Can the Cardinals win with Kevin Kolb?

The Arizona Cardinals’ fortunes are tied very heavily to their quarterback situation. When Kurt Warner was their starter they won. When Derek Anderson or Matt Leinert started they lost. When John Skelton started they went 5-2 (not including a win against the San Francisco 49ers that Skelton orchestrated after Kevin Kolb went down early in the first quarter) but interestingly enough they were only 2-6 when Kolb took most of the snaps in a game.

The Cardinals haven’t been very good on defense during Coach Ken Whisenhunt’s tenure which puts the onus on them to score in order to win. Their best ranking in yards allowed came in Whisenhunt’s debut season and the Cards were only ranked 17^th that year. Their best ranking in terms of points allowed came in 2009 when they were ranked 14^th.

That means the Cardinals have to win games with their offense which is something Kolb was expected to be able to help them with. So far that hasn’t been the case though. The Cardinals lost six straight games last season with Kolb at the helm.

Kolb just wasn’t very accurate although some of the reason for that may have been because he didn’t have much time to throw behind a woeful offensive line.  The Cardinals were 31^st in sack allowed and had a tough time keeping any of their quarterbacks erect last season.

Skelton still managed to win games though. The difference between Kolb and Skelton’s performances last season is the fact that Skelton is more of a mobile quarterback than Kolb. When playing behind a line that isn’t going to give you much time to throw, you better be able to make plays with your feet.

Which is why the speculation that the Cardinals might pursue Peyton Manning if he is released is almost laughable. The old Manning would definitely be able to put up wins because he made super-quick decisions and got rid of the ball so fast but he still took hits while making a lot of throws. His newly-fused neck wouldn’t survive behind this awful offensive line.

And if the Cardinals make moves to fix their line then they really wouldn’t need Manning other than to generate ticket sales. Kolb has shown that he can make the throws when he has time to operate in the pocket.

One other option would be to try and move up in the draft so they can select Robert Griffin III but that isn’t likely to happen with Arizona currently holding the 13^th pick in the draft. Griffin won’t drop below the fourth pick and none of the teams picking that high want to fall out of the top ten.

But if the Cardinals can beef up their line protection then Kolb may have a chance to justify the big contract he signed with Arizona. If not then the Cardinals may be looking for a new quarterback and a new coach in 2013. 

Roosevelt Hall is an NFL Blogger for The Sport Mentalist and also writes for both The Penalty Flag and Outside The Redzone. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist and add him on Facebook Roosevelt Hall Thesportmentalist.

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