The Cardinals have released Scott Player after 9 seasons.  He has played in 140 games for the Cardinals and he has punted 714 times for 30,752 yards (43.1 avg, 36.1 net avg).  Player placed 179 punts (25.1%) inside the opposing 20 yard line over his career with the Cardinals.  Player has punted the football 8 times in pre-season for an average of 42.6 yards per kick.  He was beaten out by 28 year old Mike Barr.  Barr has never played in an NFL game in his career yet and he punted the ball 5 times for an average of 42.8 yards per punt.

The Cardinals looked good throwing the ball on offense but their defense was horrible on Sunday Night.  Matt Leinart looked outstanding as he completed 10 of 16 passes for 196 yards with 1 TD pass.  Kurt Warner was also efficient as he completed 6 of 7 passes for 78 yards.  Shane Boyd also was very active when he entered the game.  He completed 4 of 7 passes for 45 yards with a TD pass and he also carried the football 2 times for 15 yards (7.5 ypc).  J.J. Arrington looked pretty good running the football for once as he carried the ball 7 times for 26 yards (3.7 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Marcel Shipp scored a TD running the ball but he finished the game with only 10 yards rushing on 6 carries (1.7 ypc).  WR Anquan Boldin was unstoppable on Sunday Night as he caught 5 passes for 143 yards (28.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Matt Trannon also had a good game snagging 3 balls for 40 yards (13.3 avg) with a TD.  The Cardinals only rushed for 64 yards on 21 carries (3.0 ypc) but they threw the ball well completing 20 of 30 passes for 311 yards.

The Cardinals did have some big issues on defense as the Chargers rushed for 106 yards on 32 carries (3.3 ypc) and they completed 29 of 45 passes for 400 yards.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270825022

The Cardinals will likely place WR Ahmad Merritt on the Injured Reserve list (ending his season) after he needed ankle surgery on Monday.  In 2 pre-season games this season Merritt had caught 6 passes for 74 yards (12.3 avg) as he was making a big push to make it back to the NFL.  He last played in the NFL in 2003 with the Chicago Bears and he has caught 19 passes for 170 yards (8.9 avg) in his NFL career.

The Arizona Cardinals looked pretty sharp on offense but their defense and special teams both looked pretty bad.  Matt Leinart was razor sharp in the game as he completed all 7 of his pass attempts for 70 yards and a TD pass.  Leinart also ran the ball 2 times for 13 yards (6.5 ypc).  Kurt Warner also looked sharp as he connected on 7 of 9 passes for 89 yards.  Shane Boyd really looked good on Saturday Night with both his arm and his legs.  He completed 9 of 15 passes for 109 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception.  He also scrambled 5 times for 54 yards (10.8 ypc).  J.J. Arrington looked good running the football for once with 7 carries for 35 yards (5.0 ypc).  Marcel Shipp 4 car, 12 yards (3.0 ypc) and Edgerrin James 5 car, 11 yards (2.2 ypc) and one grab for 5 yards (TD) both got their work in.  Ahmad Merritt led the way for the Cardinals’ receivers with 61 yards on 4 catches (15.3 avg).  Sean Morey added 5 grabs for 45 yards (9.0 avg) with a TD catch.  Steve Breaston also had a solid showing with 4 catches for 37 yards (9.3 avg).  The Cardinals would up with 141 yards rushing on 26 carried (5.4 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 40 passes for 295 yards.

The Cardinals’ defense didn’t play well as they allowed 143 yards rushing on 32 carries (4.5 ypc) and the Texans completed 18 of 29 passes for 248 yards.  The Cardinals also allowed rookie WR Jacoby Jones of the Texans to return a punt 80 yards for a TD.

http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=270818022

The Cardinals have placed backup fullback A.J. Schable on the Injured Reserve list with a broken foot ending his season.  He carried the ball 1 time for 5 yards and he made 8 tackles on special teams as a rooke last year.