Over the three days of the draft, the Cardinals’ hierarchy tried to balance filling needs, finding value and adapting to a changing game. It likely will take a few years to judge the team’s performance, but coaches and officials left Tempe headquarters Saturday evening satisfied.

Their methods over the three days of the draft weren’t necessarily orthodox, nor greeted with rave reviews from some fans. And the Cardinals are fine with that.

The Cardinals were expected to draft an offensive tackle in the first round; they waited until the fourth. They went for talent over need in both the first round, by taking receiver Michael Floyd from Notre Dame, and in the third, by taking cornerback Jamell Fleming from Oklahoma.

They waited until the fourth and fifth rounds to address what was perceived as their biggest need: the offensive line. They drafted right tackle Bobby Massie from Mississippi in the fourth and guard Senio Kelemete from Washington in the fifth.

In the sixth round, they drafted another cornerback and added a quarterback. Neither is a sure thing to make the team.

Refusing to place need on a high pedestal over talent, the Cardinals hoped they followed a promising 2011 draft class with another solid one.

“A lot has been said about last year’s draft and some of the players that performed for us,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. ” I think that was a good indication of not necessarily trying to fit a perceived need as far taking players that were good fits for you. “

The Cardinals’ selections also reflected their views on how the NFL game has changed. They selected Floyd in the first round because they think he has the ability to make big plays. That’s more important in today’s game, Whisenhunt said, because moving the kickoff up last year resulted in more touchbacks.

Being able to quickly flip field position is important. Floyd is expected to help do that.

Fleming’s selection also is partly a reaction to the NFL, which has become a passing league. Teams believe now they can’t have enough quality cornerbacks. Fleming gives the team nine cornerbacks on the roster, and the Cardinals drafted safety Justin Bethel in the sixth round.

Fleming will compete with William Gay, A.J. Jefferson and Greg Toler for a starting job.

“It gives us depth at a position we need,” defensive coordinator Ray Horton said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better, and that was one of the positions we needed to get better at.”

Horton was quick to say that the expectations for Fleming are reasonable, although the youngster from Oklahoma doesn’t lack confidence.

“Do I think he’s going to be a Pro Bowl corner his first year?” Horton asked. “No, I don’t, but I expect him to come in and contribute.”

That contribution could come in multiple roles: competing for a starting cornerback’s job, playing cornerback in nickel schemes and maybe even seeing time at safety in some packages.

“He’ll get the opportunity to show me what he can do,” Horton said. “If you don’t have this kind of depth going against the Green Bay Packers, who are on the schedule and running five wides (receivers), New England with the big tight ends, with New Orleans and the Hall of Fame Game.

“If you can’t play more than one thing you are kind of forcing yourself to the way of the fullback, which is kind of an extinct position right now.”

The Cardinals didn’t have a second-round pick in this draft, having dealt it to Philadelphia last summer as part of the package for quarterback Kevin Kolb. They had chances to trade up into that round, but the price was multiple picks. The Cardinals didn’t want to pay it because they thought there was value later in the draft, especially in the offensive line.

Massie was projected by some experts to go as high as the second round but slipped to the fourth, partly because he left school a year early and had “some inconsistencies in terms of technique,” according to one scout.

“But the guy plays hard and has huge upside,” the scout said.

The Cardinals followed the Massie pick by selecting Kelemete from Washington in the fifth round. They are the first offensive linemen the team has drafted since 2009.

Massie will be given an immediate chance to start at right tackle, battling for the job with Jeremy Bridges and D’Anthony Batiste.

Kelemete is projected to move inside to guard, serving as a backup to left guard Daryn Colledge and right guard Adam Snyder.

“We haven’t drafted one (a lineman) up high in a while but you can’t say we’re going to start sliding guys just to get a guy there,” assistant head coach/offensive line Russ Grimm said. “But the two guys we picked up are good, solid, physical football players.”

The Cardinals addressed their offensive line for the first time in the draft, taking Mississippi tackle Bobby Massie in the fourth round and Washington tackle Senio Kelemete in the fifth round.

Some scouting services had Massie rated higher, and there was speculation the Cardinals could take him in the third round.

Massie is listed at 6 feet 6-inches and 315 pounds. He played right tackle for three years at Mississippi and came out of school a year early.

Massie should contend for a starting job at right tackle. That job is open, although Brandon Keith could re-sign and Jeremy Bridges has some experience there.

Kelemete, 6-3, 307, played tackle at Washington but some pro scouts project him at guard.

The Cardinals didn’t draft an offensive lineman at all in 2010 and 2011.

The NFL has announced the official draft order, prompting millions of hearts to beat out of rhythm. Or maybe not.

But for some odd, unknown reason, the announcement prompted me to come up with my version of the Arizona Cardinals all-time draft class.

The following covers players drafted since 1988, when the team moved to Arizona. I didn’t consider members of the 2011 class because it’s too soon to judge those guys. A good number of them appear capable of moving into contention over the next few years.

I also didn’t select a “worst” pick in the fourth through seventh rounders. It’s hard to call a player taken that late a bust.
Players “competed” only with those drafted in the same round. This is one man’s opinion. You might disagree. No problem.

Like a friend of mine likes to say, feel free to compile your own list.

Kent Somers/The Arizona Republic

GLENDALE, Ariz. – What a fitting way for the Arizona Cardinals to finish their season.

They win, in overtime of course, with Larry Fitzgerald’s spectacular plays making the difference.

