We’re halfway through the 2011 season and the Arizona
Cardinals find themselves with a 2-6 record. Some things
have gone right for the team but, honestly, more has gone
wrong. What does it add up to? Let’s hand out a report
card.

	Vince Marotta	Adam Green
QB	Kevin Kolb is still feeling out his new surroundings and hasn’t been awful, but hasn’t been what the Cardinals envisioned either. He’s 23rd in the league in passer rating and is 1-6 as a starting quarterback, and struggled to get the ball to the team’s best weapon. D	Kevin Kolb has not been as good as most people hoped or expected, but he hasn’t been awful. Can his struggles be attributed to learning a new system, new teammates and a bad offensive line? Probably, but the Cardinals expect more — they need more. D
WR	Fitzgerald has been great, when they’ve actually thrown to him. His targets are down 17 (2.1 per game) from a year ago. Early Doucet has been serviceable, and Andre Roberts has been a disappointment. C	Tough group to judge because of struggles everywhere else. Fitz has been great, Doucet solid and Robers non- existent. The group has made some plays when given the chance, though, so it’s tough to really fault them. C+
RB	Beanie Wells has been very good this season, when he’s been in the lineup. He’s been very steady, and has minimized his fumbling problem. Alfonso Smith has been decent when called into duty while Chester Taylor has done nothing to dispel rumors that he’s finished, but then again, he’s only had 15 touches so far this season. Unfortunately, injuries have had a part in limiting LaRod Stephens-Howling to just 15 touches on offense, a number that needs to increase greatly in the 2nd half of the season. B-	The Cardinals needed Beanie Wells to step up this season and, when on the field, he has done just that. 526 yards and 7 TDs puts Wells on pace for an excellent season, provided his knee doesn’t hold him back much. Chester Taylor and Alfonso Smith have provided nothing as backups, and LaRod Stephens-Howling’s role should be increased. B-
TE	There’s been much more emphasis put on the tight ends this season, and the group of Todd Heap, Jeff King, Rob Housler and Jim Dray has been a big improvement over Cardinal tight ends years past. This year’s tight ends have accounted for 36 catches already…last year’s group had just 25. Now if they could just stay healthy. C+	One of the more intriguing groups on the team, Todd Heap, Rob Housler, Jeff King and Jim Dray have all done a good job. Heap, though, can’t get back on the field, and Housler has had a couple of big play chances ruined by poor throws. The pass-catching TEs have caught passes, the blockers have blocked. B+
OL	The Cards have allowed 27 quarterback sacks (4th most in the league) and that doesn’t factor in the number of times Kolb has been flushed out of the pocket, which hasn’t resulted in great things. And the running game is ranked 26th in football, although that number is deceiving since only five teams have run more infrequently than the Cardinals. D-	The line has proven to be effective in the running game but a disaster when the team passes. Levi Brown and Brandon Keith have been awful, Rex Hadnot and Daryn Colledge have been solid and Lyle Sendlein has been steady. QBs have been getting killed and the run game isn’t dominant. F+
OC	Mike Miller is new on the job and there have been growing pains to say the least. C-	This has left something to be desired, though it appears Mike Miller is learning. Didn’t see any botched screen pass attempts last week and we even saw Patrick Peterson almost get some action on offense. D+
DL	Calais Campbell has quietly had an outstanding season, and leads the team with 5 sacks. Darnell Dockett has showed flashes here and there, but hasn’t contributed consistently. Dan Williams and rookie David Carter have been adequate on the nose. C	This group has a ton of talent yet seems to underachieve. I’m not going to blame them. Calais Campbell has been a beast, Darnell Dockett is playing out of position, Dan Williams has been solid and David Carter, Vonnie Holliday and Nick Eason have been good depth. The defense stinks but it’s not on them. B
