By SportsDirect

POSTED: 5:19 pm MST March 10, 2012

Read More: Arizona Cardinals

Eric Metz, the long-time agent of Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt as well as assistant coach Russ Grimm went on XTRA Sports 910 and spoke a little about Peyton Manning and shared his thoughts on the veteran quarterback and future hall of famer potentially making his way to the Cardinals.

Metz started by saying that he thinks the team has a “tremendous shot” at signing Manning and he’d be “surprised if they didn’t pull it off.” He went on to say that he believes Manning would have the best chance to succeed immediately in Arizona.

“He is going to win quicker in Arizona and they know how to do it, and that whole staff has been there before, so they know how to get right back there, and so does Peyton,” Metz said.

Metz went through all the possibilities and eliminated some teams like the Seahawks (because of where they play) and the Chiefs (because of the fit) and said that the two main teams will be the Dolphins and the Cardinals and that the demand by a few teams for Manning will speed up the process and likely have the veteran signal caller signing with a team within a week.

Of the two front runners, Metz thinks the Cardinals will win out.

“Only he is going to know for sure,” Metz said, “but I would think it comes down to Miami and Arizona, and I think Arizona wins out.”

For more on the Cardinals, head to Revenge of the Birds, and for more Peyton Manning rumors, follow SB Nation Arizona’s StoryStream.

The Arizona Cardinals placed the non-exclusive
franchise tag on defensive end Calais Campbell on Friday.

Campbell has 208 tackles and 21 sacks in 63 career games with the Cardinals.

“We’ve made no secret of the high regard in which we hold Calais,” said
Cardinals general manager Rod Graves. “To be clear, reaching a long-term deal
that will keep Calais with the Cardinals for years to come remains our primary
objective. This move today allows us the opportunity to continue working with
Calais and his agent toward that goal and that’s exactly what we will do.”

If Campbell receives an offer sheet from another team, the Cardinals can match
it or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.

©2012 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

A thrilling victory over the St. Louis Rams at the start of
November looked as if it was going to get the Arizona Cardinals’ season on a
positive track.

Just two weeks later, the Cards don’t look any better off than they were before
the win.

Things haven’t been much better for the Rams, and they’ll try to find some rare
success against their division rivals this Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Cardinals were in the midst of a six-game losing streak when they hosted
the Rams on Nov. 6. Consecutive safeties on backup quarterback John Skelton in
the third quarter had put Arizona in a seven-point hole, but Skelton rebounded
to hit Larry Fitzgerald for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left in
regulation.

Defensive end Calais Campbell then blocked a 42-yard field attempt by St.
Louis kicker Josh Brown on the final play of the fourth quarter, forcing
overtime and leading to an electric 99-yard punt return for a score by rookie
Patrick Peterson that gave the Cardinals a 19-13 win. It was the second-longest
punt return for a touchdown in NFL history and kick-started a two-game winning
streak for Arizona that included a 21-17 victory in Philadelphia the following
weekend.

However, Arizona lost all of its momentum this past Sunday, when it was routed
by NFC West-leading San Francisco, 23-7. In his third straight start for the
injured Kevin Kolb, Skelton threw three interceptions and was replaced late in
the game by Richard Bartel.

Bartel prevented the shutout when he threw his first career touchdown pass, a
23-yard score to Fitzgerald with 8:38 to play in the fourth quarter.

“I’m not trying to put it all on John,” said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt.
“It was a tough day for a lot of us out there [last week] and we didn’t get the
job done.”

Arizona will play the finale of a three-game road trip and is just 1-5 as the
guest this season. The Cardinals have lost 12 of their last 13 on the road
since a win at St. Louis on Sept. 12 of last season.

St. Louis will need to be cautious of Arizona’s special teams. Peterson leads
the NFL with 463 punt return yards and three touchdowns, while his 17.1 average
per runback is second in the league. Also, Campbell has blocked three field
goals this season after getting his hand on another one a week ago.

Peterson also blocked a field goal try against the 49ers, marking the first
time the Cardinals had two in the same game since Sept. 17, 1972.

