Still time to polish up

Discussion in 'Arizona Cardinals' started by TDJets72027, Aug 13, 2007.

  1. TDJets72027

    TDJets72027 Rex Ryan baby

    For the Cardinals, their first preseason game was like moving into a nice house that's been neglected. You know there's work to do, but you see the potential.

    So neither coach Ken Whisenhunt nor his players were worrying much over their 27-23 loss to the Raiders on Saturday night in Oakland. There were mistakes, plenty of them, but with the start of the regular season a month away, there's time to clean them up.

    "It's the first preseason game, and this is what it's for, get those little, silly mistakes out of the way early," inside linebacker Gerald Hayes said. "I don't look at it as being a big disappointment, but we would like to play smarter."




    The first-team defense took pride in holding Oakland without a first down on its first two series. What it won't remember fondly is committing three penalties that allowed Oakland to drive 80 yards for a touchdown over a seven-minute span in the first and second quarters.

    The Raiders would have been in a second-and-19 situation from their 11 if defensive tackle Darnell Dockett had not been called for unnecessary roughness, resulting in a first down.

    The Cardinals would have had a turnover if outside linebacker/defensive end Bertrand Berry had not jumped offside, negating a fumble recovery. And the Raiders would have scored only a field goal had a questionable pass-interference call not been made on cornerback Antrel Rolle.

    The three penalties run contrary to Whisenhunt's belief about playing with discipline and intelligence.

    "We had a penalty on Darnell which is exactly one of the things that we've talked about trying to rectify," Whisenhunt said. "Then we get a penalty on Bert, which we actually had a turnover on that play. I thought momentum was on our side until that happened."

    Whisenhunt didn't excuse himself from blame, either. It was his first game as head coach, and he was calling plays. He was kicking himself for not calling timeout in the second quarter when he knew a play had not been sent in correctly to backup quarterback Shane Boyd. It resulted in an interception return for a touchdown, the Cardinals' only turnover.

    "I'm still learning at this thing a little bit, too," Whisenhunt said. "I knew I should have called timeout and didn't get it done. It wasn't just the players making mistakes out there (Saturday)."

    The first-team offense sputtered at times and ran smoothly at others. Quarterback Matt Leinart struggled with accuracy. Receiver Larry Fitzgerald dropped two balls he normally catches.

    But the Cardinals did move the ball out from their 3-yard line into Oakland territory in the first quarter. That's an improvement over last year, when they were tackled for a safety in a regular-season loss to the Raiders, who won only one other game.

    As a reminder, the Raiders showed that highlight during pregame warm-ups.

    "I was having flashbacks," said Leinart, smiling.

    Running back Marcel Shipp was the guy who was tackled for the safety, and he didn't notice the replay.

    "I try not to look up there," he said.

    In a similar situation Saturday, Shipp gained 20 yards on three carries to help get the Cardinals out of trouble.

    "The line did a very good job," Shipp said. "They were getting on guys, staying on guys and giving me an opportunity to get going."

    Overall, the Cardinals' performance didn't surprise Whisenhunt much. He was pleased with some aspects, displeased with others. He reiterated that he sees potential in this team, but it's going to take some sweat equity to bring out the good points.

    "I thought this was a good learning tool for us," he said.

    http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/0812cards0813.html