LB	Daryl Washington has been great, and Paris Lenon is always around the football, but the outside backers have left a lot to be desired. Counted on to provide a pass rush, Clark Haggans and Joey Porter have combined for 2.5 sacks. Since seeing his playing time increased, rookie Sam Acho has three by himself. I’ll live with rookie mistakes if it comes with play-making ability, and Acho and O’Brien Schofield provide that. This grade would have been much lower three weeks ago. C-	A 3-4 defense puts an emphasis on the linebackers to make plays, and outside of Daryl Washington this group just fails to do so. Joey Porter is washed up, Clark Haggans is on his last legs and Paris Lenon, while solid, is nothing special. Stewart Bradley has been a free agent bust, but the team needs to get him going along with youngsters O’Brien Schofield and Sam Acho. Those three give this group a tiny glimmer of hope. D-
DB	The Greg Toler injury was a crushing blow to this team. Patrick Peterson has shown improvement, but has also shown a propensity to draw flags. A.J. Jefferson, pressed into starting duty, has been a target of opposing quarterbacks all season long. Richard Marshall as the nickel? Meh. At safety, Adrian Wilson is starting to play more like the Adrian Wilson of old, but he struggled in the first 5 or 6 games. Kerry Rhodes is hurt and that’s given Rashad Johnson to show that he’s a backup in the league at best. D	Cam Newton, Rex Grossman, Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger all torched the Cardinals, and the group as a whole has failed to make plays. Patrick Peterson is improving, though A.J. Jefferson is regressing. Adrian Wilson, Richard Marshall and Kerry Rhodes have had their struggles, though A-Dub is showing signs of life. D+
DC	New coordinator Ray Horton had people scratching their heads back in preseason when he didn’t give rookie corner Patrick Peterson a lot of reps against first stringers. Then, Peterson started on opening day and (along with the entire secondary) got torched by Cam Newton and Steve Smith. The defense looks more organized than it did earlier in the season, but they still rank 27th in yardage against and 23rd in points allowed. D	The defense is not without talent, but it doesn’t have an abundance. So, a smart coach would make use of what he has and get the most out of them. Horton has failed to do so. His system is not made for the players on the roster, and while the team is trying to institute a big change it is doing so at the expense of stopping teams. Horton put too much in too quickly, and it set this team back. D-
ST	While the kicking game has been average, the return teams have been outstanding. LaRod Stephens-Howling is 12th in the league in kickoff returns and that Peterson kid has proven to be o.k. at punt returning. The rookie out of LSU has 3 touchdowns and averages 6.7 yards more per return than the 2nd place returner (Javier Arenas of Kansas City). Peterson, as a punt returner, is more responsible for the Cardinals’ two wins than any single player on the team. B	Jay Feely got off to a bad start but has been money since. Dave Zastudil hasn’t cost the team. Patrick Peterson has won two games. If there is any group that deserves props on this team, it’s special teams. Sooner or later teams will stop kicking to Peterson, but that’s fine. B+
HC	It’s easy to like a coach when your team is winning and he says the same exact thing in every press conference and interview. It’s just as easy to get frustrated by that same coach when he constantly spews the same comments loss after loss. Say this about Ken Whisenhunt, he’s consistent. But the heat is increasing in Whisenhunt’s seat as the Cardinals are now 7-17 since the beginning of the 2010 season. It’s hard to argue with those results. (and I’m saying it’s one point better than a ‘D’) C-	If a coach’s job is to put his players in position to succeed, it appears Coach Whiz has failed. Kevin Kolb was asked to do too much too soon, the team didn’t run early in the season when they should have, and it took injuries to finally get some young playmakers into the lineup on defense. The Cardinals are 2-6 on the season and may struggle to reach the five they won last season. D
Team	The Cardinals are 2-6. Yes, they should have a better record than that, as they’ve only been beaten soundly by two of their first eight opponents. But when you consider the issues at quarterback, receiver, running back depth, pass rush, linebacker and secondary, a ‘D’ is the best grade you can give this team. D-	Early in the season it was about the games the Cardinals “should have” won, as leads slipped away in Washington and vs. the Giants. But the team has not played well since then, having been blown out by a poor Vikings team and getting crushed in the second half at Baltimore. Is the win over the Rams a sign of a turnaround? We’ll see, but I wouldn’t bet on it. F+

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