Phoenix, AZ- Peace out Rod Graves, Ken Whisenhunt and everyone else who unfortunately lost their job today. The Blackest Monday of recent history showed the door to both the general manager and coach 0f San Diego, Cleveland and yes, Arizona. Chicago, Kansas City, Buffalo and Philadelphia all canned their coaches, while Jacksonville and the New York Jets have both fired only their general managers…so far.

Arizona’s moves hardly came at a surprise, some hope had been held out for Whisenhunt but the massacre in Seattle probably sealed his fate a few weeks ago. Whisenhunt will be remembered more fondly than not in the valley, he was a good coach and he took the Cards to their only Superbowl. Finishing the season 1-11 is unacceptable though, and his exit is justified.

Rod Graves’ exit is more than justified. He oversaw the player-development staff that turned out one of the worst offensive line/quarterback combinations this league has ever seen. Arizona started four quarterbacks this season; it’s honestly a wonder that they won more games than the amount of QBs they put out there. Hopefully Arizona can bring in someone with a plan that can make the Cardinals competitive fast while building a strong foundation for years to come, because stability and leadership is what this franchise needs most.

Where do they go from here now? A company doesn’t just fire its CEO and Chairman without candidates in line to replace them, so what candidates does Arizona have? Foxsports.com reported earlier that Arizona’s current vice president of player personnel, Steve Keim, is an early frontrunner to replace Graves. Keim has been with the organization since 1999 and his highly respected, but he is also a candidate for the Brown’s GM vacancy as well.

It’s been rumored for the past month that defensive coordinator Ray Horton would be promoted to head coach if/when Whisenhunt got fired. Despite Horton never being a head coach before, several other teams around the league are said to be interest in his services. Arizona will at the very least deeply consider hiring Horton to run the team, although they will probably wait until they hire a GM to make that decision.

People always lose their jobs after disappointing years in any business, football is just magnified more than almost any other. It was sad to see Whiz get let go, but like an old truck that doesn’t work anymore, he had to be scrapped. Hopefully whoever fills his shoes can do better next season.

San Francisco, CA-   My dear old friend, the end.

Finally, the year is mercifully about to close. In a season that seemed more like a cruel joke, the Arizona Cardinals find themselves facing a 1-11 finish after starting 4-0. This ugly collapse showed us that the QB of the future is not on the roster and will most likely cause head coach Ken Whisenhunt his job.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen alluded to that much and more earlier this week, “There’s going to be changes in Arizona,” Mortensen said on ESPN’s “The Herd”. “By the way, there’s going to be a lot of general manager changes.” Rod Graves, the current general manager of the Cardinals, is expected to be one of those changes.

Graves, who was worked with the franchise for 15 years, is the head of all football operations in Arizona right now. Not one person is to blame for the state of the team, but since everyone loves to point fingers, point them at Graves. The Cardinals offense has turned into a joke, and the buck has to stop somewhere.

Whisenhunt has a little more success on his resume than Graves, but his failure to keep the team competitive, especially in the last few weeks, has hurt his standing with the organization. Another blowout at the hands of a divisional opponenent tomorrow will seal his fate for good if it hasn’t been sealed already.

Unfortunately for Wiz, the 49ers are coming off a grizzly shellacking in Seattle. I don’t know anyone who’s ran with the bulls in Spain, but I imagine its comparable with being inside a Jim Harabaugh locker room next week; the Cards are screwed folks. It’d be awesome to see the team play hard and end the season with one more W (maybe not if you want a better draft pick), and they will play hard, but the opponent is just too tough this week.

I expect the 49ers to play like a beast possessed tomorrow, home-field advantage in the playoffs is at stake for them. This urgency coupled with Arizona’s high school offense will produce something like a 27-10 win for 49ers.

Glendale , Az- After getting a win in what seemed to take months (oh wait, it really did take that long), the Arizona Cardinals hope to take advantage of the slumping Chicago Bears this Sunday. Both teams have disappointed their fans this season, but the Bears still have time to change that with the playoffs to fight for.

The Cardinals are playing purely for pride and job security at this point, but a win at home against the Bears would please us Arizonans who get sick of all the Chicagoans who now call Arizona home. There’s a lot of them here, always talking about how great Chicahhhgo is. I’m not disputing that, but go back there and freeze your ass off if it’s so great.

