The Ken Whisenhunt Era began much the same way the 2006 Cardinals' season played out - playing well enough to win, and blowing fourth quarter leads. From Kent Somers of the AZ republic:

SAN FRANCISCO - As time slipped away in the second half and the Cardinals clung to a four-point lead Monday night at Monster Park, they faced a critical question: Were they really different from past teams, which found ways to lose these types of games?

The answer? Not yet.

The 49ers, who had not done much offensively all night, went 86 yards in 12 plays in the final three minutes and scored when receiver Arnaz Battle took a handoff around left end for a touchdown with 26 seconds remaining. That gave San Francisco a 20-17 victory in the season opener.

Is it just me, or does it seem like every game for the past two years has played out exactly like this one?

With Training Camp Looming - here's a few rundowns of the latest media speculation about what sorts of questions the Cardinals have going into Camp.

Yahoo Sports

Arizona Cardinals: Coaching and motivation are the issues, not talent. The Cardinals have the pieces to succeed and several of the developing players now have veteran experience. But how will Whisenhunt fare running the entire show? And can Russ Grimm finally get the offensive line to at least a serviceable level? With the additions of Levi Brown and Mike Gandy, and the subtraction of Leonard Davis (who was doing more harm than good), that shouldn't be too much to ask. The key to the defense is whether Karlos Dansby can finally emerge as a star in the middle of 3-4 alignments and on the outside in the 4-3.

East Valley Tribune

How will the Cardinals transition to Ken Whisenhunt?
The Cardinals have plenty of pieces in place to be successful. But that doesn’t mean they can avoid growing pains under a new coach.Whisenhunt not only is bringing in a new playbook but a new philosophy, one based more upon controlling the clock and the game rather than the I-Want-To-Score-30-Points-A-Game-Quickly thought process Dennis Green owned (which ultimately failed). Defensively, Whisenhunt also wants to use elements of the 3-4 alignment, in direct opposition to Green’s undersized 4-3 setup. It would only be natural to have the Cards have some bumpy times, especially early in training camp and again early in the regular season.

Well - it's been a long off season - one that we took some time away from football and away from the Cardinals to get refreshed and re-energized. Now July is here and we're about ready for some football.

Thus - you'll begin to see the slumbering beast that is AZPigskin slowly come back to life. Thanks for hanging around and visiting the site, and we look forward to a rebirth in the season ahead.

It seems that every year, around this time, we hear all about those quarterbacks who have won the Super Bowl, many of whom are immediately tied in to greatness. If they've won one, then they are almost immediately considered better than those that have not. It's one of those things that annoys the you-know-what out of me. Maybe it's because I'm a huge Dan Marino fan, and he never won one. That's what people who know me would say. But honestly, it's far from the truth.

Let's take a look at the quarterbacks that have won a Super Bowl in the past 25 years:

Peyton Manning
Ben Roethlisberger
Tom Brady (3)
Brad Johnson
Trent Dilfer
Kurt Warner
John Elway (2)
Brett Favre (2)
Troy Aikman (3)
Steve Young
Mark Rypien
Jeff Hostetler
Joe Montana (4)
Doug Williams
Phil Simms
Jim McMahon
Jim Plunkett (2)
Joe Theismann

Now, based on that list, how many would you consider "great"? Ya know, game changing, the "guy-you-want-as-your-QB-with-the-game-on-the-line" QB. I see Montana, Young, Favre, Elway, Brady, and Manning. That's a solid cast. So, out of the last 26 Super Bowls, 12 of them have been won by, what I would call, top-notch QBs (Aikman was not top-notch, sorry).

