COLLEGE teams don't do stupid things like this...this isn't like Florida with Leak and Tebow last season. Stupid idea, no matter how anyone spins it.

I have to agree. Sooner or later, (probably sooner) he's going to have to make a clear choice. This platooning stuff has never worked in the NFL, and I don't think the breakthrough will happen here.

 

[Shane]

I have to agree. Sooner or later, (probably sooner) he's going to have to make a clear choice. This platooning stuff has never worked in the NFL, and I don't think the breakthrough will happen here.

 

[Gambit]

Take it for what it's worth: PFT's take:

POSTED 8:44 a.m. EDT; UPDATED 9:10 a.m. EDT, September 24, 2007

​

QUARTERBACK QUESTIONS IN 'ZONA

​

Although backup quarterback Kurt Warner grossly outplayed starter Matt Leinart in Sunday's narrow loss to the Ravens, coach Ken Whisenhunt says that Leinart, the team's first-round pick in 2006, isn't in danger of being benched.

​

"I think right now, that for a young quarterback, Matt played well for us in the last game," Whisenhunt said after the 26-23 defeat. "It's not a situation where Matt lost the job. It was a situation where Kurt did well in his package, much like a second running back comes in or an extra receiver comes in. That's the way we look at it."

​

The "package" to which Whisenhunt referred was a field-spreading approach that allowed Warner to feed the Cardinals' football-emaciated wideouts, completing 15 of 20 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Leinart's "package" is the more traditional run-first, run-second, throw-when-absolutely-necessary attack. On Sunday, Leinart's "package" resulted in the 2004 Heisman winner completing only nine of 20 passes for 53 yards and no touchdowns.

​

Depending on whether the Cardinals continue to use this approach, this could be the next big step in the diminution (thanks, Tiki) of the quarterback position in the NFL. Once upon a time, these guys called their own plays, all the time. Thirty years later, an NFL team could be on the verge of implementing a genuine platoon system.

​

We think it's a mistake, especially if Leinart and Warner continue to play like they both did on Sunday. Eventually, the rest of the team will rally behind Warner, creating a problem in the locker room.

​

But maybe that's what Whisenhunt is trying to create. He can't tell Leinart to take a seat based on the outcome of one game. Instead, Whisenhunt needs to continue to give Leinart the first crack each week, and to shift to Warner's "package" if the Cardinals fall behind by 10 or more points. If/when Warner can lead a few more comebacks in this fashion, Whisenhunt won't be working against the grain if/when Warner becomes the starter.

​

Eventually, it'll be a no-brainer.

​

In the interim, the possibility that Warner will be inserted into a given game should give Leinart extra incentive to master the offense and perform accordingly. ​

 

[Wild Card]

Take it for what it's worth: PFT's take:

"Eventually, the rest of the team will rally behind Warner, creating a problem in the locker room."

Gambit:

It may already be happening. It's already been noted in this forum that Matt Leinart is one of the league's few starting QBs not to be named a team captain. And I heard on KGME 910 this morning that an unnamed Cardinals player told Dan Bickley before yesterday's game that "13 gives us our best chance to win."

Players in the NFL know how short their careers can be. Most of them have no interest in being part of someone's five-year plan. Given the choice between winning now and winning later, the majority will take today over tomorrow every time.

WC

 

[azsouthendzone]

I think the best thing I have ever read from PFT is "In the interim, the possibility that Warner will be inserted into a given game should give Leinart extra incentive to master the offense and perform accordingly." Matt obviously needs a swift kick in the ace.

 

[Gambit]

Gambit:

It may already be happening. It's already been noted in this forum that Matt Leinart is one of the league's few starting QBs not to be named a team captain. And I heard on KGME 910 this morning that an unnamed Cardinals player told Dan Bickley before yesterday's game that "13 gives us our best chance to win."

Players in the NFL know how short their careers can be. Most of them have no interest in being part of someone's five-year plan. Given the choice between winning now and winning later, the majority will take today over tomorrow every time.

WC

I agree that this is happening. Maybe Whis wouldn't have named Leinart the starter this season had Denny not already done so last year. Maybe he thought it would be too damaging. Well, he's clearly already started the switch. Anyone who thinks that was just a certain "package" is deluding themselves, and Whis' explanation about the hurry-up is clearly a happy fiction.

But he can't go halfway about it, which he has. If he and the team want Warner to start, then he should just do it instead of dragging it out. Let Leinart sit for a while and maybe try again after the bye. Just get it over with, Whis. We all know what you're doing and to delay is not good for the team.

 

[D-Dogg]

Anyone who thinks that was just a certain "package" is deluding themselves, and Whis' explanation about the hurry-up is clearly a happy fiction.

Have you listened to the presser from today? He addresses this and more. He is not bs'ing here.

 

[abomb]

Reverse avatar mojo!

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Reverse avatar mojo!

I don't know whether to or

 

[Gambit]

Have you listened to the presser from today? He addresses this and more. He is not bs'ing here.

I have not been listening to it, but I don't really buy it. Maybe he is telling the truth, but it just sounds like spin to me.

 

[D-Dogg]

I have not been listening to it, but I don't really buy it. Maybe he is telling the truth, but it just sounds like spin to me.

You mean have been listening, right?

 

[Gambit]

You mean have been listening, right?

No, I haven't really heard it directly. You guys are my media. But it sounds to me like something that Whis came up with to try to save leinart some face. I think he has his and the team's best interests at heart. But I don't think he is being completely honest with us about what he is doing. I respect that--somethings are best left to noble lies.

Obviously some don't agree with my take--I am by no means an expert, and I haven't directly observed Whis either so that of course is a big knock on my theory. But I remain committed to the idea that he benched Leinart because he wants Warner to start, but can't quite make himself go all the way.

I think Whis would have been named Warner the starter at the beginning of the season if Leinart had not been the incumbent because of Denny. He's trying to undo Denny's damage one step at a time, but trying to keep things cordial in the locker room. I'm sure Leinart understands, but that can't make it easy. Likewise I think warner is both excited to have another chance and uneasy because of the strain it may cause.

It's a delicate situation, even if my take isn't accurate.

 

[ajcardfan]

I want to know which player told Bickley before the game yesterday that Warner was the best chance to win.

 

[SunCityCarl]

What was disheartening today was that Matt played scared from his first snap to his last. Never saw that before.

He was afraid to throw, afraid not to throw. I'll reserve judgment for now until I see more. However, I must say, many young QBs often look confused and make mistakes. Rarely do they look terrified, if they are NFL starting caliber.

I agree with starting him again. We need to know by the off week if we blew another high QB pick.

I agree Skorp after almost every throw he had the look of "I wish I could have that back again. I hope next Sunday he finds his "MoJo" & gets going in the right direction...

 

[D-Dogg]

I want to know which player told Bickley before the game yesterday that Warner was the best chance to win.

Bickley told himself that. Or maybe MJ counts as a "playa."

Seriously? I don't trust either MJ or Bickley on pretty much anything.