Cards and Leinart

As a die-hard Suns, ASU and DBacks fan, I always wondered where exactly is my NFL allegiance. The Arizona Cardinals have been so bad for so long that they never got any attention when I lived in the valley of the Sun. They shared the Devils college stadium for years and I remember many, many weekends when the Devil routinely drew more people on Saturday than the Cards did on Sunday. There was really no reason to get too involved with this team as the biggest games of the year typically was when the old NFC East rivals Cowboys were in town and their fans filled the stadium. I even got involved with the DBacks who were not even in existent when I left town. They were still building that giant airplane hanger called BOB in downtown and we couldn't wait for the Baseball team to come to town. The golden years in the history of the Arizona Cardinals was when the local ASU boy Jake Plummer was in town making some serious noise. I loved those couple of years and I ditched the Cardinals again when they decided to ditch Jake.

They have moved to a spanking new stadium last year and I can't wait to check it out. Not so much the team. It's the same story with the team every year since Jake came to town. So much hope and so many people saying "this is the year" every August and so much heart-break and disappointment September through December. A new stadium, a rare big contract to Edge, great young wide-outs, young QB, new coach, nothing seems to fix this thing. This year was really supposed to be it and the league is even pushing Matt Leinart hard. But they started Monday night as always with a defeat - an ugly, inexplicable defeat. The Cards just make it hard for people like me to love them. They lost 20-17 to the Niners who had a grand total of 194 yards. Both offenses stunk it up and I don't believe either team's defense is all that good. It was just incompetent offense and ultra conservative play calling. The Niners spent a lot of money on their corners and they seem to do a good job on Monday containing Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. But the Cards passing attack was just lacking inspite of Edge rushing effectively for stretches.

At the end of the day it was a L for the Cards and they are 0-1. But my main concern is QB Matt Leinart. I have no idea what all the hype for this guy is about. He started the game with a bad interception and never played much better the rest of the way. I understand it's just his second year, but wasn't this supposed to be his breakout season? I have serious questions about his future given his lack of athleticism and arm strength. I also don't understand why the NFL is pumping this guy up like he is Peyton Manning's little brother! When did sleeping around with Paris Hilton in LA make you a great quarterback talent. Leinart better start playing some ball soon or else he will become a laughing stock in this league and end up in some bench sooner than later. I know I am being harsh on this guy, but he looked truly awful. He threw for 102 yards and was lucky to even cross 100 yards for the game. When you are a starting QB on the same field with Alex Smith, AND Alex Smith is having a bad day, AND he is still the better QB, you have some serious issues. Thats exactly what happened to Leinart on Monday. There are days when Alex Smith looks like a career backup and on Monday, Leinart looked like Alex Smith's backup! I sure hope he comes through for the Cards. Otherwise, they have another huge problem on their hands and that'll set them back another 3 or 4 years.