Fitzgerald had two such catches in the game-winning drive, leading to a 28-yard field goal by Jay Feely that gave the Cardinals a 23-20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Arizona’s fourth overtime victory — all at home — in the last nine weeks of the season. The four overtime wins in a season are an NFL record.

“I wish we could play more games in overtime,” Fitzgerald said. “If we play 16 games in overtime next year, we might go 16-0.”

Fitzgerald made a leaping grab against two defenders early in the drive for a 26-yard gain, but he saved the best for last, a diving, one-handed catch for eight yards that got the team within field goal range and eventually set up the winning score.

“I actually thought it was too far,” quarterback John Skelton said of his throw. “I just saw his arm stick out, stick it, and stick the landing. We come to expect that from Larry. It’s almost like it’s not even a shocker anymore because he does it so often.”

Skelton didn’t mention it, but he fainted in the locker-room before the game after getting fluid drained from a knee.

“Pre-game he scared us all. He fell out and he had a little fainting issue in the locker-room,” Fitzgerald said. “We were all nervous about him being able to play today and he fought through that and was able to go out there and perform and get our team a win. That shows the kind of toughness he has.”

Arizona (8-8) finished the season 7-2 after a six-game losing streak left it 1-6.

“We’re 1-0 in 2012,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said, hoping that the strong second half of the season will propel the team into a successful 2012 campaign.

Seattle (7-9) had rallied to tie the game after trailing 20-10 early in the fourth quarter.

Fitzgerald caught nine passes for 149 yards after one reception for two yards in the first half. It was his 32nd career 100-yard receiving game, sixth this season.

“The performance of Larry Fitzgerald, he is an incredible football player,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “He is as good as you can get in this game and he showed it. I just marvel at the things he does. He has done it before and he did it again and it proves who he is.”

Fitzgerald joined Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison as the only players to top 1,400 yards receiving in four seasons.

Skelton completed 22 of 40 for 271 yards and a touchdown with one interception for Arizona. Tarvaris Jackson was 21 of 35 for 222 yards and a touchdown with one pick for the Seahawks.

The Cardinals earlier had overtime victories over St. Louis, Dallas and Cleveland. The Seahawks finished with the same record as a year ago, when 7-9 was good enough to win the NFC West.

“We know we have a better team this year,” Seattle safety Earl Thomas said. “We are young but the experience that we got this year and all the plays we made we can build on that next year.”

Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, who made the Pro Bowl on special teams as a rookie, returned a punt 42 yards to set up a field goal, then blocked Steven Hauschka’s 24-yard field goal attempt. It was the NFL-leading fifth blocked field goal for the Cardinals, two of them by Peterson.

Seattle won the toss heading into overtime, and Leon Washington’s 47-yard kickoff return gave the Seahawks the ball at their own 40, but they failed to move it and had to punt.

Arizona’s game-winning drive started at the 19. On third-and-3 at the 26, Skelton threw over the middle to Fitzgerald, who caught it between two defenders for a 26-yard gain to the Seahawks 48. Skelton’s quarterback sneak on fourth and less than a yard gave Arizona a first down at the Seattle 37.

Arizona had it second-and-9 at the 36 when Skelton threw toward but not particularly close to Fitzgerald, who somehow gathered in the ball with one hand and cradled it as he fell to the ground. A review confirmed that it was a catch. LaRod Stephens-Howling, filling in for the injured Beanie Wells, rushed three times to the Seattle nine, and Feely’s third field goal of the game gave the Cardinals the win.

Down 20-10 early in the fourth quarter, Seattle tied with a pair of big plays by two rookies, Richard Sherman and Lockette. First, Sherman stepped in front of intended receiver Andre Roberts for an interception that set up a chip shot field goal by Hauschka, then Jackson lofted the long pass to Lockette, who beat cornerback Marshay Green, and it was 20-20 with 7:47 remaining. Green had just been activated from the practice squad on Saturday.

After Washington’s 48-yard touchdown run tied it at 10-10 with 10:56 to go in the third quarter, the Cardinals went 80 yards in eight plays. Skelton was 6 for 6 for 70 yards, capped by a 13-yard TD toss to Todd Heap, the tight end’s first score in an injury-plagued first season with Arizona, putting the Cardinals up 17-10.

Skelton’s 42-yard pass to Fitzgerald led to Feely’s 43-yard field goal that boosted the lead to 20-10 12:18 to play.

Seattle responded, driving from its 20 to the Arizona 6. But the offence stalled, and Peterson rushed untouched from the end to block the short field goal try.

Peterson, who had been slowed in practice all week by a strained Achilles tendon, nearly broke free for what would have been an NFL record fifth punt return for a touchdown. Instead, punter Jon Ryan tripped him up at the Seattle 31. Still, the 42-yard return set up Feely’s 41-yard field goal that put Arizona up 10-3 with 3:28 left in the first half.

Wells was a surprise inactive. He had been listed as questionable but had played through the pain in his left knee through the season.

Skelton finished 5-2 as a starter, 6-2 if you count the San Francisco game.

Quarterback Kevin Kolb missed the final three games of his frustrating first season with Arizona because of a concussion, the result of a knee to the head on the Cardinals’ third play of the game against San Francisco on Dec. 11. He missed four games earlier in the season with a right turf toe injury.