On top of Cubs and Bears fans unwavering but sometimes-annoying enthusiasm, the last time Chicago came into Phoenix was the infamous “They are who we thought they were!” game. Although it did give Coors Light some great commercial material, it still wasn’t exactly the proudest moment in team history. A win from the underdog Cardinals would let us natives stick our chest out for a couple days, but that is a very tough task for this offense.

After playing at an other-worldly level, Chicago’s defense has started too cool down a little. After getting deflated at home by Russell Wilson and losing the division crown to Green Bay last week, expect Charles Tillman and those boys to turn it up against a quarterback who’s got 0 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on his season resume. Even with Brian Urlacher still out with a hamstring injury, Chicago’s defense should control most of this game.

Last week Patrick Peterson didn’t shy away from talking about his matchup with Calvin Johnson, and while Johnson did continue his streak of 10 catch/100 yard performances, Peterson played extremely well. A matchup with another physical freak of nature like Brandon Marshall won’t be much easier, but if Peterson continues his high play then Bears QB Jay Cutler and his tendency to stare at Marshall too much could be taken advantage of.

Cutler and Bears RB Matt Forte will decide how well this team plays tomorrow. If Forte can effectively gain 4, 5, or 6 yards for 4 quarters and Jay Cutler is successful in spreading the ball around, this team will flourish. Good thing Bears Offensive Coordinator Mike Tice’s ineptitude usually screws up the team’s chemistry.

Arizona’s offense is obviously the x-factor for tomorrow’s game. If it can keep pace with Chicago’s and not screw up too big the game will be tight. Chicago’s defense is one of the better units at forcing turnovers in recent history, and that is what will ultimately ruin Arizona’s chances at winning this game. Just seeing the team play hard and competitive football for the whole game would be good enough for me, because I expect a 27-13 win tomorrow in Chicago’s favor.

Glendale, Az- In poker, if your hand sucks you fold and wait for a stronger hand or bluff better next time. Ken Whisenhunt can’t bluff with Ryan Lindley or John Skelton, and Kevin Kolb was put on Injured Reserve for the rest of the season earlier this week. His stronger hand won’t be coming this year either, but he’s not folding yet (although he might want to). Whisenhunt can thank himself and the front office for dealing the team one of the worst offensive lines in recent history. Detroit’s pass-rushers are probably thinking Christmas came early right now.

When a perennial loser like Detroit comes onto your field with a 4-9 record and it’s still favored by 6 points, that shows how bad the state of your team is. Not one team in the NFL is scared of the Cardinals right now, in fact 31 teams in the league would probably line up to play them.

Patrick Peterson welcomes the challenge. Touting Sunday’s matchup with Calvin Johnson as “the best cornerback vs the 2nd-best receiver in the league.” Peterson’s remarks would be seen as cocky and foolish to most, but like many quotes from athletes, once you hear the whole thing it doesn’t sound THAT foolish, but confident and ready.

“I think I am the best cornerback in the league right now,” Peterson told the Detroit press during a phone call. “I think I’m doing everything that I need to do to keep my name in consideration of the best cornerback.” When asked about his assessment of Johnson, Peterson was backing up his belief in own teammate. “(Calvin’s) 2nd in my book behind Larry,” said Peterson, “But he’s doing great things for the Detroit Lions team, and he’s definitely making big plays for those guys as well.”

We all know how great Larry Fitz is, and Peterson’s play this season has been good enough for him to put himself into the mix for the league’s best corner, but this is Calvin Mother*-@#ing Johnson we’re talking about here. The same guy who was having a “bad year” a couple months ago because he wasn’t breaking fantasy records, only to be within 300 yards of Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving record with 3 games left this season. I love Peterson’s enthusiasm, but he better be damn sure he can cover Johnson tomorrow.

The assumption in the valley on Arizona’s current QB situation, or lack thereof, is that newly signed Brian Hoyer will finish out the final 2 games of the season after getting more acclimated to Arizona’s playbook. Hoyer, a former backup to Tom Brady and recently cut by Pittsburg, played well in limited opportunities in New England. No one expects Hoyer to come in and play well, but fans prefer giving anybody a shot before turning back to Skelton or Lindley, so we’ll see what happens in a few weeks.