St. Louis has lost two of three since snapping a season-opening six-game slide
with a win over New Orleans on Oct. 30. The Rams rebounded from their loss to
the Cardinals to win at Cleveland by a 13-12 count on Nov. 13, but were run
over by Seattle in a 24-7 setback this past Sunday.

The Rams, who are last in the division, scored the game’s first touchdown on a
30-yard pass by quarterback Sam Bradford to wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, and
trailed the Seahawks by only three points at the half. However, they yielded a
pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half while their offense stalled.

“It’s hard to play defense when you’re behind, it’s hard to win games when you
only score seven points,” said Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Running back Steven Jackson found little room to run versus the Seahawks and
had a string of three straight 100-yard rushing games come to an end. That
streak included a 130-yard effort versus the Cardinals in Week 9.

St. Louis fell to 1-4 at home this season.

SERIES HISTORY

Arizona took a 32-31-2 lead in this long-played series, which dates back
to 1937, with its above-mentioned overtime triumph three weeks back and has
defeated the Rams in nine of the last 10 bouts between the teams. The
Cardinals have also emerged victorious in each of their last six visits to the
Edward Jones Dome, including a 17-13 decision in the 2010 season opener, with
the Rams’ most recent home win over Arizona taking place in 2004. The Rams did
halt a string of eight consecutive losses to the Cards with a 19-6 ousting at
University of Phoenix Stadium last December.

Of course, the Cardinals were based in St. Louis between 1960-87, and the
franchise still resided in the Gateway City during its lone lifetime
postseason clash with the Rams. That took place during the 1975 campaign, when
the then-Los Angeles Rams pulled out a 35-23 home win in an NFC Divisional
Playoff.

Whisenhunt owns an 8-1 record against the Rams since taking over as the
Cardinals’ head coach in 2007, while Spagnuolo is 1-4 against both Arizona and
Whisenhunt for his career.

WHEN THE CARDINALS HAVE THE BALL

Despite his struggles last weekend, Whisenhunt said he will stick with Skelton
(636 passing yards, 4 TD, 5 INT) for this game if Kolb (1706 passing yards, 8
TD, 8 INT) isn’t ready to return from his turf toe injury. Skelton completed
only six of his 19 pass attempts versus the 49ers for 99 yards, while Arizona
and its 25th-ranked offense (309.9 ypg) racked up just 229 yards and turned the
ball over five times in the loss. In addition to Skelton’s three picks, both
running back Beanie Wells (621 rushing yards, 7 TD) and return man Peterson
lost a fumble. Wells continues to battle through a knee injury and rushed just
eight times against San Francisco for 33 yards. He hasn’t topped 62 yards on
the ground in three straight games while not scoring over that span as well.
Wells is still one touchdown shy of the career-best seven he ran for as a
rookie in 2009. Fitzgerald (48 receptions, 6 TD) continues to make plays no
matter who is under center, and his 41 yards on three catches last week made
him the second-youngest player in league history to surpass 9,000 in a career.
He has 13 touchdown catches in 15 career games versus the Rams. Wideout Early
Doucet (42 receptions, 4 TD) continued his career season with six catches and
50 yards versus the 49ers, while Andre Roberts (25 receptions) added three for
51 yards. Tight end Todd Heap (13 receptions) sat out for the fifth time in six
games due to injury, with Jeff King (18 receptions, 2 TD) starting in his
place.

The Rams rank ninth in the NFL in defending the pass, giving up 215.0 yards
per game, and have tallied 26 sacks on the season. They added to that total
with four versus the Seahawks, but also saw their 32nd-ranked run defense
(148.1 ypg) get touched for 126 yards on the day. Middle linebacker James
Laurinaitis (84 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) led St. Louis with 13 tackles, but
came out of the game with a sore foot. St. Louis will need its leading tackler
if it hopes to contain Arizona’s run game and could also use contributions
from defensive tackles Fred Robbins (19 tackles, 1 sack) and Justin Bannan (17
tackles). Pressuring the quarterback shouldn’t be a problem for defensive end
Chris Long (21 tackles), who notched a career-high ninth sack of the season a
week ago. Fellow end James Hall (31 tackles, 4 sacks) also got to the
quarterback, as did rookie end Robert Quinn (14 tackles, 4 sacks) and safety
Darian Stewart (54 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT). Stewart ended with eight tackles,
while linebacker Chris Chamberlain (41 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) and safety
Quintin Mikell (56 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INT) grabbed interceptions. Corners
Justin King (44 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) and Josh Gordy (23 tackles, 1 INT) draw
the unwanted task of slowing down Fitzgerald.