Notes: Marshawn Lynch’s string of 11 straight games with a touchdown came to an end. … Peterson set an NFL rookie record for punt return yards (699), the second-most of any player in league history. … Seattle’s Doug Baldwin became the first undrafted rookie free agent to lead his team in receptions and yards receiving since Bill Groman of did it for the Houston Oilers in 1960. … The University of Phoenix Stadium roof was closed even though it was sunny and 28 C outside. … The stadium already had extra seats installed for Monday night’s Fiesta Bowl matchup between Oklahoma State and Stanford.

About the only thing that separates the Cardinals from the Seahawks these days is that one of them practiced in sunny, 70-degree weather to prepare for Sunday’s season finale.

Both are not only 7-8, they took similar paths to get there. Both teams were 2-6 at the halfway point of the season. Both pulled themselves up to ground level and took a peek at the playoffs before losing last week.

Both have defenses featuring young, dynamic players and offenses that are works in progress, often minus the progress part.

“We both have done things that we are excited about,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “We have won some games against good opponents. We’ve done a good job at home. They’ve done a good job at home. There is a little bit of a difference as far as they’ve had success running the ball lately. We’ve had a little bit more success throwing the football lately, especially in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a good matchup of two teams in a division that have played good football over the back half of the season.”

Both teams have a chance to finish .500 Sunday. The one that does will claim second place in the NFC West, a small consolation for teams out of the playoffs. But you find motivation wherever you can.

“It’s really important,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said of finishing .500. “That’s what we have to play for at this time. That’s not anywhere near where we wanted to be, but it’s what we have available, and we’re going for it. I know that those guys feel the same way.”

The Seahawks have won three consecutive games over Arizona, including 13-10 in Week 3 in Seattle. The Cardinals scored just 38 points in those three losses, which all came after Carroll became coach in 2010.

Turnovers have been the biggest problem for the Cardinals in those games. They committed nine to Seattle’s three.

In the loss earlier this year, Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb had two passes intercepted deep in Seattle territory, and kicker Jay Feely missed field-goal attempts of 51 and 49 yards.

The Seahawks were no offensive juggernaut, gaining 261 yards and scoring one touchdown, but they were far more efficient than the Cardinals.

Seattle’s offensive attack has changed since that game, while the Cardinals are much different defensively.

The Seahawks gradually came to rely more upon a physical running game, spearheaded by Marshawn Lynch, who has gained at least 100 yards in six of the past eight games. In Week 3, it was a mystery why Lynch (19 carries, 73 yards) didn’t get the ball more.

“I think we have improved in big areas, particularly after we made it through the first half and just struggled growing with the young guys up front,” Carroll said. “We started getting better and we just improved to where we can win some football games finally.”

The Cardinals had won six of seven games before last week’s loss in Cincinnati. They did it with a defense that played consistently well throughout games, and an offense that came alive in the second half, especially the fourth quarter.

Both teams will begin their off-season on Monday with questions at quarterback. Seattle’s Tarvaris Jackson has displayed toughness in playing through a pectoral injury, but it’s questionable whether he will remain the Seahawks starter beyond Sunday.

“We will go into the off-season with Tarvaris as our quarterback, and we will see what the off-season brings,” Carroll said. “He was absolutely hurt and found a way to play and gave us everything he had. He gave us a chance to turn this thing around. I’ll always be proud of him for that.”

For the Cardinals, Kolb is expected to miss his third game because of concussion and his seventh overall due to injuries. The trade that brought him from Philadelphia to Arizona has not yet paid dividends.

His backup, John Skelton, has shown the ability to bring the Cardinals from behind in the fourth quarter. The problem is, his poor play early in games is a big reason they have been behind in the fourth quarter.

“I’m sure, like anything, with experience and time it will come,” Skelton said of playing better in the first half. “At the same time, there are mistakes that even a rookie shouldn’t be making that I’m making out there sometimes.”

The setup: The Cardinals trailed 23-16. There was 1:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. It was 4th and 5 from Cincinnati’s 17-yard line.

The situation: After mounting a furious comeback, the Cardinals had a chance to tie the score.

The call: The Bengals brought the blitz, and quarterback John Skelton spotted a wide-open Early Doucet. But Doucet tripped over his own feet in the end zone after Skelton threw the ball.

The impact: The incomplete pass ended the Cardinals’ rally, eliminating the team from playoff contention.

The quote: “If he hadn’t tripped, he would’ve caught the ball,” Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt

CINCINNATI — The Cardinals have been two different teams this season, and they displayed both versions like Christmas ornaments Saturday at Paul Brown Stadium.

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Photos from the game | Replay: Game chat | Box score

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The one that lost six of the first seven games appeared in the first half as the Bengals built a 20-point lead.

The one that won six of seven games made things interesting in the second half.

In the end, the good Cardinals couldn’t quite overcome the bad, and they lost 23-16 to the Bengals.

The loss eliminated the Cardinals (7-8) from playoff contention, ended a four-game winning streak and ruined a chance to finish with a winning record.

“We had a chance at the end, but we dug ourselves too deep of hole,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “I credit our guys with fighting, but just too many mistakes early, too many turnovers. It’s disappointing, especially when we fought as hard as we have this year to get back.”

The Cardinals offensive players will beat themselves up, or should, for the way they played in the first three quarters, and the mistakes they made in the fourth.

Quarterback John Skelton had another of his early/late outings. Starting his sixth game because of injuries to Kevin Kolb, Skelton was awful in the first half, completing 5 of 13 passes with two interceptions.

Whisenhunt considered replacing him with Rich Bartel.

He didn’t, and Skelton got hot, which is his custom late in games.

In the fourth quarter, he passed 204 yards and two touchdowns. He nearly had a third touchdown pass, which would have tied the score with 1:12 remaining.