Need to pick a winner for Sunday’s game? Heres an equation for you: (Nick Fairley + Ndamukong Suh) + (Cardinal’s offensive line + Ryan Lindley)= Ugly Detroit win. If you don’t understand my equation, then you don’t understand the order of operations and your football math is below a 6th grade level.

Seattle, WA- 58-0, what more can one say? The Cardinals suffered the worst defeat in 36 years, the worst defeat in franchise history and put up a donut in the process. Homer Simpson might like those results, but the fans sure don’t. “Let me start by saying I apologize to our fans and everybody associated with our organization,” Ken Whisenhunt said while addressing the press, “that was embarrassing today.”

Embarrassing, sad and hard to watch, the Arizona Cardinals’ play resembled that of a JV football team more than one in the NFL. Team President Michael Bidwill echoed those thoughts when he called Sunday’s performance “extremely disappointing” and “unacceptable”. They may not happen immediately, but changes will be made and people will lose their jobs at some point because of this downward spiral currently going on.

Adrian Peterson ran for more yards (158) against the Bears yesterday than the Cardinals whole offense had against the Seahawks. Some plays, like Skelton’s pick-six in their own redzone, were just gimmies to Seattle. Larry Fitzgerald finished with 1 catch for 2 yards, another frustrating performance that would make even the most loyal of players question what he’s doing here. Patrick Peterson continues to have problems with fumbling punt returns and the entire team played uninspired football throughout the game.

The injuries to the Cardinals running backs and an already-terrible offensive line haven’t made this an easy season for this offense, but even Michael Bidwill noticed how bad the state of this team has gotten. Kevin Kolb’s ribs still haven’t healed and the chances of him coming back this year are looking weaker by the day.

A twelve-game losing streak is looking more inevitable as this debacle of season continues. The quarterback of the future obviously isn’t on this roster right now and the future of the coaching staff is uncertain at best. The pride and heart of the players will be tested in these last three games and unless there are much better efforts to close out the season, no one but Larry Fitzgerald will be safe.

Glendale, Az- At the season’s kickoff, the Arizona Cardinals faced off against the Seattle Seahawks with John Skelton and Russell Wilson each starting for his team. Thirteen weeks later those positions remain the same, only Arizona has completely gone through its cycle of quarterbacks, failing to find success out of its bullpen during an eight-game losing streak. Being forced to return Skelton after losing Kevin Kolb to injury and figuring out Ryan Lindley definitely isn’t ready yet, the Cardinals are limping into Seattle where the Seahawks are 5-0*. In a stadium where Tom Brady can’t win, what makes John Skelton’s chances better? Nothing, really.

Ken Whinsenhunt didn’t want to have to return to John Skelton, but he did because Lindley was awful and Whisenhunt knew he’d lose the team’s respect if Lindley played any longer. Whisenhunt made the right decision by turning back to Skelton, but the quarterback’s confidence can’t be any higher than it was before he was benched due to poor play, so don’t expect a lot of change in offensive production. On the bright side, after last week’s performance it can’t get much worse.

Although playing at a very high level throughout the season, Arizona’s defense is facing a little drama after last week. After allegedly spitting on safety Kerry Rhodes (allegations Rhodes denies), ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that defensive end Darnell Dockett was “fined a six-figure amount” by the Cardinals organization.

Rhodes and Dockett’s exchange was reportedly due to Dockett’s refusal to let the New York Jets score in last Sunday’s loss. The touchdown would have put the Jets ahead, 14-8, giving Arizona the ball with a chance to tie the game with more time left on the clock. If that is true, Dockett not only spat on a teamate (something that is disgusting and inexcusable), but also defied coaching orders. Both of those are indefensible acts that would give credence to such a large fine. Schefter is usually spot-on with his reports, but despite conflicting accounts from the media and Cardinal’s players, the defense appears ready to move on.

Seattle is extremely tough to beat at home, even for the better teams in the league such as New England and Green Bay. Arizona’s defense has continued to play hard and force turnovers despite receiving virtually no support from the offense and I don’t expect that to let up. However, Seattle’s defensive ends play on a higher level at home and every week of Arizona’s decline makes it harder to believe this offense can put up 17 points or more. The losing streak will grow to nine, and the Cardinals will lose in a spirited but unsightly effort, 24-10.

* The Seattle Seahawks are technically 5-0 at home but anybody who was watching football in week three knows the Green Bay Packers really won that game and Seahawks’ record should be4-1.