WHEN THE RAMS HAVE THE BALL

While St. Louis’ defense put up a solid effort last week, the offense could
not match and logged a mere 185 yards against the Seahawks. On the season, the
Rams rank 30th in total offense at 297.9 yards per game and are the league’s
lowest scoring team at 12.0 points per contest. Bradford (1768 passing yards, 5
TD, 5 INT) completed half of his 40 passes for 181 yards, getting picked off
once and sacked five times. Issues at left tackle led to Bradford facing heavy
pressure, as starter Rodger Saffold suffered a torn pectoral muscle two days
prior to the game that ended his season and backup Mark LeVoir sustained a
right shoulder injury in the first quarter. That forced Kevin Hughes into
extensive action after he was just elevated from the practice squad. Bradford
was still able to continue his recent chemistry with Lloyd (26 receptions, 3
TD), who was targeted 14 times and made five catches for 67 yards. Wide
receivers Brandon Gibson (28 receptions, 1 TD) and Mark Clayton added four and
three receptions, respectively. Jackson (749 rushing yards, 23 receptions, 5
total TD) was held to only 42 yards on 15 carries, but still has 459 yards over
his last four games. He also has 429 yards and a pair of scores in his last two
appearances against the Cardinals and is 124 all-purpose yards shy of matching
Henry Ellard for third-most in team history.

Arizona is giving up 383.8 yards per game to rank 28th in the NFL, with 256.6
of those coming through the air. The 49ers posted 431 yards of offense versus
the Cardinals last weekend, including 164 on the ground. Arizona also got
little pressure on the quarterback and failed to record a sack, though
linebacker Daryl Washington (60 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INT) did notch an
interception in the end zone. Former Rams linebacker Paris Lenon (62 tackles,
2 sacks) led the way with nine tackles last week and safety Rashad Johnson (33
tackles) had eight as he continues to fill in for the injured Kerry Rhodes.
Defensive tackle Dan Williams (20 tackles) made six stops before sustaining a
broken left arm that ended his season. The Rams will have to account for
Campbell (50 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 INT), who has at least one sack in four
straight games in this series. He logged a pair of sacks and two tackles for a
loss in the first meeting. Safety Adrian Wilson (39 tackles, 1 INT) has 7 1/2
sacks in his career versus St. Louis and has logged an interception in four of
his past five games against the club. As a whole, the Cardinals have notched
eight sacks and four interceptions in three meetings with Bradford. Campbell
had two of the four sacks in the first meeting and cornerback Richard Marshall
(44 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT) also had one.

KEYS TO THE GAME

The Cardinals can take a lot of pressure of Skelton by getting the running
game going, and back Chester Taylor could see added carries if Wells’ knee
continues to be an issue. Taylor was Arizona’s leading rusher last weekend
after ripping off 34 yards on his only attempt.

Though Peterson fielding a punt at the one-yard line was ill-advised, it
worked out for the rookie and he should be in the collective heads of the Rams’
punting unit. Look for St. Louis punter Donnie Jones, who averages 44.5 yards
and has pinned 20 kicks inside the 20, to avoid the playmaker.

Bradford’s blind-side was under attack last weekend, and it could be another
long day for the quarterback if Hughes is the man again at left tackle.
Arizona already has a history of pressuring Bradford, so the Rams will need
to find ways to take the pressure off. Screens and play-action could help, as
would not falling behind early.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Fans of offense may want to avoid this meaningless matchup between NFC West
afterthoughts. The Rams are the more disappointing of the two, as they were
expected to contend for the division title but instead are brining up the
rear after taking positive steps a season ago. Things are starting to get a
little hot for Spagnuolo and he could really use a victory over the Cardinals
this Sunday. Unfortunately, this series has been slanted towards Arizona as of
late, making it tough to pick against the Cardinals in this toss-up.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cardinals 13, Rams 9

©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Of all the Cardinals’ faults, and there are many, their most
egregious has to be their frequent unwatchability.

