Jock Jerseys’ Flash

The Arizona Cardinals started and finished the game w/ a big bang against the suddenly struggling Dallas Cowboys. After opening the game w/ a kickoff return for a touchdown, the Cardinals were on top of the world. What followed for the next 30 min, was arguably one of the worst, sloppiest 1st halves of the season by both teams. Fumbles beget fumbles and two of highest scoring teams in the NFL entered halftime at a virtual standstill.

The Cardinals, led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald, looked strong with the lead early in the 4th quarter. Tony Romo and the Cowboys were not done, however, and led a stirring comeback to trail 24-21 with only minutes to go. Arizona had failed to convert a 1st down and punted to Dallas. The Cowboys promptly marched down the field and setup for a game-tying field goal. Prior to the snap, Arizona Head Coach Ken Wisenhunt called a timeout, which just so happened to nullify a blocked kick. DOH! On the 2nd try, Dallas hit the FG to force overtime.

Sean Morey blocked Mat McBriar’s punt and Monty Beisel scooped up the ball and scored from 3 yards to give the Arizona Cardinals a crazy 30-24 overtime victory over the Dallas Cowboys. Continue reading on NFL.com

The overtime period started with an injury to Tony Romo’s throwing hand and a quick 3 & out for the Cowboys. As you can read above, the Cardinals blocked the punt and scored the winning touchdown to move to 4-2 on the season - the same record as the mighty Cowboys.

Cardinals fans around AZ have reason to believe their team can win this season, but this fan is not sold yet… They have done this before, teasing us and playing with our minds - making us believe they are better than they really are. Only time will tell if this Arizona Cardinals team has the makeup & strength to continue to win football games. They certainly go into their Bye week on a high - enjoy it while it lasts and pray that it continues.

The Cowboys certainly get the raw deal out of this one, as reports come out on Monday that QB Tony Romo will miss at least 4 weeks with a broken pinkie on his throwing hand. This comes at a horrible time for Dallas, losers of 2 straight NFC match-ups. Veteran Brad Johnson will man the helm for the Cowboys until Romo returns.

The Cardinals are now 4-2 on the season and primed for a playoff push. Get your authentic or replica Cardinals jerseys and other merchandise below:

Football News from NFL.com

Brett Favre was listed as questionable Friday for the New York Jets’ game against Arizona with a sore left ankle, but is expected to start against the Cardinals.

Continue reading on NFL.com

The ageless wonder that is Brett Favre continues to amaze as the quarterback of the New York Jets. While the team hasn’t performed up to what expectations were - especially after the 1st game, Favre has looked like… Favre. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes erratic.

This week, the Jets will lineup against the Arizona Cardinals, who are also fighting for an identity and looking to prove pundits wrong. The Cardinals are continuously looked at as the NFL’s annual loser - they haven’t won anything in their entire existence. With a hobbled Favre and good mixture of offense and defense Sunday, the Cardinals could start the season 3-1 and put the Jets in a 1-3 hole; neither of these were expected by the respective team’s fans or the analysts.

The Jets will have to run the ball effectively with Thomas Jones, but also get good decisions and solid plays out of Brett Favre. The AZ defense will make the QB pay if he is not careful with the football.

Game prediction:
AZ 24, NYJ 20

The Arizona Cardinals coaching staff has made a surprising move to start the 2008-2009 NFL season, by choosing veteran Kurt Warner to quarterback the team in the season opener. Warner is certainly deserving after closing out last season w/ 8 consecutive games w/ 2+ touchdowns (in each).

Of course, choosing Warner leaves Matt Leinart as the odd man out. The former USC standout and sometimes “playboy” had a horrible outing 2 weeks ago against the Raiders, throwing 3 INTs in less than a half, but he rebounded greatly in this week’s Broncos game.

Regardless of who head coach Ken Whisenhunt and the coaching staff chose to start, us Cardinals fans (yes, I regret to admit that) expect to see both QBs before season’s end. In fact, I think we’ll see Leinart start at least 1 game by week 5.

Tough choice by the Cardinals, but it’s probably the best option for making the playoffs. They can’t afford to start slowly or get behind in games early. With Warner, they put their best foot forward and give themselves a stronger chance to win.

Updated 7/22/08

Brian Urlacher is the latest NFL player to “re-work” an existing deal before the first one is up. This new deal adds to the existing 9-yr deal he was still under (until 2011), to the tune of $18 million - $6 million signing bonus. Urlacher is now signed w/ the Chicago Bears until 2012… wow, a whole year? Thanks for the commitment.

These incidents are ridiculous - Brian cannot argue that he’s “underpaid” when he already has a $57 million contract that he’s supposed to be honoring. The timing is also key, considering the Bears reported to training camp today.

Original Story 6/17/08

Recent developments involving two Pro-Bowl receivers and their “contract disputes” have me questioning how much power athletes have been given. In today’s sporting world, it seems like a player who’s unhappy w/ his current pay, can basically force his team into renegotiating his salary and signing bonus.

The two players who have been mentioned most recently, but are certainly not the only players griping, are the New York Giants’ Plaxico Burress and the Arizona Cardinals’ Anquan Boldin. Both players are certainly worthy of their current contracts in my opinion and possibly more, but if they wanted more, they should have negotiated that amount from the get-go.

Each of these players has 3 years remaining on their current contracts - THREE YEARS - and they’re already throwing fits about how little they’re being paid. Btw… both the Cardinals and Giants are near the bottom in terms of total team salaries (for 2007); the Giants had the lowest payroll in the NFL. (Source: USAToday 2007 Team Salaries)

Here is a breakdown of how these two players stand up, in terms of base salary & signing bonuses, on their own team, as well as for their positions:

Plaxico Burress

• $3.2 mil annual (3rd on team, 9th in NFL for WR)
• $5 mil bonus (3rd on team)

Anquan Boldin

• $2 mil annual (tied 10th on team, 24th in NFL for WR)
• $5 mil bonus (tied 4th on team)

Ok, so Plaxico is paid like a Top 10 wide receiver while Boldin is certainly underpaid. Among the less quality receivers making more money than Boldin are: Chris Chambers (#1 paid receiver - are you kidding me?), Roy Williams, Deion Branch, Marty Booker, Nate Burleson, David Givens, Amani Toomer and Justin McCareins. I’m not listing all of these wide receivers to dog on them for getting a good paycheck, but give me a break… how many people would pick one of these players ahead of Anquan in a fantasy football draft?

Where I think the rub is from these players, is when they look at the NFL Draft and see how well the 1st round picks are being paid, and then compare that with their own salaries, they’re getting chump change. The NFL rookies have no experience, no accolades to speak of, etc., but they continue to receive 8-figure signing bonuses and guaranteed money. Look no further than the Atlanta Falcons recent signing of quarterback Matt Ryan - 6 yrs for $72 million - $34.75 of it guaranteed. Not only did they sign him for a huge guaranteed amount, but they also paid him more than the picks before him and more than the previous year. Most players won’t make $34.75 million in their entire career, let alone get that guaranteed without even taking a snap on the field.

Ultimately, the over-spending owners are causing these problems and forcing unnecessary grief on themselves. If I was a year-to-year Pro-Bowl caliber player and a rookie came in and made 10x what I was making, I would probably ask for a new contract as well. At the same time, an NFL contract is a contract, one that should be upheld between both parties involved.

If you have something to say, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear your opinions.