Why Arizona Cardinals Fans Should Trust Ken Whisenhunt

There have been quite a few people questioning whether Ken Whisenhunt did the right thing letting Matt Leinart go and sticking with Derek Anderson. Sure you can look at the numbers and argue for Matt Leinart—and pretty easily.

But this decision goes beyond just the numbers. Most decisions do.

Let's use an illustration to define what possibly could be the reasoning Coach Whisenhunt is using.

Imagine you are a teacher of a middle school class. You have a student that continues to be a problem and finally one day he's really gotten under your skin. So you tell him frankly, "If you think you can do this better, you come up and teach the class."  So he comes up and grabs the chalk.  Now, he is the teacher. All of sudden, the students become rowdy and start acting crazy. You sit back and watch.

This is what the student wanted, right? You sit and watch and chuckle inside because you see that his peers began to doubt his ability, and they take advantage of him. Finally, you take control, grab the chalk back, and tell him to go sit down.

But here is what you don't notice. A teacher is walking down the hall and peers in the classroom. He sees the rebellious student teaching the class, and the class is disruptive. The teacher is horrified and tells people that you can't control your class.

But she doesn't know the whole story does she? You know exactly what you're doing.

I feel this is how Ken Whisenhunt is handling the situation with the Arizona Cardinals.  He is in complete control, and Cardinals fan owe him a little trust based on his track record. Sure you remember that he took the Cardinals to the Super Bowl during the 2008-2009 season against the Steelers, but what is equally impressive is that the next year he brought them right back to the playoffs.

And took them back to the divisional round in the 2009-2010 season.  The Super Bowl hangover really didn't affect them as it had some teams in the recent past. Chalk that up to good coaching and good talent.

Sure, there are media outlets that feel like the Cardinals are done and may finish in third place. They doubt Ken Whisenhunt knows what he is doing choosing Derek Anderson over Matt Leinart.  They may even question why he let such talent go as Anquan Boldin, Karlos Dansby, and Antrel Rolle.

Or maybe he's crazy for having two rookies back-up Derek Anderson.

But let's focus on what we have. And right now it's Derek Anderson with a lot of weapons. Larry Fitzgerald will be just fine, and Steve Breaston, Early Doucet, and breakout rookie Stephen Williams will cement an already stellar wide receiving corp.

Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower should be primed and ready for a running game that will get a lot more love this year than previous years. 

The defense looks good. Darnell Dockett has been satisfied and ready to outplay his contract. Joey Porter will be fine and rookie Darryl Washington will be a suitable replacement for Dansby.

As for Leinart, well, that's a shame. He had his opportunity to show he could lead this team. Twice. And, like the teacher in our illustration, he was given the chance. But the teacher had to take the chalk back and told Matt to sit down.

It's Coach Whisenhunt's team again. And regardless of what the media sees when they peek in his class, he knows what he is doing.