Whether it was his intentions or not, Ken Whisenhunt just started a storm of epic proportions in Arizona.

Whisenhunt made the announcement Thursday that Derek Anderson – not former first round pick Matt Leinart – would start in the Cardinals’ third preseason game on Saturday. Leinart of course, was being viewed as Kurt Warner’s replacement and has taken first-team reps throughout the entire offseason.

Now rumors have started to circulate that the Cards are ready to give up on Leinart and may even try to trade him before the season starts.

On Friday, Leinart lashed out and expressed his frustration with the situation.

“It is disappointing and a little bit frustrating. I can’t sit up here and say I’m happy and all smiles,” said Leinart. “If it is an open competition, then let’s have it that way from the start.”

Leinart has a point. Although he has done nothing in preseason to warrant being the regular season starter, he has also been given fewer opportunities to shine. He has attempted just 13 passes thus far (compared to Anderson’s 41) and while he has yet to throw a touchdown pass or move the ball with any regularity, Anderson has thrown two picks and has a worse completion percentage (58.5% to Leinart’s 76.9%).

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According to Cardinals beat write Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, the receiving corps in ‘Zona is growing less confident in quarterback Matt Leinart.

If Leinart does become the starter, the offense will no doubt change. There will be a heavier emphasis on the run game, which has developed over the past year and a half. The play-action pass, not one of Warner’s favorite things, could become more of a threat.

Most importantly, Leinart has to re-gain the trust of his receivers. Everyone can say all the right things about believing in him, but Leinart’s inaccuracy this season eroded confidence among the receiving corps.

That group loves Warner for many reasons, mainly because the Cardinals are going to throw a lot with him in the lineup. But Warner also did his best to protect his receivers, to keep them from taking big hits. When Leinart is throwing high passes, as has been his tendency, receivers tend to get a little skittish.

The easiest way for Leinart to earn the trust of his receivers is to lead by example. If he’s the first one in and the last one out, people will take notice. With enough hard work and dedication, his game should improve over time and then his receivers will start to follow him.

If Leinart wants an example of how not to carry himself as a professional quarterback, he should look no further than his 2006 draft mate JaMarcus Russell. Russell is the posterchild for players that rely too much on their skill set and not enough on hard work and determination. If it weren’t for nutty Al Davis, Russell would be on his second team by now. He’s not willing to make the effort to be good and his performance on the field speaks for itself.

This shouldn’t be a hard concept for Leinart. He needs to put in the work and he should see positive results because as the article notes, he does have the tools to succeed.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
1:00 pm ET
TV—CBS

Last season, the Ravens began their playoff journey as a wild card by upsetting the AFC East champion Dolphins, and then upsetting the top seeded Tennessee Titans, before losing to the eventual champion Steelers in the AFC championship game. This season the Ravens went 10-6 and eked into the playoffs in Week 17, but their losses have mostly been close games, including a 27-21 defeat in New England in Week 4. The Ravens’ fifth ranked rushing attack is led by RB Ray Rice, and they will once again use their stout defense (ranked third overall) to try and stop Tom Brady, Randy Moss and company. The Patriots will try to run the ball to control the clock and keep it away from Rice, and also try to use said running game to allow Brady and his receivers to stretch the field. Of course, everyone knows that Wes Welker is out for the season after jamming his knee into the Reliant Stadium turf last Sunday. But did anyone expect rookie WR (and 7th round draft pick) Julian Edelman to catch 10 passes for 103 yards and run up and down the field looking like a Welker clone doing it? Not really. Still, Brady didn’t have guys named Lewis, Suggs and Reed lining up on the other side last week, and those guys in purple jerseys could force him into making a few mistakes. The bottom line, however, is that the Patriots are 8-0 at home this season, and a Bill Belichick coached team is a tough out in the playoffs.
THE PICK: PATRIOTS 26, RAVENS 17

Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals
4:40 pm ET
TV—FOX

Amazingly, this game is the third contest of the weekend that is a rematch of a Week 17 game, and like the Philly/Dallas game, this one is also in the same building, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona. Will it be the same outcome though? Last week, the Packers played all of their starters in annihilating the defending NFC champs 33-7, but Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt did not use star QB Kurt Warner after the first quarter. Still, how much of that crap about tipping your hand before playing an opponent again do you believe? This is the NFL, and the team that executes their game plan usually wins. Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy believed that letting Aaron Rodgers and his receivers stretch the field against the Cardinals’ 23rd ranked pass defense, as well as mixing in a heavy dose of Ryan Grant and Ahman Green to run the ball and keep it away from Warner and Matt Leinart was an effective strategy. Of course, McCarthy’s Packers boast the #1 rushing defense in the NFL and the #5 passing defense, so they feel like they can stop whoever is trying to move the ball against them anyway, especially if star CB Charles Woodson suits up after aggravating a shoulder injury last week. Remember, though, that the Cardinals are recently playoff tested, and came within a brilliant Santonio Holmes touchdown catch from winning it all less than a year ago.
THE PICK: PACKERS 33, CARDINALS 30

A: After two years, according to Football Outsiders’ Aaron Schatz.

