Sunday’s 23-7 loss to the San Fransisco 49ers was a quick,
swift kick back to reality for the Arizona Cardinals.

During the Cardinals six-game losing streak head coach Ken
Whisenhunt stressed giving the players time to learn the
new schemes. He said it was difficult for a new
quarterback to learn a new system. The six-game losing
streak was about growing and maturing as a team.

Then the Cardinals won two in a row, including a surprise
victory in Philadelphia, and people started to believe
that the team was finally turning the corner and
Whisenhunt’s words were having some effect.

Whisenhunt was back to his old sayings on Arizona Sports
620’s Doug and Wolf.

“Defensively we have to continue to grow,” Whisehunt said.
“We didn’t play as well against St. Louis defensively last
time but we’ve made strides over the last couple of weeks
in growing up as a defense.”

If the Cardinals don’t beat the Rams on Sunday, that two-
game winning streak will look more like a fluke than a
sign of improvement.

“We have to do a better job coverage-wise in the secondary
this week than we did,” Whisenhunt said. “We didn’t have a
great week, coverage-wise, against San Fransisco, we had
some technique breakdowns and that’s an area we have to
improve.”

Technique breakdowns happen because the players are either
not good enough or they are under-prepared.

The loss to the 49ers reminded people that these Cardinals
still have a long way to go. If they can’t bounce back
successfully, count on Whisenhunt’s hot seat to get a
little warmer.

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