Changes could be coming for Arizona
The Arizona Cardinals had two weeks to prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers, what they had hoped was enough time to straighten out their myriad of problems.
Apparently, they needed more time.
Plagued by defensive breakdowns, another so-so performance by Kevin Kolb and inopportune penalties, Arizona pushed its losing streak to five games with a 32-20 home loss to the Steelers on Sunday.
Climb back in the NFC West race? The Cardinals are hoping to just win a game, any game.
With that in mind, coach Ken Whisenhunt said Monday that he and the coaching staff are looking at possible changes to get the Cardinals out of this funk. And not just a player here or there. The team at 1-5, they're going to look at everyone.
"We have to find somebody to make plays," Whisenhunt said. "If we have to make changes across the board for the different positions in order to do that, that's what we're going to do. One-and-five, five straight losses is certainly frustrating. It's certainly not from lack of effort - we're working our tails off to try to win - but we've got to look at every position and if they're not getting it done, we have to make changes."
The easy finger pointing, at least from the outside, would be at Kolb.
• Munchak: No personnel changes after lopsided loss: Mike Munchak is sticking both with his approach and his Tennessee Titans right now despite two ugly losses and a run game that remains the worst in the NFL.
The Titans (3-3) turned in the most lopsided home loss since moving into LP Field in 1999 with a 41-7 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday, and they were outplayed in every category. The Titans have been outscored 79-24 in the losses, and losing to Houston cost them the lead in the AFC South.
Munchak understands people want change or something to blame, but he said Monday it's not time to panic. He doesn't see any personnel changes yet because the Titans have been productive throwing the ball and on defense with the exception of the past two games.
"You have to have confidence in what you're doing," Munchak said.
"If you show you're going to change things every time you have a bad day, you have to be smart about it. But it's just one of those things ... That's why we feel good about what we're doing. We don't feel good about how things transpired yesterday, but we still feel good about how we're teaching things, how we're doing things."
The schedule offers a good chance to snap this skid. Indianapolis (0-7) visits this weekend.
• Rams searching for answers after another loss: St. Louis entered the season as a legitimate contender for the NFC West title, and they're winless after six games.
It's no fluke, either.
Despite massive spending on the offensive line and in the backfield, the Rams are averaging a measly nine points. The defense, coach Steve Spagnuolo's calling card, is the worst in the NFL by far against the rush, even without DeMarco Murray's 253-yard whopper in Sunday's 34-7 loss at Dallas.
Players don't know quite what to say about the dismal state of affairs, especially after last season's six-win improvement that left them just short of the playoffs. No doubt the early schedule has been rigorous, but they've barely been competitive.
Jaguars 12, Ravens 7: At Jacksonville, Fla., Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 105 yards against the NFL's best run defense, Josh Scobee kicked four field goals and Jacksonville (2-5) snapped a five-game slide with a 12-7 victory over the Baltimore (4-2) on Monday night.
Stepping into the national spotlight for one night, the Jaguars used their best defensive effort in five years to slow down Ray Rice, Joe Flacco and Co.
n Improving Steelers bracing for "Prove it" weeks: The Steelers' lengthy preseason is over. Finally.
True, the defending AFC champions improved to 5-2 after a 32-20 win over Arizona on Sunday. Yet even they admit they haven't exactly been dominant against a largely mediocre schedule.
For an organization that lives by the mantra, "the standard is the standard," there is a definite sense the Steelers aren't quite the Steelers yet.
"It's good to get the wins, especially going on the road like this and to win, but for us on offense specifically, we want to continue improving," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said after throwing for 361 yards and three scores. "We are not satisfied with where we are at. We feel like we can still improve and that's good. We need to have that mentality."
They better.
Pittsburgh begins a daunting two-week stretch on Sunday against rested New England (5-1), which is 6-1 against the Steelers when Tom Brady is under center. For an organization that likes to save its best football for December and beyond, there's a sense of urgency in late-October.