East Rutherford, NJ- Sports can be a beautiful display of human skill and athleticism, but like any performance sports can be an eyesore if not executed right. There’s nothing fun about playing or watching such a fugly game such as the one played yesterday between Arizona and New York, but someone has to win a game even when both teams seem to be trying to lose. Unfortunately for Cardinals fans, the Jets played just a little less terrible and won, 7-6.

Any coach or player that is good enough to make it to the NFL can obviously perform at a high level, but yesterday’s game bombed worse than Brad Pitt’s newest movie. (Unlike the football game, most of us actually had expectations for “Killing Them Softly”.)

Before I lament this game any further I must be sure to give credit to the defenses on both teams. They both imposed their will on the opposing offense to turn the game into football’s version of a pitcher’s duel and nobody can fault them for that. Each defense also faced some of the worst performances by quarterbacks all season, it was a surprise only one was benched. The third stringer who came in for Mark Sanchez was Greg Mcelory, and he led the Jets on the only touchdown drive of the game at the end of the 3rd, with that touchdown being the go-ahead score.

Whether the ugliness of the game was due to defensive brilliance or each offense’s ineptitude isn’t much of a debate. Both teams are known to rely on their defense to keep them in games, but yesterday the Cardinals were 0-15 on 3rd downs, making their contributions virtually non-exsistent. Ryan Lindley went 10-31 for 72 yards and 1 interception and the offense rushed for 80 yards, with 40 of them coming off one run by Rashad Johnson. The Jets offense gave the ball to the Cardinals three times in the first half, yet zero touchdowns came of it.

The question is no longer if Ryan Lindley is ready or not, it’s why didn’t John Skelton play. I realize Skelton was benched for missing some easy, open throws, but Lindley’s throws yesterday made Skelton look like Aaron Rodgers. Lindley averaged 2.1 yards per passing attempt, a number no quarterback should put up. I don’t like disparaging professional athletes because they’re professionals and I couldn’t make it past high school, but that stat is pathetic by NFL standards. Larry Fitzgerald could act like Dwight Howard this offseason and no one would blame him.

If Whisenhunt doesn’t stop his experiment by next week the Cards may actually end the season with a 12-game losing streak. I don’t know if it’s something personal between him and Skelton, frankly I don’t care, but he should playing quarterback right now. That’s not even saying the offense would be decent if Whisenhunt returned to Skelton, but they probably would have won yesterday had he started. Every effort to salvage this corpse of an offense has proven to be futile and Arizona’s shot-callers, including Whisenhunt, can only blame themselves.

NBC Sports reported earlier today that Cardinals’ brass was discussing the future of defensive coordinator Ray Horton. Given Horton’s great job, one could easily speculate Arizona might be discussing the chance of Horton taking over for Whisenhunt at head coach. Most fans in the valley feel he deserves one more year, but losing streaks like this don’t happen without somebody getting fired and even taking a team like the Cardinals to the Super Bowl only holds so much clout. Arizona travels to Seattle to play a team that is undefeated at home, so expect to see loss number 9 next Sunday, nothing I have seen in the past three weeks should make me think otherwise.

East Rutherford, NJ- Tim Tebow will be inactive for Sundays game. Now lets move on to news concerning football.

If there is one fan base Cardinal’s fans don’t envy, its the Jets’. Might as well throw the Raiders in there too, but all of the world has been laughing at them for years. New York, like Oakland, has brought most of the problems they face on themselves. They’ve made roster moves based on flair (See Tebow) not substance, and although they aren’t in the midst of a 7-game losing streak (See Arizona), the Jets play in New York and like to talk about themselves. Nobody feels sorry for the loudmouth.

Nobody feels sorry for the Cardinals either, mostly because they don’t care. Outside of Arizona, there isn’t a lot of sparking interest regarding a 4-7 team on its 3rd quarterback. However, for us in Arizona, every game is a window into what next year might look like. Since we gave up on this season about four weeks ago, a view into the future is the main reason for fans to tune in.

After throwing four picks and dropping back more than he probably should have, a safer game plan should be in store for Ryan Lindley. Ken Whisenhunt probably wanted to give Lindley the green-light last week to see what the rook was made of and despite some nice glimpses, the rook showed he’s not quite ready. The run game should be emphasized much more this week, the offense can’t put it all on the kid just yet. Making things even harder, starting center Lyle Sendlein is out for the rest of the year with a torn MCL.