On fourth and 5 from the Bengals’ 17-yard line, Skelton avoided the blitz and saw receiver Early Doucet open at the goal line. Doucet’s assignment is to “sit” or stop when he sees that type of blitz.

He did, but Skelton thought Doucet was going to keep running. Doucet stumbled and fell as the ball floated over his head and into the end zone.

“It’s a play I feel like I should have made,” Doucet said. “At that point of the game, you can’t fall down no matter what. What I have to say or what excuse I can come up with, it still doesn’t justify the fact that I fell.”

Skelton took a share of the blame, too.

“I’ve got to just stick it on him,” Skelton said. “When he’s open, I just have to stick it somewhere on his body frame.”

It wasn’t the offense’s first mistake of the quarter, just the last.

On the possession before, the Cardinals had a first and goal at the 1.

But they fumbled the ball before it could be handed off to fullback Anthony Sherman.

The Cardinals recovered the ball but couldn’t make up the 10 yards lost.

Jay Feely’s field goal put them within a touchdown, at 23-16. If the Cardinals score a touchdown there, it’s 23-20, meaning Doucet’s stumble might not have happened because the Cardinals would have attempted a field goal.

No one was quite sure afterward what caused it. Maybe the defense got some penetration, and it appeared guard Daryn Colledge, who was pulling, might have hit Skelton on the play.

“Our guys believed,” Whisenhunt said. “They believed they were going to come back and tie that game and go into overtime. That’s a special quality.

“When we get this first half stuff straightened out, and we will, we’re going to be a really good football team.”

For three quarters, the offense did little. As the quarterback, Skelton was the face of the problem.

“The guy makes so many plays at end of games, but you get so frustrated because he misses things earlier in the game that would give you a chance to get going,” Whisenhunt said.

“You see him make some of those plays in the last few games and you think he’s arrived and you forget he is essentially a rookie, a young player.”

For the first time in weeks, the defense didn’t dominate in the first half.

It held up in the red zone, but rookie quarterback Andy Dalton passed for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

The unit clamped down late. Dalton finished with just 18 more passing yards, and the Cardinals recovered two fumbles in the fourth quarter.

But it was too late and too little to help an offense that’s been anemic all season.

“They played like the defense we’ve seen in the second half, they really made plays,” Whisenhunt said.
“It’s tough, when you are not doing things on offense and you’re turning it over, putting them (defenders) in tough situations, it can be frustrating.

“I think maybe our standard of what we expect from those guys is what colors you perception.”

It almost always is preferable to overcome rather than succumb, and Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt thinks his team’s rebound from a 1-6 start could have an impact this off-season and in future years.

“Your younger players are now developing and learning how to do it when it’s been as tough as it could possibly be,” Whisenhunt said. “And that means it makes you stronger as a team going forward. If you learn how to win and you don’t know any different, then when you lose it can really be catastrophic.”

Imagine if the Cardinals had collapsed instead of winning six of the next seven games. Or what life would be like now if the Cardinals had started 6-1, then lost six of the next seven.

Whisenhunt would have received a game ball Oct. 30, not Dec. 18, for winning the most games in franchise history. And there would be speculation about his job status.

“Oh, my God,” Whisenhunt said, laughing, when asked to imagine if the halves of this season had been flipped. “They’d be taking the game ball back, that’s what they’d be doing.”

It’s been two seasons in one for the Cardinals. This is not anyone’s ideal scenario for a season, but if a team can have only one winning streak a year, better it come late than early. If the Cardinals had blown a 6-1 start, there would be a clamor for a major housecleaning at the team’s facility, starting with the head coach’s office.

But winning in the second half has changed everyone’s outlook on the Cardinals’ future.

“It builds equity,” Whisenhunt said. “When you go through the pain of losing those games with all these young guys, and they understand now what they have to do in order to get out of it, that makes you stronger as a team.

“You have this group of young players who understand ‘This is what we have to do. This is the standard that we have to set in practice and in meetings and what we have to do in games.’

“Now when you have a group of free agents come in here, you have a group of guys who won’t accept anything but this standard.”

The Cardinals had that equity after winning the NFC West in 2008 and 2009. They lost it in 2010, when quarterback Kurt Warner retired, receiver Anquan Boldin was traded and linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Antrel Rolle didn’t re-sign.

The 5-11 record in 2010 produced new questions about the abilities of Whisenhunt and General Manager Rod Graves to successfully retool the roster. Six losses in September and October gave critics additional fuel.

Those questions still might exist, but six victories in the past seven games have at least siphoned away some of the anger.

They also have given Whisenhunt additional credibility with both fans and players. At midseason, he was being criticized for reciting mantras of “staying the course” and “we know this system works.”

“You got to be consistent,” Whisenhunt said. “If you have a consistent message, the guys will believe in you and believe in what you’re doing.

“That’s what they’re looking for. I yell and scream at times when I get mad, but you do it all the time, it doesn’t mean as much.”

A toll taken

Beanie Wells has been playing with a painful, swollen right knee since the sixth game, yet he needs only 6 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season.

Throughout the season, Whisenhunt has praised his running back’s toughness, because it’s clear Wells isn’t 100 percent. The condition of Wells’ knee is a “week-to-week thing,” Whisenhunt said. “It’s a different struggle every week for him trying to get his knee ready. He’s not as elusive as he would be if was he 100 percent healthy, and we understand that.”

