Strong safety Adrian Wilson is one of many Cardinals defenders to make dramatic improvement over the past two months, but he’s deflecting credit for the team winning six of its past seven games.

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Profile: Adrian Wilson

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“It’s not a one-man show,” Wilson said. “The other 10 guys believed in what we were doing, and for whatever reason, it turned around.

“It means a lot to me, obviously, but it’s a credit to everybody, not to just one person.”

Wilson has rarely spoken with local reporters this season, declining almost every interview opportunity. Earlier this year, he tried to get his fellow defensive backs to also decline interviews.

On Wednesday, Wilson politely fielded questions about his performance and praised the team.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning games as a team,” Wilson said. “It’s not about what one unit does, or what the other unit doesn’t do. The attention can be on the defense, but at the same time we win as a team.”

Status quo

There were no developments regarding the Cardinals quarterback position Thursday, at least none coach Ken Whisenhunt was willing to share with the public.

Kevin Kolb again was limited by the concussion he suffered two weeks ago. John Skelton again practiced fully. And Whisenhunt, again, wouldn’t say which player would start against the Bengals on Saturday.

“The procedure calls for him (Kolb) to go through a number of different benchmarks,” Whisenhunt said “One is to continue to practice symptom free and make progress that way. The next big one is traveling on the airplane. You always worry about the effects with that.

“When we get to Cincinnati tomorrow, we’ll see how that part of it goes.”

Whisenhunt said Kolb “was doing good” after practice Wednesday and was getting acclimated to the game plan.

The coach wouldn’t say which quarterback took the majority of snaps with the starting unit.

“They’re both getting reps, they’re both working,” Whisenhunt said. “We’ll make a decision based on the end of the week, seeing where everything is.”

Weaving a plan

The Bengals (8-6) are in playoff contention, which is one of the bigger surprises in the NFL this season.

They have a rookie quarterback (Andy Dalton), a rookie receiver (A.J. Green) and a new offensive coordinator (Jay Gruden).

Hiring Gruden was a surprise, given that he had spent most of his coaching career in the Arena Football League.

“What I was looking for offensively was for us to do a better job of meshing the run and the pass together,” coach Marvin Lewis said.

“As I look at the Cardinals offense, I think Whiz (Whisenhunt) has done a great job of that there. That’s what I was looking for; that we did a better job of putting that together and that we made it quarterback-friendly. Jay’s done a great job of installing that offense now, and our offense is through the eyes of our quarterback. He is our offense and we go from there.”

Arizona Cardinals update:

Beanie Wells blamed his failures to score on two long runs in St. Louis last week on the knee brace he started wearing the week before in San Francisco. The brace isn’t bulky, but it does restrict movement of his knee, Wells said, so a little bit of speed is lost.

Interesting news nugget this week from Mike Jurecki of XTRA 910 that Wells likely will need surgery after the season. That’s not a surprise, even though we know little about his injury. Wells has been dealing with swelling and pain each week. Swelling could mean there are loose particles in the joint or some other kind of damage. Wells wearing a brace could mean there are concerns about stability, which suggests a ligament could be involved.

Soon after Wells suffered the injury, Ken Whisenhunt said the structure of the knee was not damaged. That seems to bolster the idea that Wells has some unattached particles in the joint. That usually doesn’t require major surgery, but it’s painful and it’s telling that he’s playing through it.

–Still, whenever I hear about a guy playing hurt, I think back to last year with receiver Steve Breaston. He came back early from a knee injury because the team needed him. His toughness was lauded. But when it came time to re-sign him to a long-term contract, the Cardinals weren’t interested. They had concerns about Breaston’s knee, and he signed with the Chiefs. Players take on significant risk when they play hurt.

– Wells’ performance will be a big factor in Sunday’s game. The Cardinals need to run the ball efficiently to take pressure off quarterback Kevin Kolb and the guys up front protecting him. My guess is that if Wells has 80 yards of rushing, the Cardinals will be in the game.

– Speaking of Kolb, my guess is the Cardinals won’t ask him to do too much early. He hasn’t played in a month, and he’ll need some time to get in a rhythm. Kolb wasn’t playing well before he was hurt, and these last five games are critical for him and this offense.

–The defense should look at Sunday’s game as a chance to provide more evidence that it’s improved. The unit has allowed four touchdowns over the last four games, but the Cardinals played the Rams twice and the 49ers once in that stretch. Those aren’t offensive juggernauts. The Cowboys are much better, even though they will be without receiver Miles Austin.

– The development of a handful of young players has been important for this defense, but the improvement of some veterans shouldn’t be overlooked, either. Strong safety Adrian Wilson has played well over the past two months or so, and he’s been asked to alter his game. He’s not lining up in the box as much, he’s blitzing less, and he’s occasionally covering receivers. Richard Marshall’s ability to play both cornerback and safety has allowed the Cardinals to prosper while free safety Kerry Rhodes has been out. End Darnell Dockett is using different technique, too, two-gapping far more often than he ever has in his career.

Friday, December 2, 2011 at 05:16 PM

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Read More: John Skelton (QB – ARI), Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles, Nov 13, 2011 11:00 AM MST

The Arizona Cardinals were a 14-point underdog headed into this NFL Week 10 game in Philadelphia. But as they’ve done on several occasions this season, the Cardinals showed that they are not a completely miserable team. The defense played well against the Eagles and the offense showed signs of life. But as has also been the case all season, self-inflicted mistakes continue to plague Ken Whisenhunt’s team and they find themselves down 14-7 after the first half. The score easily could be 13-7 Cardinals without three blown plays.

