Leinart still starter, with Warner ready to run Cardinals' no-huddle offense again
Monday, September 24, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) Matt Leinart still is the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals.
Kurt Warner will be still waiting in the wings as the team's ``no-huddle'' specialist after nearly leading the team to a comeback victory at Baltimore on Sunday.
``We're going to try to find ways to keep Kurt playing based on how he played yesterday,'' coach Ken Whisenhunt said on Monday. ``But I don't feel like Matt has done anything to lose the job.''
How Leinart feels about this unusual two-quarterback approach is a mystery. As reporters crowded around Warner in the locker room Monday, Leinart walked past with a towel over his head, grabbed the playbook out of his locker, and left.
Warner, the former Super Bowl and two-time league MVP in his 11th NFL season, was happy just to get an opportunity to get back on the field.
``It is a little bit weird,'' he said, ``but at the same time to be in a backup role, for somebody to basically say `Here's an opportunity for you to play weekly,' that excites me.''
The Cardinals trailed the Ravens 20-3 at the half and 23-6 after three quarters, but Warner threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Anquan Boldin, then Neil Rackers' 41-yard field goal tied it at 23-23 with 1:50 to play.
With the help of a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Adrian Wilson, the Ravens drove downfield and Matt Stover kicked the winning 46-yard field goal as the game ended.
Whisenhunt, offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers for three seasons before coming to Arizona, said he had used the no-huddle approach before at Baltimore because it stifles the shifty Ravens' defense and combats the extreme crowd noise.
``It was something that we predetermined was going to happen about the second quarter just for a change of pace,'' Whisenhunt said. ``During the course of game-planning for these guys, we felt Kurt was much more comfortable with it and would operate it more efficiently.''
Warner completed 15-of-20 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Leinart was 9-for-20 for 53 yards.
Whisenhunt said it is unfair to compare the two because the offense Warner ran didn't allow the Ravens to do all the shifting they did when Leinart was in the game. Plus, the team played better with Warner, and Leinart had four of his passes dropped.
FULL STORY
Leinart still starter, with Warner ready to run Cardinals' no-huddle offense again
Leinart still starter, with Warner ready to run Cardinals' no-huddle offense again
Leinart still starter, with Warner ready to run Cardinals' no-huddle offense again
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