That’s especially clear when Wells breaks through the line and faces linebackers and defensive backs at the second level, Whisenhunt said.

Even when he’s healthy, Wells isn’t a shifty back. He’s physical and he’ll run defensive backs over before trying to dodge them. But every back needs to be able to cut hard to evade defenders, and Wells is having a hard time doing it.

Wells touched the ball 16 times against the Browns on Sunday. On four occasions, he made it to the second level of the defense but couldn’t make the first tackler miss. Most of the time, the Browns tackled Wells by diving at his feet.

If healthy, Wells might have broken one or two of those plays for bigger gains.

“They’ve either came to cut him or he’s gotten hit from the side where he can’t plant and cut back under, or he can’t pick his feet up and get through that tackle,” Whisenhunt said. “But let’s not forget that Beanie’s had a good year for us. We’re really focused on trying to get him the 1,000 yards and have him fight through this thing.”

Coach’s Corner

“I think that when we were sitting 1-6 and everybody was killing us, we were focused on just doing it one week at a time. Would it be great to have a winning season? You’re darn right it would be. It would be something very special because of where we were. But to be honest with you, I hadn’t thought about that. All I thought about was trying to win this game and that if we can continue on this, that’s something that’s pretty good. Winning four in a row is something we haven’t done here, not since I’ve been here.”

– Ken Whisenhunt

Stat pack

The Cardinals have won four consecutive games in a season for the first time since 1999. They haven’t five games in a row since 1977.

Beanie Wells has 10 rushing touchdowns, tying for the fourth-best season total in franchise history. John David Crow set the record with 14 in 1962.

The Cardinals have won three overtime games this season. That ties them with eight other teams for the most in NFL history.

The Cardinals converted 8 of 16 third-down opportunities against the Browns. The 50percent conversion rate was their highest of the season.

Larry Fitzgerald has 20 receptions of at least 20 yards this season, and 10 have come in the fourth quarter or overtime. Fitzgerald had 14 catches of at least 20 yards in 2010.

It almost always is preferable to overcome rather than succumb, and Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt thinks his team’s rebound from a 1-6 start could have an impact this off-season and in future years.

“Your younger players are now developing and learning how to do it when it’s been as tough as it could possibly be,” Whisenhunt said. “And that means it makes you stronger as a team going forward. If you learn how to win and you don’t know any different, then when you lose it can really be catastrophic.”

Imagine if the Cardinals had collapsed instead of winning six of the next seven games. Or what life would be like now if the Cardinals had started 6-1, then lost six of the next seven.

Whisenhunt would have received a game ball Oct. 30, not Dec. 18, for winning the most games in franchise history. And there would be speculation about his job status.

“Oh, my God,” Whisenhunt said, laughing, when asked to imagine if the halves of this season had been flipped. “They’d be taking the game ball back, that’s what they’d be doing.”

It’s been two seasons in one for the Cardinals. This is not anyone’s ideal scenario for a season, but if a team can have only one winning streak a year, better it come late than early. If the Cardinals had blown a 6-1 start, there would be a clamor for a major housecleaning at the team’s facility, starting with the head coach’s office.

But winning in the second half has changed everyone’s outlook on the Cardinals’ future.

“It builds equity,” Whisenhunt said. “When you go through the pain of losing those games with all these young guys, and they understand now what they have to do in order to get out of it, that makes you stronger as a team.

“You have this group of young players who understand ‘This is what we have to do. This is the standard that we have to set in practice and in meetings and what we have to do in games.’

“Now when you have a group of free agents come in here, you have a group of guys who won’t accept anything but this standard.”

The Cardinals had that equity after winning the NFC West in 2008 and 2009. They lost it in 2010, when quarterback Kurt Warner retired, receiver Anquan Boldin was traded and linebacker Karlos Dansby and safety Antrel Rolle didn’t re-sign.

The 5-11 record in 2010 produced new questions about the abilities of Whisenhunt and General Manager Rod Graves to successfully retool the roster. Six losses in September and October gave critics additional fuel.

Those questions still might exist, but six victories in the past seven games have at least siphoned away some of the anger.

They also have given Whisenhunt additional credibility with both fans and players. At midseason, he was being criticized for reciting mantras of “staying the course” and “we know this system works.”

“You got to be consistent,” Whisenhunt said. “If you have a consistent message, the guys will believe in you and believe in what you’re doing.

“That’s what they’re looking for. I yell and scream at times when I get mad, but you do it all the time, it doesn’t mean as much.”

A toll taken

Beanie Wells has been playing with a painful, swollen right knee since the sixth game, yet he needs only 6 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the season.

Throughout the season, Whisenhunt has praised his running back’s toughness, because it’s clear Wells isn’t 100 percent. The condition of Wells’ knee is a “week-to-week thing,” Whisenhunt said. “It’s a different struggle every week for him trying to get his knee ready. He’s not as elusive as he would be if was he 100 percent healthy, and we understand that.”

That’s especially clear when Wells breaks through the line and faces linebackers and defensive backs at the second level, Whisenhunt said.

Even when he’s healthy, Wells isn’t a shifty back. He’s physical and he’ll run defensive backs over before trying to dodge them. But every back needs to be able to cut hard to evade defenders, and Wells is having a hard time doing it.

Wells touched the ball 16 times against the Browns on Sunday. On four occasions, he made it to the second level of the defense but couldn’t make the first tackler miss. Most of the time, the Browns tackled Wells by diving at his feet.

If healthy, Wells might have broken one or two of those plays for bigger gains.