The Cardinals Jay Feely missed two field goal attempts (35 yds, 43 yds) and John Skelton threw a pick-six. Those three mistakes cost the Cardinals a 13-point swing in game they trail by seven. Arizona also had an Adrian Wilson inception on the Eagles scoring drive reversed by a holding call on Richard Marshall.

Arizona put together an impressive touchdown drive in the second quarter going 84 yards on 10 plays. John Skelton made a great play to find Larry Fitzgerald for a 10-yard scoring play. 

The Cardinals defense, which had been solid all half, gave up their longest drive of the game as the Eagles went to the screen play to fuel a 70 yard, 10 play touchdown drive to answer.

Skelton is 8-18 with 111 yards and one touchdown and one interception in the first half. Michael Vick is 9-18 for 75 yards. Beanie Wells found a little more room to run in the second quarter and has 35 yards on 15 carries while LeSean McCoy has 34 yards on eight tries.

Here’s video of the Fitzgerald touchdown play.

The Cardinals have numerous problems to solve as they emerge from their off week. They need better pass protection from their two tackles. They need a pass rusher off the edge, or from anywhere. They need to reduce mental breakdowns in pass coverage, the two young corners need to tighten coverage and make plays on the ball, and strong safety Adrian Wilson needs to return to Pro Bowl form.

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Profile: Kevin Kolb

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But nothing is more important, or will have more impact on the final 11 games, than fixing whatever is wrong with quarterback Kevin Kolb.

In the first two games, he completed 61.4 percent of his passes, threw four touchdown passes and had one intercepted. In the last three games, his completion percentage dipped to 57.3 and he had just one touchdown pass and four interceptions. Those are Derek Anderson-type numbers. In five games, Kolb’s fumbled six times and lost three.

Granted, we all can make statistics dance, sing and carry out the garbage if we want. In the second game, for instance, Kolb completed 17 of 30 (56.7) percent of his passes. At this stage of the season, one performance, good or bad, can skew statistics. But those of us who have watched the Cardinals can trust our eyes, and what we’ve seen from Kolb lately hasn’t been good.

He looks uncomfortable in the pocket and he’s not making plays when he’s on the move. But If I’m a Cardinals coach or player, what’s most troubling to me is that Kolb is missing open receivers. In Minnesota, he missed tight end Rob Housler twice: once wide open in the end zone and another time down the seam. (The Cardinals have tried hard to hit that tight end seam pass all year. Doing so a few times might make opponents think twice about keeping a safety over the top on Fitzgerald.) He’s thrown behind and ahead of receivers.

Kolb’s short history suggests he’s due to get hot. In his short time as a starter for the Eagles, there were lows and highs. He didn’t put together strings of poor performances, or exceptional ones.

What Kolb hasn’t done is produce on a consistent basis. That’s understandable. He’s 27 and this is the first season in which he’s started more than four consecutive games. This is a new offensive system that puts considerable responsibility on a quarterback, moreso than many other schemes.

But the time to improve is now. Excuses abound, but the Cardinals are behind the 49ers (5-1) by 3 1/2 games. The Cardinals don’t need to be reminded that the 49ers have a new coach with a new system, but I just did anyway.

Arizona Cardinals update:

The Cardinals have numerous problems to solve as they emerge from their off week. They need better pass protection from their two tackles. They need a pass rusher off the edge, or from anywhere. They need to reduce mental breakdowns in pass coverage, the two young corners need to tighten coverage and make plays on the ball, and strong safety Adrian Wilson needs to return to Pro Bowl form.

But nothing is more important, or will have more impact on the final 11 games, than fixing whatever is wrong with quarterback Kevin Kolb.

In the first two games, he completed 61.4 percent of his passes, threw four touchdown passes and had one intercepted. In the last three games, his completion percentage dipped to 57.3 and he had just one touchdown pass and four interceptions. Those are Derek Anderson-type numbers. In five games, Kolb’s fumbled six times and lost three.

Granted, we all can make statistics dance, sing and carry out the garbage if we want. In the second game, for instance, Kolb completed 17 of 30 (56.7) percent of his passes. At this stage of the season, one performance, good or bad, can skew statistics. But those of us who have watched the Cardinals can trust our eyes, and what we’ve seen from Kolb lately hasn’t been good.

He looks uncomfortable in the pocket and he’s not making plays when he’s on the move. But If I’m a Cardinals coach or player, what’s most troubling to me is that Kolb is missing open receivers. In Minnesota, he missed tight end Rob Housler twice: once wide open in the end zone and another time down the seam. (The Cardinals have tried hard to hit that tight end seam pass all year. Doing so a few times might make opponents think twice about keeping a safety over the top on Fitzgerald.) He’s thrown behind and ahead of receivers.

Kolb’s short history suggests he’s due to get hot. In his short time as a starter for the Eagles, there were lows and highs. He didn’t put together strings of poor performances, or exceptional ones.

What Kolb hasn’t done is produce on a consistent basis. That’s understandable. He’s 27 and this is the first season in which he’s started more than four consecutive games. This is a new offensive system that puts considerable responsibility on a quarterback, moreso than many other schemes. 

But the time to improve is now. Excuses abound, but the Cardinals are behind the 49ers (5-1) by 3 1/2 games. The Cardinals don’t need to be reminded that the 49ers have a new coach with a new system, but I just did anyway.

Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:03 AM

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