Now what is it that you always hear before and during the NFL season, every season? "Defense and a good running game win championships." Now, look at list of QBs with rings. Nearly every single one of them had an above average to great RB in his backfield. And most had, at the very least, a solid defense protecting the other side of the ball. Does Elway win 2 rings without Terrell Davis. It's not very likely. The reason I bring Elway up is that, before Davis arrived in Denver, Elway was considered at least one notch below Marino in terms of all-time QBs. In comes Davis, and before you know it, Elway is better than Marino. It's a prime example of all the credit going to the wrong guy (like Aikman with Emmitt Smith), and it happens on an annual basis. Like Manning winning the MVP of XLI (it SHOULD'VE been awarded to both Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes, who were THE keys to victory on Sunday).

Well, we now know the names of two of the potential Cardinals Head Coaches

Mike Sherman was back in town - and the "buzz" apparently made the trip with him.

There was a buzz surrounding Sherman’s visit Thursday that he could be immediately hired as the new Cards’ coach, including those who noted that Sherman’s wife was accompanying him on his trip.

And Ken Whisenhunt also had his follow up interview, which apparently went quite well.

More candidate tid bits from Darren Urban of the East Valley Tribune.

The organization, which gave Pendergast a courtesy interview for the head coaching job, remains high on him and would like to see Pendergast remain in place on the new staff.

Seven holdover assistants from Dennis Green’s staff — Pendergast, offensive coordinator Mike Kruczek, offensive line coach Steve Loney, receivers coach Mike Wilson, linebackers coach Frank Bush, safeties coach Rick Courtright and defensive line coach Larry Brooks — are still under contract.

The team is hoping the new coach will interview the assistants and consider some of them for the new staff.

The Pendergast factor may be one of the reasons Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera is likely out of the running to be the Cards’ next coach.

Another is the probability the Cardinals want a head coach with an offensive background, one of the reasons six of the team’s eight candidates come from the offensive side of the ball.

One Chicago-based NFL source said the portion of Rivera’s interview about offense did not go well.

Although apparently there still could be another mystery candidate or two on the short list, Whisenhunt & Sherman appear to be the favorites.

Dennis Green was fired today by the Cardinals

From the Arizona Republic

Green was dismissed one day after the Cardinals concluded a 5-11 season with a 27-20 loss at San Diego. He finished with a 16-32 record at Arizona. The Cardinals will pay $2.5 million to buy out the final year of his contract.

He was the seventh coach the Cardinals have had since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988. Green's three teams in Arizona went 6-10, 5-11 and 5-11. He has a career NFL coaching record of 124-115.

"In the final analysis, when you look at the three years of wins and losses, we didn't win enough games," said Cardinals vice president and general counsel Michael Bidwill, son of owner Bill Bidwill.

Michael Bidwill announced at a news conference that Rod Graves, vice president for football operations, has been given a three-year extension to his contract that expired after this season.

So Green is out, and Graves is coming back. That's a move that shouldn't shock anyone with a pulse.

What a way to start off the new year.

The only thing the Cards did right this year, besides milking the state out of millions to build an amazing, world class football facility, was making Green play out the string rather than take the easy way out and fire him midway. The Bidwells made him keep showing up every week with that pile of garbage he's turned the promise of the 2006 season into.

Lets hope for better come 2007.

There will be joy in Mudville this evening. The Cardinals are on a winning streak and Edgerrin James is nearing 1,000 yards. Who would have thought that was possible just a few weeks ago.

Edge has been the story

Check out his numbers in the last six contests

117 Attempts
493 Yards
4.21 Yards Per Carry

Not too shabby at all. Nice return for the investment of the NFL's highest paid RB.

Kudos to the coaching staff - the Cardinals are now 3-2 in their last five games and they've finally showed up with regularity for a full football game. Perhaps next season we can work on starting off with a full effort in Week 1 like every other one of the 31 teams in the NFL?

But enough being snippy, things are looking up from the cellar.

Pro Football weekly is floating the rumor that the Cardinals will can Rod Graves and hire a new GM in the offseason, and let that individual determine who the next head coach will be.