“They’ve either came to cut him or he’s gotten hit from the side where he can’t plant and cut back under, or he can’t pick his feet up and get through that tackle,” Whisenhunt said. “But let’s not forget that Beanie’s had a good year for us. We’re really focused on trying to get him the 1,000 yards and have him fight through this thing.”

Coach’s Corner

“I think that when we were sitting 1-6 and everybody was killing us, we were focused on just doing it one week at a time. Would it be great to have a winning season? You’re darn right it would be. It would be something very special because of where we were. But to be honest with you, I hadn’t thought about that. All I thought about was trying to win this game and that if we can continue on this, that’s something that’s pretty good. Winning four in a row is something we haven’t done here, not since I’ve been here.”

– Ken Whisenhunt

Stat pack

The Cardinals have won four consecutive games in a season for the first time since 1999. They haven’t five games in a row since 1977.

Beanie Wells has 10 rushing touchdowns, tying for the fourth-best season total in franchise history. John David Crow set the record with 14 in 1962.

The Cardinals have won three overtime games this season. That ties them with eight other teams for the most in NFL history.

The Cardinals converted 8 of 16 third-down opportunities against the Browns. The 50percent conversion rate was their highest of the season.

Larry Fitzgerald has 20 receptions of at least 20 yards this season, and 10 have come in the fourth quarter or overtime. Fitzgerald had 14 catches of at least 20 yards in 2010.

The Arizona Cardinals are a .500 team (7-7) with a chance to finish the season with nine wins and possibly even sneak into the playoffs with a Wildcard berth. For a team that lost six-straight after a Week 1 win, that’s quite an accomplishment. 

When the  Cards were in the midst of the losing streak and they dropped four games by four points or less they didn’t have the feel of a team that would be in the “Suck for Luck” category. As we’ve heard many times now, they didn’t believe they were that bad either.

“After all the games we lost in the fourth quarter in the beginning of the season, we just look back and look at our record and think we’re better than what our record shows,” Darnell Dockett said Sunday. “We just go out and try to show people that our record doesn’t do us any justice.”

Now that 1-6 has turned into 6-1 the same thing can probably be said. The 6-1 record doesn’t do them justice, not when you consider the average margin of victor is just four points and that three of the six wins needed overtime and two required an opponent’s blocked or missed game-winning field goal.

The luck certainly has turned, but perhaps it’s gone a bit too far the other direction to be sustainable.

In the NFL, all that matters is the win, except when you lose and you can find positives from “keeping it close”.

This Cardinals team has been horrible in the first half of games and they are 30th in the league in third down conversions according to Larry Fitzgerald. Kevin Kolb has yet to play more than a half of good football and unfortunately, hasn’t been able to stay on the field enough to improve. John Skelton has 10 interceptions in six games despite his Tebow-like ability to win in the fourth quarter.

The defense has indeed be solid and appears to be legit but the offense is way behind.

The good news is, the players know it. They are not satisfied with a “win is a win” over this 6-1 stretch which is exactly what you want to hear.

“Our defense, I think, is the one single reason we are able to play at that level we have been playing recently…We have done okay, we have been adequate offensively, but enough to get some wins,” Larry Fitzgerald explained.

There is good news and again Larry said it best, “If we play the full game, we will be scary. We would be a force to be reckoned with.”

That’s the question this team needs to answer in the final two games of the season. Can they put a full game together on offense and stop making mistakes and leaving plays on the field? Can the offense show the kind of improvement the defense has or is this team that’s ranked 25th in points scored really just who they are?

Whether they can play a full game on offense is very much an open question with an offensive line that’s given up the fourth-most sacks in the league; a lack of depth at running back with Ryan Williams down for the season; no second star receiver to help take pressure off Fitzgerald; and most importantly, two quarterbacks who have yet to demonstrate they can even play at an average level of competency for the position in the NFL.

It would have been nice to see the Cardinals blow the doors off a fairly mediocre Cleveland Browns team. Instead, we were treated to an exciting, thrilling and  thoroughly unsatisfying overtime win that still leaves more questions than answers about just what this team can do.

But hey, winning close games sure is more fun than losing them!

For all the latest AZ sports news, follow us on Twitter @SBNArizona and “Like” us on Facebook. 

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After Kevin Kolb left the game with a head injury after their first offensive series, John Skelton and the Arizona Cardinals defense upset the San Francisco 49ers 21-19. It was their fifth win in their last six games and kept their playoff hopes alive. 

Kolb was kneed in the back of the helmet by 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks on a play in which he was blindsided as he was trying to make a throw. He fumbled on the play, but the Cardinals recovered, and Kolb left the game, never to return.

The first half was, except for one offensive play, complete domination by the 49ers. The Cardinals only had the ball on offense for just over seven minutes of the possible 30. It seemed that the entire half was played on the Cardinals side of the field. Two first quarter field goals gave the Niners a 6-0 lead. 

The Cardinals did get one huge jolt of momentum in the second quarter. After a third down reception by Kyle Williams that was short of a first down, San Francisco lined up for a 50-yard field goal. They ran a fake and completed a pass that would have been for a first down, but the play was called dead because Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt had thrown his challenge flag to contest the catch. Because of an equipment malfunction, there was no replay available, so they did not get charged a time out and retain their challenge. The call would have been upheld, but it eliminated the fake play.

On the ensuing field goal attempt, David Akers missed wide right, so they gave the ball back to Arizona.

On the very next play, John Skelton hit Early Doucet in stride for a 60-yard touchdown that gave the Cards a 7-6 lead.