Schatz wrote a column in the Nov. 30 issue of ESPN The Magazine — I know it’s a little dated, but cut me some slack, I’ve been buried beneath Bill Simmons’ 700-page opus — where he outlined how long teams should take to evaluate a young QB. (Note: I’d provide a link, but I can’t find this story anywhere on the net. Sorry.)

These two examples raise a critical question: When is it time to give up on your young QB?

The quick answer is: after two years (unless, of course, the guy has spent that time on the bench). If a QB falters badly in those first two seasons, you can pretty much write off his chances of ever amounting to anything. It may sound harsh, but chew on these names: Kyle Boller, Quincy Carter, Tim Couch, Charlie Frye, Rex Grossman, Joey Harrington, Danny Kanell, Mike McMahon, Akili Smith, Alex Smith, Danny Wuerffel, Spergon Wynn. Not exactly a parade of Hall of Famers, huh? Well, you can put Russell in that group, too.

Of all of those players, only Alex Smith has shown any signs of resurrecting his career.

Schatz and Football Outsiders use their “replacement player” concept (“basically how many yards a player gains compared with what a replacement-level player, that is, a typical second-stringer, would get in the same situation, against the same opponent”) to determine whether or not a QB is struggling.

Schatz addresses Brady Quinn…

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Judging which college football player was the best over the past decade can be a tricky endeavor. Do you rank a player that has won a Heisman higher than one that has not? Do you penalize a player if he played in a pass-happy system that allowed him to put up lofty numbers? Do you judge his performance based on the talent around him or the difficulty of his competition? As part of our ongoing Decade Debate series, here is a top 15 ranking of the best college football players of the past decade. Perhaps more than any of our lists in this decade series, this one could be debated the most given the factors that surround it.

15. C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

If you want to be entertained, try turning on a Clemson game and watching Spiller for three-plus hours. He’s a terrific runner, an electrifying return man and one of the deadliest weapons in college football. He is the only player besides Reggie Bush to post 2,500 yards rushing, 1,500 yards in kickoff returns, 1,000 yards receiving and 5,000 yards in punt returns. He’s also tied a NCAA record for most kickoff returns for touchdowns with six. If it weren’t for a lackluster junior season, he’d probably rank higher on this list.

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Training camp is still a month away but you don’t need daily reports from the grueling two-a-day sessions to see what players are going to have the heat turned up on them this season. I’ve complied a list of 10 players (in no particular order) who, not necessarily the same reasons, face make or break seasons in ’09.

1. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys
If Romo doesn’t get the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2009 will Jerry Jones look for other options at quarterback in 2010? No. But if you read between the lines, the Cowboys jettisoned Terrell Owens this offseason so that Romo will have every opportunity to be the team’s most influential leader and hopefully go from being a great quarterback to one of the elite. While it might not technically be a make or break season for Romo, his career is certainly at a crossroads. Romo’s numbers last year were solid – 3,448 yards, 26 TDs, 91.4 QB Rating – but his play faded over the last month of the season and the Cowboys imploded. Since then, Romo’s work ethic, offseason dedication and leadership skills have been questioned and it appears as though the QB’s career has come to a fork in the road. If he continues on the path his currently on, he might put up decent numbers and lead the Cowboys to the playoffs a couple more times before his days are done. That’s certainly not bad, but Jones and the rest of the Cowboy faithful want Romo to be extraordinary and if he completely dedicates himself to the game, maybe he can take this talented team to the next level. One thing’s for sure – with T.O. out of the way, this is now Romo’s team and it’s up to him where he and the Cowboys go from here.

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Kurt Warner and his agent must have read my latest column because apparently the free agent quarterback is on the verge of re-signing with the Arizona Cardinals according to ESPN.com. If the deal is completed, Warner is expected to receive $23 million over the next two years.

On Monday I speculated that Warner wouldn’t re-up with the Cards after making a free agent stop in San Francisco to talk with the 49ers. I concluded that with the departure of Todd Haley and the eventual/possible trade of Anquan Boldin, Warner might soon jettison as well.

Uh, not so much.

Click here for six observations on Super Bowl XLIII.

Lucifer himself might as well have created the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday.

Is that extreme? No.

The Monday after the Super Bowl signals the end of another NFL season and that means there is no football on the horizon unless you’re one of the 10 people that watches the Pro Bowl. There are seven months between now and the start of preseason games, which makes me sick to think about. If I could freeze myself for the next seven months and thaw just in time for the 2009 season, I would.

Is that extreme? No.

But fear not my football friends because even though there isn’t any football this Sunday, it doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to get excited about while looking ahead. Below are 10 things to look forward to now that the Super Bowl is over. (And so that you don’t have to freeze yourself for the next seven months.)

Before you read on, realize that I’m not going to copout and write about how free agency and the draft are things to look forward to. Of course they are, but let’s get more specific here, people.