We heard it after the game on Sunday and Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt repeated it Monday: He's looking for guys that can make plays and every position is under scrutiny. Many feel that Kevin Kolb would be excluded from that but Whisenhunt didn't rule out a change when asked specifically about the quarterback position.
"The quarterback is obviously the focal point of a lot of things when you don't win games -- when you lose five games in a row. Like I said, every position is going to be looked at from that standpoint," he said.
Most likely, that's just a message being sent and not indication that Kolb is going to get benched. At the same time, Whisenhunt is certainly ratcheting up the pressure on Kolb and making it clear that missing plays is not acceptable.
Whisenhunt repeatedly mentioned the missed throw to TE Rob Housler that should have gone for a touchdown. It was very similar to a play Kolb missed against Minnesota.
"Looking at our football team, we're looking for guys that can make plays and if we have to make changes across the board at different positions in order to do that, that's what we're going to do."
As has been much discussed, Kolb's got to get better at his footwork to allow him to stand in the pocket and make some of the throws. Whisenhunt stressed that he has made some big plays but the missed throw to Housler was purely footwork.
In case you are wondering what a change would look like, John Skelton has regained the number two quarterback job over Rich Bartel but Whiz says he's comfortable with either guy.
Barring injury, however, we still think it is highly unlikely that a move would be made any time soon.
The public pressure on Kolb is interesting, however, given how much pressure Kevin already puts on himself. Perhaps this is all more about deflecting attention or giving fans the impression that the coaching staff is "doing" something.
More likely candidates for change are outside linebackers Sam Acho and O'Brien Schofield who both played well on Sunday according to their coach, "Those guys are getting a better feel for our defense and we're going to integrate them more."
Other Notes:
- Unblocked rushers on the interception and safety: The first one was an interior line mistake. The second was a scheme thing. Gave a different front. Stayed in base defense. Got to get rid of the ball in that situation.
- "A good way to assess our team right now is: other teams are making us pay for our mistakes and we're not making other teams pay for their mistakes," Whisenhunt said. Example, they complete 95-yard pass to Mike Wallace. Kolb not making pass to Rob Housler.
- Rashad Johnson did ok. Solid performance.
- Stewart Bradley getting better and getting used to rushing the quarterback which is new for him. He's improving.
- "I think we judge progress of an offensive line by wins and losses. Ask anyone who knows anything about football, games are won or lost in the trenches. No, I don't think we're doing as good as we could because we're not winning," Lyle Sendlien on the offensive line's performance
- "Absolutely, I thought we were just getting ready to get a groove going in there. I was feeling pretty good. We were starting to get comfortable with the pressure they were bringing and we were picking everything up. Lanes were just starting to open up. It sucked," Beanie Wells on the running game before he got injured. Wells wouldn't say much about the injury or his timetable. The plan before the injury was definitely to run the ball more and try and wear down the injury-riddled defense front for the Steelers.
For more on the Cardinals, visit Revenge of the Birds blog.