The Cardinals are 2-1 after narrowly escaping Oakland with a 24-23 win thanks to the powerfully inaccurate leg of Oakland PK Sebastian Janikowski. Arizona's other win was in Week One when it narrowly defeated the Rams, the worst team in football in 2009. However, throughout the first three weeks the Cardinals have most resembled the squad that was drubbed 41-7 by the Falcons in Week Two.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt acted shrewdly upon his arrival in January 2007. He benched recently cut first-round pick Matt Leinart and installed Kurt Warner in the starting lineup, hired Russ Grimm to fix the protection and filled pressing needs on defense, making subtle shifts such as moving Antrel Rolle from cornerback to safety. With excellent coaching, it took a mere two years for Whisenhunt to correct the woes of an historically inept franchise and reach the Super Bowl.

But after righting the ship, the Cardinals took two steps backward this offseason when they not only lost Warner to retirement, but allowed standout MLB Karlos Dansby to defect to the Dolphins via free agency. Being able to replace FS Rolle with Kerry Rhodes softened the blow in the secondary, but the Cardinals had no solution for replacing Dansby, who quietly has been one of the NFL’s top performers, and already has made a huge impact in Miami with his combination of instincts, secure open-field tackling and big-play ability.

Throw in the trading of Anquan Boldin, who like Dansby did not fit into the Cardinals’ budget, and Arizona lost two key difference makers on each side of the ball — simply too much production to replace to remain competitive in a league that has come to lack a truly dominant franchise.