The Cardinals played a pretty solid football game last night.  Derek Anderson got the start at QB for the Cardinals last night and he completed 7 of 12 passes for 94 yards with 1 TD pass.  Matt Leinart followed him into the game as he was outstanding completing 9 of 10 passes for 84 yards with 1 TD pass.  Max Hall was solid in a very brief appearance as he completed 2 of 3 passes for 58 yards.  Rookie John Skelton also got in on the action at QB last night completing 3 of 6 passes for 38 yards.  Tim Hightower led the way on the ground for the Cardinals in this game with 62 yards rushing on 8 carries (7.8 ypc).  Beanie Wells didn’t look too good last night with 14 yards rushing on 8 carries (1.8 ypc) and he lost a fumble.  The Cardinals finished up with 87 yards rushing on 25 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also passed for 252 yards last night.

Safety Rashad Johnson led a very solid effort by the Cardinals’ D with 6 tackles.  CB Michael Adams pitched in with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit.  The Bears finished up with 82 yards rushing (4.3 ypc) and 210 yards passing last night.  The Cardinals are now 2-1 on the pre-season.

Matt Leinart came into the pre-season as the unquestioned starting QB of the Arizona Cardinals.  But the offense has not looked too good with him operating it.  He has completed 10 of 13 passes (76.9%) for 77 yards with 0 TD passes and 0 INTs (90.9 QB Rating).  Those numbers don’t seem to bad but anyone who has watched him play know that he’s dinking and dunking short passes which pumps up his accuracy.  But his combination of a weak arm and happy feet might have head coach Ken Whisenhunt thinking about playing strong armed Derek Anderson over him.  Anderson has completed 24 of 41 passes (58.5%) for 193 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs (58.3 QB Rating) so far this pre-season.  Anderson is the exact opposite of Leinart as accuracy has been a problem but that’s because he prefers to throw the ball down the field.  It will be interesting to see how the competition for the starting QB job in 2010 shakes out the rest of the pre-season.

The Cardinals got beat up last night on both sides of the ball by the Tennessee Titans.  Matt Leinart did not look too good as he completed 4 of 6 passes for 28 yards.  Derek Anderson was a little bit better completing 11 of 19 passes for 105 yards with 1 INT.  Max Hall finished up the game at QB by completing 7 of 15 passes for 101 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  LaRod Stephens-Howling led the way on the ground for the Cardinals in this game with 30 yards rushing on 5 carries (6.0 ypc).  Beanie Wells carried the ball 6 times for 19 yards (3.2 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 13 yards (4.3 avg) last night.  WRs Stephen Williams (3 rec, 59 yards) and Max Komar (3 rec, 48 yards, TD) both had solid games last night in the passing game for the Cards.  The Cardinals finished up with 65 yards rushing (3.4 ypc) and 230 yards passing last night.

DE Calais Campbell (7 tackles, 1 QB hit) and safety Hamza Abdullah (6 tackles) led the way for the Cardinals’ D last night.  The Titans rushed for 142 yards (4.2 ypc) and passed for 224 yards last night.

The Cardinals have released 26-year old safety Aaron Rouse after he suffered whiplash in a recent car accident which was keeping him off the field.  Rouse had 4 tackles in the Cardinals’ pre-season opener with the Texans.  It’s amazing to me how poorly the players’ union in the NFL is as almost no one has a guaranteed contract leading to a release like this one.

The Cardinals will be without WR Larry Fitzgerald for the rest of the pre-season due to a MCL sprain.  He caught 1 pass for 16 yards in the opener of the pre-season before getting drilled.  It’s in the best interest of the team to let Fitzgerald rest up and this will give them a chance to look at the other WRs on the roster.  Matt Leinart needs to drill the ball to WRs when throwing over the middle so that no more receivers get hurt like Fitzgerald did.

The Cardinals looked like crap the first three quarters last night before scoring 19 points in the 4th quarter to pull out a win.  Matt Leinart started and he completed 6 of 7 passes for 49 yards.  Derek Anderson followed Leinart in the game and he completed 13 of 22 passes for 88 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  Rookie Jamie Skelton looked outstanding late in this game completing 5 of 6 passes for 84 yards with 1 TD pass.  Beanie Wells got his work in last night carrying the ball 11 times for 36 yards (3.3 ypc) and catching 2 passes for 8 yards (4.0 avg) with 1 TD reception.  Tim Hightower (4 carries, 16 yards) and Alfonso Smith (3 carries, 9 yards) pitched in for the Cards in the running game.  Jason Wright was also busy carrying the ball 2 times for 7 yards (3.5 ypc) and catching 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Cardinals rushed for 68 yards (3.2 ypc) last night and they passed for 204 yards.

The defense was not good against the passing game but solid against the run last night.  Rookie linebacker Daryl Washington dominated in his first taste of the NFL as he had 13 tackles, 1 pass defense and 1 QB hit.  LB Pago Togafau also had a solid game with 6 tackles.  The Texans rushed for 98 yards (3.6 ypc) and they also passed for 258 yards last night.

23-year old running back LaRod Stephens-Howling made the Cardinals as a rookie last season as the kickoff returner.  The 5’7″, 180 pound Stephens-Howling has all kinds of moves and he often gets right up the field rather than running east and west.  He played in 16 games last season for the Cardinals in which he returned 52 kickoffs for 1,257 yards (24.2 avg) with 1 TD return (it was a 99-yarder).  Look for the Cardinals to have good starting position quite often in 2010 due to LaRod Stephens-Howling.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS KICKOFF RETURNERS IN 2010:  A-

The Cardinals look to have a very physical offensive line as they shift from a finsesse pass blocking team to more of an attacking run blocking team.  On the left side will be tackle Levi Brown and guard Alan Faneca.  Brown was a Pro Bowl alternate as a right tackle for the Cardinals last season but he will be shifting to the left.  But he won’t be the blind side protector as long as Matt Leinart is starting.  Faneca is a brawler in the running game which is his specialty from his Pro Bowl days with the Steelers.  Center Lyle Sendlein has come a long way since being a undrafted player out of college.  He has a nice upside and rarely makes mistakes.  Right guard Deuce Lutui is a lot like Faneca as he’s a solid run blocker.  Jeremy Bridges will battle Brandon Keith for the right to be the blind side tackle for Leinart in 2010.  Both Bridges and Keith are capable of handling the job at right tackle with the loser in the competition providing depth.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS’ O-LINE in 2010:  C+

48-year old head coach learned his trade under Bill Cowher in Pittsburgh.  Whisenhunt brought a lot of his qualities along with him to Arizona and that is a good thing.  He led the Cardinals to a 10-6 record last season and the Cards went 1-1 in the playoffs.  The Cardinals are now 27-21 (56.3%) during Whisenhunt’s three years in charge and they are 4-2 (66.7%) in the post season.  The Cardinals narrowly lost the 2008 Super Bowl and it remains their goal to get back to that game and win it this time around.

34-year old kicker Jay Feely will likely be a very solid kicker for the Cardinals in 2010.  He played in 16 games for the Jets last season and he connected on 30 of 36 field goals (83.3%).  He also made all 32 of his extra points as he finished up with 122 points for the Jets.  Feely has now played in 143 games in his NFL career and he has made 303 of 373 field goals (81.6%) and 320 of 322 extra points good for 1,013 points.  I think he will excel kicking for the Cardinals without having to deal with the elements outside.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CARDINALS KICKERS in 2010:  B+