Sunday was case in point, as the Cardinals challenged the notion
that watching football on television is a pleasurable activity. At
3-7, it’s not like they thrive in pristine conditions either, but
boy-if any team is not built to play in the type of rain that came
down during the first half in San Francisco last weekend, it’s your
Arizona Cardinals.

A below-average offense turned anemic. They converted two first
downs in the first half. Two. That is what a nonexistent
running game and inaccurate passing will get you. Their lone score
in the game was sheer luck.

The NFC West catches a lot of grief, even though the 49ers are
among football’s best and the Seahawks are surging. But I will say
that this division is at its worst when its teams face each other,
and not because of some drag-‘em-out, rivalry sort of thing. Minus
the seconds-long excitement of the game-ending score against the
Rams, all of the Cardinals divisional games have been unwatchable.
The 49ers were in control of the game from the get-go on Sunday,
but I don’t think anyone walked away convinced they’re the team to
beat in the NFC. The Cardinals have a way of making their opponent
look bad even as they — the Cardinals — are getting
dominated.

With a bevy of games for the football fan to choose from every
week, and points being scored like crazy in this new and exciting
pass-happy NFL, the Arizona Cardinals are offensive in their
aesthetic. Of course, if they were winning with a bruising,
plodding running game or opportunistic defense-like, say, the
49ers-all would be forgiven. But they are most certainly not. It’s
probably harder to stomach this current team considering only three
years ago the Cardinals personified excitement, win or lose,
although it was mostly the former. That may not be fair to say, but
equally unfair is two first downs in the first half.

On Sunday the Cardinals face the Rams for the distinguished
honor of being the second-worst team in a maligned division. I hope
you like punts. My pick: Cardinals, 17, RAMS
20.

The importance of a simple win in the NFL was on full display
last Sunday.

Two 1-6 teams, a combined 100 games back in the division, and
essentially playing out a still relatively young season, battled it
out to the very end. Amongst an afternoon slate of games that
featured shootouts and comebacks and much better teams, the Arizona
Cardinals defeated the St. Louis Rams in overtime, and the pure
emotion and joy that lifted the Cardinals off the field was
evidence of just how precious a win can be, regardless of how many
wins or losses you’ve attained up to that point.

Even more so for the Cardinals, who have managed several times
this season to turn wins into losses. On Sunday, they finally
closed a game out. The defense stonewalled the Rams when it had to,
and backup quarterback John Skelton saved the best throw of his
career for the game-tying touchdown.

But the real hero on Sunday was special teams, which blocked a
potential game-winning field goal, and which ended the game in
dramatic and scintillating fashion on Patrick Peterson’s punt
return for a touchdown. For better – three punt returns for
touchdowns midway through a season is absurd – or for worse -
defensively, he always seems to be on the wrong end of big plays
and/or bad penalties – Peterson might be justifying his first-round
selection on excitement alone.

The euphoria of a win will, in all likelihood, be short-lived.
The Cardinals travel to Philadelphia Sunday to face the Eagles. I
never like to bring up matchups from years ago because they
involved totally different teams, but it’s difficult to forget a
much better, Super-Bowl-bound Cardinals team traveling to Philly on
Thanksgiving of ’08 and getting trounced. A similar result this
weekend wouldn’t be very surprising.

And that’s regardless of who takes the field for the Cards. What
was troubling amidst the joy of Sunday’s win was the fact that the
game did not take on a different feel offensively at all
with Skelton at quarterback as opposed to the injured Kevin Kolb.
The drop-off from starter to backup should be dramatic, but it was
virtually unnoticeable. Certainly, Kolb would like to prove his
former team wrong for letting him go, but he’s done nothing yet to
remind the Eagles he ever left, and he may not even play.

One win separates the Eagles and Cardinals, but these teams seem
worlds apart. My pick: Cardinals 13 EAGLES 34.

By Seth Pollack

– Regional Sports Editor

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Arizona on Facebook.