The way we hear it, the Cardinals have finally begun taking steps to replace the current regime in its entirety and have started contacting specific candidates for the team’s top personnel job. Sources tell us that, despite his close relationship with owner Bill Bidwill, vice president of football opera*tions/pseudo-GM Rod Graves, who has been working without a contract since May, is almost certain to be given his walking papers, and that a whole new staff, headed by a new GM type, will be hired and then given the responsibility of hiring a new head coach to replace Dennis Green.

OFFENSE
Rushing Yards Per Game - 75.3 - 32nd
Passing Yards Per Game - 222.0 - 12th
Total Yards Per Game - 295.3 - 27th
Third Down Conversions - 60 for 160 for 38% - 18th
Points Per Game - 18.4 - T-18th

DEFENSE
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game - 121.1 - 20th
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game - 234.8 - 29th
Total Yards Allowed Per Game - 355.9 - 30th
Points Allowed Per Game - 23.7 - 27th

SPECIAL TEAMS
Average Kickoff Return - 22.6 - 15th
Average Punt Return - 8.5 - 20th
Average Punt - 44.5 Yards - 11th
Average Punt Return Allowed - 15.1 - 2nd
Total Net yards per Punt - 34.8 - 32nd
Field Goal Percentage - 18/25 for 66.7% - 25th

TURNOVERS
Giveaways - 25 (14 INTs, 11 Fum)
Takeaways - 25 (13 INTs, 12 Fum)
0 Differential is T-5th in the NFC

PENALTIES
Total Penalties - 88 - 2nd
Total Penalty Yards - 670 - 9th

Just like in previous weeks when I've done this rundown (Week 5) (Week 7), there isn't a whole lot of bright spots in there.

Some things however stick out more than others. Scott Player is having another fine season, yet the awful punt return team is negating that 100%, as the Cardinals are dead last in the NFL in gaining yards via punt. The Passing attack is finally creeping upward, while the running game has nowhere else to go but up. In five weeks, the Cards have gone from a +4 turnover differential to a dead zero differential, thanks to five Matt Leinart picks in that time.

So much for my big talking. Apparently someone forgot to put cheese on the hampster wheel over at Qwest. But regardless, the site is now back online and we're all happy campers after a much needed win.

Two semi-favorable home games back to back could have the Cardinals looking at 5-6 wins if all falls correctly. Of course, being that it's the Cardinals things never fall correctly, but there is a tiny sliver of hope that Dennis could best his 6 win total of 2004. Very tiny sliver.

After a week away from home and away from the computer, lets hit the home stretch strong, with only five games left in the regular season.

Here is what we missed.

Who would have thunk it, the Cardinals offense exploded on Sunday for 402 total yards. Without Edgerrin James.
And yet the Cardinals still found a way to lose. At least someone has a sense of humor about it.

An Arizona football coach got fired. But not the one we were hoping for. More on this later.

At 2-9, the Cardinals are still in the drivers seat for the No. 1 overall pick. If only if weren't for that pesky win over the Lions.

Next up is the division rival from St. Louis.

This from The Sports Oasis.

Currently, there's an advertisement for a Video/Scoreboard Engineer position with the Arizona Cardinals. The responsibilities include: "the operation, installation, design and maintenance of all production systems throughout the University of Phoenix Stadium building including all control room equipment, RF transmission equipment, television, sound, communications, closed captioning and signal distribution systems. The Engineers must also be able to meet the requirements of the broadcasters that interface with video/audio systems."

Makes you wonder if the "technical reasons" were mostly human related.

Here is the position he is speaking of on the NFL Team Jobs Board

There is now note about when the job was posted - so it could be an incredible coincidence. But it's still interesting, no doubt.

With a hat tip to Ben Maller, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was in town this past weekend and brought an entire crew with him to check out the details of Cardinals Stadium.]

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he brought 17 of his stadium officials to evaluate the Cardinals' new stadium.

The Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington is scheduled to open in 2009.