Two more field goals by Akers in the second quarter had the 49ers leading 12-7 at the half. 

It is notable, though, that one of the biggest plays of the game was a special teams tackle by Rashad Johnson in the first quarter. Ted Ginn returned a punt and got past the first wave of coverage and looked like he was going to score. Long snapper Mike Leach closed the running lane and forced Ginn back toward the middle of the field, where Johnson made the stop inside the five-yard line. The defense held them to a field goal. 

The feeling was that falling behind 10-0 would have been insurmountable.

The second half was a completely different story. 

It didn’t start that way, though. 

San Francisco scored on a 37-yard Frank Gore touchdown run on their first play in the second half to make the score 19-7. The Niners would not score again. 

The next possession for the Cardinals began the turnaround. They went six plays and 80 yards to score a touchdown to pull within 19-14. It was a bad pass from Skelton that looked like was going to be intercepted by San Francisco’s Dashon Goldson, but Larry Fitzgerald jumped in front of him, took the ball away and ran after the catch for a 46 yard score. 

Arizona forced the 49ers to punt after three plays on the next series, and Arizona moved the ball enough to flip field position, as a punt had San Fran starting at their own 10. They would have another three-and-out.

The next possession could have been disastrous. Skelton threw an interception, but the Arizona defense forced another punt. 

Skelton and the Cardinals offense went 78 yards on six plays in the fourth quarter and scored on a three-yard reception by Andre Roberts. That gave the Cardinals their final lead at 21-19. 

From there, the defense shut down the Niners. San Francisco did not get another first down the rest of the way. They had two more three-and-outs and turned the ball over on downs with the final drive.

Skelton finished the game 19/28 for 282 yards, three TDs and two picks. Larry Fitzgerald led the team in receptions and yards. He had seven catches for 149 yards and a score, and he surpassed 1000 yards on the season. It is the fourth straight year he has done so and the fifth time in his career.

Running the ball was difficult. Beanie Wells rushed 15 times for only 27 yards. 

The defense kept Frank Gore in check. He ran for only 72 yards, but 37 of those came on his scoring run. Alex Smith threw for only 175 yards and Arizona sacked him five times. 

Darnell Dockett and Adrian Wilson had great games, as they made plays all over the field. 

The Cardinals are now 6-7 on the season and, with three winnable games left on the schedule, have fans believing that the playoffs are really a possibility. 

Head on over to Revenge of the Birds to get more Cardinals coverage.

It’s one thing to be old and good. That’s considered “vintage.” It’s another to be old and bad.

The Cardinals have one of the older rosters in the NFL based on average age, a fact that wouldn’t be so troublesome if the team had a history of success and was making a last, valiant quest for a Super Bowl title.

But the Cardinals are coming off a 5-11 record in 2010, now are 4-7 and destined to finish out of the playoffs for a second consecutive season.

There is more hope for the future, however, than the average age of the roster (27.4 years) suggests.

First, that number is inflated a bit by the age of the three specialists: kicker Jay Feely (35), punter Dave Zastudil (33) and long snapper Mike Leach (35).

Every regular starter on offense is under 30. The problem, at least at the beginning of the season, was on defense. Five starters were 30 or older, as were the three backup defensive linemen.

The Cardinals needed their young players to develop, and many of them have.

Rookie Sam Acho has played well since taking over for the injured Joey Porter, 34, at right outside linebacker five games ago. Acho already has as many sacks, five, as Porter had in 16 games last season.

Outside linebacker O’Brien Schofield, in his second year, is working into the rotation at outside linebacker as the playing time of Clark Haggans, 34, decreases.

The starting defensive line will be young, and good, if nose tackle Dan Williams ever gets in shape and if end Calais Campbell is re-signed.

Neither is a given.

The Cardinals are especially excited about this year’s draft class. Of the seven picks, four have made significant contributions this season. Only running back Ryan Williams, tight end Rob Housler and receiver DeMarco Sampson haven’t.

The young players’ impact was evident in Sunday’s victory against the Rams. Patrick Peterson returned a punt for a touchdown for the fourth time this season. Acho had two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Fullback Anthony Sherman blocked for Beanie Wells, who rushed for 228 yards, a franchise record.

Williams, the second-rounder, was dynamic in training camp before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Housler, the third-round pick, has unique receiving skills but has been hampered by a groin injury.

Acho, the fourth-rounder, is the type of player the Steelers find all the time. Generously listed at 6 feet 3, he is not the ideal size for an outside linebacker, but he’s made a great impact. And he’s smart.

Sherman, the fifth-rounder, has been a steady blocker and plays on special teams. The sixth-rounder, nose tackle David Carter, has contributed far more than expected. And seventh-rounder Sampson has a chance to develop into a rotational receiver.

A strong case can be made that a couple of the rookies should have been playing earlier. Porter made no impact when he was healthy enough to contribute yet played considerably more than Acho and Schofield.

Defensive coordinator Ray Horton was installing a new system, and Porter started because Horton needed players who knew how to run it.

But Porter started mainly because it’s not coach Ken Whisenhunt’s style to hand starting jobs to rookies.

“The natural tendency is to put them in there and just let them play, grow with them,” Whisenhunt said, “but you can’t always do that. It’s not fair to the other guys on your team who have been here and worked hard.

