Kevin Kolb gives Cardinals reason to believe in him

Eight passes into the game Kevin Kolb looked every bit of
Derek Anderson.

The new Cardinals QB had completed just two of eight
passes, missing
open receivers and failing to put enough air under his
deep throws to Larry
Fitzgerald. Give No. 11 time to get under the ball and
chances are he’ll go
and get it.

“The two that I missed him on…I’m thinking, ‘Come on
Kevin, give him a
chance at it, he’s Larry Fitzgerald,'” Kolb said after the
game.

Then the QB called a play — out of a no-huddle offense —
and his night
did a 180.

“That was the first of many hopefully,” Kolb said of his
80-yard touchdown
strike to Larry Fitzgerald.

For the first time this preseason, I’ll admit I can see
that being the case.

It’s not that Kolb had been bad, at least, not until the
beginning of this
game. It’s that the guy had made exactly zero throws of
note, with his only
redeeming quality being that he wasn’t the aforementioned
Anderson or
Max Hall.

Great enough as that is, the Cardinals want more. They
need more. And,
Saturday night in Glendale, Kolb gave them more.

“I’ve said the sky’s the limit for our offense, and that’s
because the more
that I can take on and be able to communicate with those
guys the better
we’re going to be,” he said.

Yes, while many will say it’s about the running game, the
defense or the
offensive line, the truth is this season will come down to
No. 4.

Finally one can say, not from hope but rather what they’ve
seen on the
field, that Kolb leading this team isn’t such a scary
proposition.

Kolb finished the game having completed 11 of 20 passes
for 205 yards,
one touchdown and one key block downfield. The block,
which helped free
Andre Roberts for a 34-yard touchdown run, was another
sign of just how
much Kolb cares.

“I told [coach Whisenhunt] I was going to go cut somebody
earlier in
practice and of course he put an end to that real fast,”
Kolb said. “It was
good. My job is always to, I call it, ‘push and pester,’
I’m just trying to get
in the way of somebody without having to throw a shoulder
or flipper at
them and Andre did the rest of the work.”

One long touchdown throw does not a QB make, nor does
throwing a block
on a running play. But Kolb got into rhythm after his
first touchdown as a
Cardinal, and in completing nine of his final 12 passes he
showed Valley
fans exactly why the team gave up what it did to acquire
him.

His new favorite target is sure glad they did.

“I’m just excited that he’s here,” Larry Fitzgerald said
of his quarterback.
“He’s a guy that wants to make the big play and wants to
make the right
pass, and I think that attitude is infectious amongst his
teammates on
offense and we’re really fortunate to have his services.”

They say it’s not about how you start, rather it’s how you
finish that
matters most. Kevin Kolb is likely a firm believer in the
saying, finishing
strong Saturday after a shaky beginning.

It’s a start.

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