The grind of a heavy workload and deflated season is starting to take its toll on Arizona’s defense, Steven Jackson rushing for 138 yards last Sunday showed that. Most marriages with one worker and one freeloader usually end in divorce, unfortunately there’s no divorcing this offense. Having to keep teams out of the endzone constantly starting around the 50-yard line gets old game after game. The Jets’ offense is a meal this defense is hungry for, so expect them respond this week.

With all the recent success rookie quarterbacks have had recently it’s understandable for fans to expect Ryan Lindley to play well early, but that doesn’t mean it’s rational. Lindley can play well at times and then be susceptible to a rookie mistake, and those mistakes are hard to rebound from. It’s important for him to play under control but not lose the confidence that made Arizona’s staff believe in him. He’s not going against Peyton Manning this week, there’s no pressure trying to out-duel Mark Sanchez. If Beanie Wells can move the sticks more Lindley can have a solid game.

Choosing a winner between two inconsistent teams that haven’t played well in weeks has no formula. An overtime thriller or blowout on either side could happen and there wouldn’t be much surprise. West coast teams have a notoriously tough time traveling east, and the Cardinals fall victim to that trait often. With two underwhelming teams that is your trump card. The losing streak needs to end soon, but it won’t this week. Jets win an ugly game, 20-16.

I was stuck traveling during yesterday’s Cardinals game and was unable to record it, so here’s a link to the AP’s recap of the Cardinal’s 7th consecutive loss.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/st-louis-rams-defeat-arizona-cardinals-112512

Glendale, Az- As another drought continues, people get demoted, and John Skelton and Adrian Wilson are starting to fell the brunt of it. Skelton, who was benched in favor of rookie Ryan Lindley early in the 2nd quarter of last Sunday’s loss in Atlanta, failed to lead the Cards to victory for six straight games as a starter. Wilson, a perennial Pro-Bowler at strong safety, played in only 47 of 71 defensive snaps on Sunday, and Ken Whisenhunt seems to be sticking with the same strategy going forward.

“I thought the defensive schemed worked well,” Whisenhunt said when asked about Wilson’s sudden decline in playing time. Wilson’s not happy about it, but he’s still handling it like a professional and according to defensive coordinator Ray Horton, “He is still one of our leaders”.

So what does all of this change mean? With lack of a better term: desperation. Whisenhunt knows he can’t just roll with the status quo as a six-game losing streak shatters hope for a winning season. Ryan Lindley probably isn’t the answer this year, but John Skelton showed that he definitely wasn’t so Whisenhunt felt he had no other choice. He could’ve stuck with Skelton hoping for a turnaround but at this point he’s thinking about job security. If a young quarterback can come in, play well and get fans excited then Whisenhunt might be able to keep his job. Its a long shot that happens, and there’s been no reports of Whienshunt’s job being in jeopardy yet, but it’s just too easy to speculate.

The St. Louis Rams aren’t the 49ers, but they’re not the Saints on defense either. Lindley will have a few opportunities to make plays if he can take advantage, but I still see a long day ahead of him. St. Louis has very aggressive cornerbacks and Rams defensive end Chris Long will probably have a great game, as most above-average pass rushers do against one of the worst offensive lines in recent memory.

Beanie Wells is expected to play for the first time since week 3 after recovering from a “severe turf-toe injury”, although the running game hasn’t been the offense’s biggest problem of late. That’s not to say Arizona can’t wait to have him back, the last time Wells faced St. Louis he broke out for a Cardinals-record 228 rushing yards. If he can do half of that the Cardinals win this game, but that’s a lot to ask of a player fresh off injured-reserve.

Sam Bradford’s played well this year, but not off the charts. He owns an 83 QB rating (I still don’t know what that means exactly but just roll with it), but he has only gone over the 300-yard mark twice this year. The Rams have a steady, but not explosive offense and if Arizona can limit the big plays and 3rd down conversions then Arizona may be able to win this game with 13 points in a defensive struggle.

St. Louis was the first team to start the Cardinal’s six-game losing streak, so hopefully revenge is on the mind of every player suiting up. Don’t expect another five interceptions, but the defense will make enough stops to end the skid to get Lindley his first win, 16-13.