“Sometimes you don’t have a choice because of injuries or because of depth at positions. I guess other people or other teams have different philosophies, but being raised in the system that I was raised in and believing in that, the way you do it is what’s fair to everybody. I think it creates a sense of team that’s important, because when guys have success, you know that they’ve earned it and everybody is excited about that.”

Though the performances of young players provide rays of optimism in a dismal season, they also foreshadow depth problems.

There are no young outside linebackers behind Schofield and Acho. There are no young offensive linemen in the developmental stages. The backup defensive linemen are in their 30s.

It’s early, but the Cardinals’ 2011 draft appears to be among their best in years.

It’s also clear the organization desperately needs another one just like it.

Notes

Peterson was named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance Sunday at St. Louis.

It was the second time he has been honored with that award this season (Week 9, also vs. St. Louis). Peterson, now with four punt-return touchdowns, tied the NFL’s single-season record but he is the only one whose four returns have covered 80 yards or more (89, 82, 99 and 80).

- The team elevated wide receiver Jaymar Johnson from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster and released fullback Reagan Maui’a. Johnson has been on the Cardinals’ practice squad since Sept. 20.

Coach’s corner

“In doing the evaluations of the rookie quarterbacks, we were looking at somebody that we thought could come in here and play. If you get a rookie, you know you’re going to have to develop them. Who knows with the way the season’s gone. You never know how a season’s going to go or what’s going to unfold from that direction or what other quarterbacks you have at that spot. So, really, I can’t answer that question. Before I would have put him in there and made him the starter, he would have had to earn it. Ben Roethlisberger got in there his first year in Pittsburgh because our starter got hurt, and he never looked back after that.”

- Ken Whisenhunt, on whether he would play a rookie quarterback this season had the Cardinals drafted one

Stat pack

- Running back Beanie Wells has 849 yards rushing this season, a career high. He gained 793 yards in 2009, his rookie season.

- Wells’ eight rushing touchdowns also are a career high. The 849 yards is the most a Cardinals back has gained through 11 games since the franchise moved to Arizona in 1988.

- Highest rushing total through 11 games (1960-present):

Yards - Player (Year)

1,105 – Ottis Anderson (1979)

910 – Ottis Anderson (1981)

868 – John David Crow (1960)

864 – MacArthur Lane (1970)

849 – Beanie Wells (2011)

- Before this season, the Cardinals had two punt returns for touchdowns in their 23-year history in Arizona. That was a span of 368 games. Johnny Bailey had one in 1993, and Steve Breaston had one in 2007. Patrick Peterson has four in 11 games this season.

AP Photo/L.G. Patterson

Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells, right, carries the ball as St. Louis Rams defensive back Josh Gordy pursues during the third quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011, in St. Louis.

Beanie Wells ran wild all day. Patrick Peterson needed one touch to make a huge contribution for the Arizona Cardinals.
Peterson tied the NFL record with his fourth punt return for a touchdown this season, Wells set a franchise mark with 228 yards rushing on 27 carries, and the Cardinals won their seventh in a row in St. Louis with a 23-20 victory Sunday over the Rams.
Wells’ career day included gains of 71 and 53 yards, the latter setting up Jay Feely’s go-ahead 22-yard field goal with 4:12 remaining. Rookie Sam Acho also had a career day on defense with two sacks and a fumble recovery.
That was enough for Arizona (4-7) to overcome another awful outing by John Skelton, who threw two interceptions.
Brandon Lloyd’s 16-yard TD catch from Sam Bradford tied it at 20 midway through the fourth quarter. Nick Miller had an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter for the Rams (2-9) only three days after he re-signed with the team.
Peterson was untouched on an 80-yard return up the middle in the third quarter, dodging just a few tacklers before finding clear sailing to put Arizona up 20-10. His 99-yarder in overtime beat the Rams three weeks ago in Arizona, and St. Louis coach Steve Spagnuolo had vowed that the rookie would not beat them again.
The cornerback from LSU, the fifth pick in the draft, is the fourth player with four punt returns in a season and the first in NFL history with four returns of 80-plus yards.
Wells was an even bigger factor, eclipsing the previous franchise mark of 214 yards by LeShon Johnson in 1996 at New Orleans. In the earlier meeting against the Rams, Wells had just 20 yards on 10 carries.
Acho has five sacks, three against the Rams. His fumble recovery set up Wells’ 7-yard scoring run midway through the third quarter.
The Cardinals overcame three turnovers to keep their dominance going in St. Louis, the town they fled for the desert in 1987. It’s their longest winning streak against any opponent. They’re only 2-5 on the road this year, also winning at Philadelphia earlier this month.
The Rams re-signed Miller on Thursday after placing wide receiver Mark Clayton on injured reserve with a knee injury. He gave them the lead on their only big play of the first half, skirting the defense and scoring untouched with a convoy the last 30 yards of the return.
Arizona was 0 for 5 on third down in the half and had one big play, too. Wells’ career-best 71-yard run to the 11 late in the first quarter set up a short field goal.
Poor clock management might have cost the Rams a chance for another touchdown at the end of the half.
Lloyd adjusted his route on an underthrown 26-yard pass to the Arizona 3 with 43 seconds left, then St. Louis went backward with a false start and Acho’s second sack for a 9-yard loss. Coaches wasted at least 10 seconds before calling the last timeout with 12 seconds to go, and Bradford overthrew Lloyd in the end zone before the Rams settled for a field goal and a 10-3 lead.
The other players with four punt returns for a TD are Devin Hester (2007), Rick Upchurch (1978) and Jack Christiansen (1951), who was a rookie when he first set the record.