Oct 18, 2011 – The NFL Trade Deadline is 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 18. Unlike the MLB or NBA trade deadlines where a flurry of last second deals is the norm, the NFL Trade Deadline tends to pass without much notice. This year, however, we have already seen a couple of interesting deals go down. With the Arizona Cardinals at 1-4 should GM Rod Graves be looking to move some veterans and stock up on draft picks?

The NFC West has been involved in two of the three big trades so far this season. The Seattle Seahawks sent LB Aaron Curry to the Oakland Raiders. Perhaps the Raiders are paying homage to their deceased leader, Al Davis, as they made another move to fill their QB need with Carson Palmer from the Cincinnati Bengals.

The other big move was the St. Louis Rams sending a sixth-round pick (could turn into a fifth-round pick if conditions are met) to the Denver Broncos for WR Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd will be an unrestricted free agent after this season so the Rams are basically renting his services to try and jump start Sam Bradford and the Rams anemic offense.

The Arizona Cardinals haven’t been mentioned in any NFL Trade Deadline rumors and are unlikely to make a move. If they were interested, however, they could consider moving a veteran at a position with depth and try and land draft picks for the future.

The Cardinals problem, they don’t many good options to pull that off.

On offense, they could maybe entertain a deal for TE Jeff King on the theory that Todd Heap and rookie Rob Housler provide solid options. Both Housler and Heap are more receiving than blocking tight ends and King has played well. It’s an unlikely move and there are no other positions on offense where you see excessive depth that would bring back a draft pick.

On defense, the obvious place to look is outside linebacker with veterans Joey Porter and Clark Haggans. Both are signed to reasonable contracts and will (we believe) be free agents after this season. If there were a team in contention looking to add a veteran pass rusher, these are two names that theoretical could be discussed. The problem is neither has been effective pass rushers in the last two seasons.

Neither Haggans (34) or Porter (34) are part of the long-term future and it’s soon going to be time to throw young Sam Acho and O’Brien Schofield into the fire. If a team were desperate enough at the position, Haggans or Porter could bring back a late round pick…maybe.

The only other player that might be worth some trade consideration would be Dan Williams at nose tackle. Williams is still very young and has upside but the Cardinals have also been impressed with rookie David Carter and also have veterans Nick Eason and Vonnie Holliday who can fill in. It’s an unlikely trade, but if a team called with a great offer, we assume the Cardinals would have to listen. 

We’ll keep our eyes out for any rumors, but the chances are great that the 2011 NFL Trade Deadline will pass without any action in Arizona.

Read More: 2011 nfl trade deadline, Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Arizona on Facebook.

Do you like this story?

By Seth Pollack

– Regional Sports Editor

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Arizona on Facebook.

Oct 17, 2011 – The Arizona Cardinals are back at work after four days off that come mandatory with the NFL bye week. Many players left town to visit family and others just used the time to relax mentally and physically. The coaching staff even got a few days off and were able to use the extra week to get a jump on preparing for next week’s opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh comes to town as the most formidable opponent the Cardinals have faced this season when you account for recent NFL success. The Steelers are 4-2 and winners of their last two games while the Cardinals are 1-4 and moving in the wrong direction after getting blown out in Minnesota in their last game. 

If you are looking for answers coming out of the bye week to the horrible start to the Cardinals season, there are none to be found. 

There was a players only meeting last week that Darnell Dockett described as one of the most emotional meetings he’s every been in. He’s confident they are going to “turn it around” and take things “10 times more serious”.

“We had a good meeting and that’s our next step is playing these next 11 games like it’s our last,” Dockett said of the season’s remaining 11 games.

Larry Fitzgerald, however, didn’t see the meeting as quite so important, “You always hear about play meetings. The key is going out there and playing well. You can talk all you want and say the things you want to say in the meeting but it comes down to execution. If that’s what it takes to do a better job, so be it.”

The Cardinals will continue to work on their own execution with preparation turning towards the Steelers later in the week. The team is off Tuesday and back on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. 

Read More: Darnell Dockett (DT – ARI), Larry Fitzgerald (WR – ARI), Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals

Follow , and

Like SB Nation Arizona on Facebook.

Do you like this story?