Kurt Warner will start the season at quarterback.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt announced the decision Saturday afternoon. He said he spent much of the night and morning wrestling

“It was close,” he said, but Warner gives the Cardinals the best chance to win on Sept. 7th at San Francisco.

 He said Matt Leinart was “upset” about the decision, which he expected.  

 Whisenhunt said Leinart still is the Cardinals’ quarterback down the road. He also said he expects Leinart to play this season. 

Whisenhunt said of Warner, “Obviously, he’s excited. He’s been working hard and has had a good preseason.”…

The Cardinals announced their final cuts. Notable names include veteran defensive end Joe Tafoya, veteran linebackers Matt Stewart and Brandon Moore and rookie linebacker Chris Harrington, the team’s sixth-round draft pick.

Winning roster battles were receiver Sean Morey and undrafted rookie linebacker Ali Highsmith.

Matt Leinart has spiced up the quarterback saga.

He led the Cardinals on a 90-yard drive, completing 4-of-4 passes along the way for 87 yards (including a 17-yard score to Leonard Pope).

For the first half, he hit 10 of 14 passes for 177 yards and an eye-popping 137.5 passer rating.

Kurt Warner also was effective, hitting 4-of-4 passes for 48 yards. But his first drive was a 3-and-out.

Of course, they were playing against the Broncos second-teamers.

The question: Did Leinart play his way back into the starter’s role? Or has the decision already been made for Warner?

Kurt Warner will start Friday vs. Denver.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt said this is merely because of a disparity in play time in the exhibition season, that Matt Leinart has taken many more snaps than Warner and he wants Warner to work more with the starters.
But Leinart is coming off a poor game. If Leinart really is still the starter, as the depth chart lists, wouldn’t he make sure to play Leinart MORE, not less?
Call this saga “As the Quarterback Turns.”…
Leinart will play, possibly with the starters, depending on how long he decides to go with the No. 1 offensive line…
Cutdown day is Saturday, so a host of players will be playing for their careers, then spend a sleepless night after the game.

Looks like Al Johnson’s balky knee won’t be ready in time to start the season on Sept. 7 at San Francisco. That means Lyle Sendlein, the undrafted second-year player out of Chaparral High School and Texas, will start. …

There’s a big battle at the backup inside linebacker spots between four players: Brandon Moore, Ali Highsmith, Matt Stewart and Monty Beisel. Maybe two of them make it. Highsmith is eligible for the practice squad.

Still battling for starting spots are Deuce Lutui and Elton Brown at right guard and Travis LaBoy and Bertrand Berry at linebacker/defensive end.

The depth chart was correct. Matt Leinart remains the starting quarterback.

Both Leinart and coach Ken Whisenhunt denied an ESPN report on Sunday that Leinart was about to be replaced by Kurt Warner.

Whisenhunt acknowledged, however, that Leinart needs to play better than he did at Oakland Saturday, when he threw three interceptions in the first half.

Leinart said his mistakes were physical, not mental, and thus easily correctable. An example: throwing inside on a deep go route.

Whisenhunt indicated Leinart was rattled by his first two picks, and that may have led to the third one.

But what about that “team source” in the ESPN report who said Leinart was about to be demoted. The source criticized both Leinart’s performance and skill level.

Whisenhunt said he knew of nobody on the Cardinals’ staff who said such a thing. But do you really believe the whole thing was invented?

 If the Cardinals really dumped on Matt Leinart through an unnamed team source, as reported by ESPN, then they’ve set up three rings for a full-fledged circus this afternoon.

That’s when the Valley’s sports media will gather in Tempe.

Who will be the starting quarterback?

How could the Cardinals stick to Leinart, both demoting him and criticizing his performance and skills levels, without telling him first? How will the Cardinals spin this now?

When will the circus end?

Who will bring the elephants?…

Speaking of the QB situation, the Cardinals’ pre-game press release for their final exhibition game at 7 p.m. Friday, at home vs. Denver, lists a tentative depth chart. And the starter at QB is listed as…

Matt Leinart! 

Now this may or may not mean anything.

We’ll find out about 1:30 p.m. or so.

Interestingly, the stats show there’s no question who the Cards QB should be. He is…

Bryan St. Pierre, with a pre-season passer rating of 118.7. He’s hit 23 of 30 passes with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. 

Kurt Warner is 8-for-13 with a rating of 83.5.

Leinart is 18-for-31 with one touchdown and three interceptions and a rating of 45.4.

Matt Leinart and the number 2.8.
No, it’s not his assist average in a pickup basketball league. It’s not even his college GPA.
No, it’s his microscopic passer rating from Saturday night’s game in Oakland.
Leinart threw three interceptions; none of these throws was close to a target.
You have to wonder whether this quarterback saga is deciding itself.
The Cardinals responded better with Kurt Warner in the game as they breezed to an easy win over the lowly Raiders.
Yet even Warner gave the Cardinals pause when he fumbled the ball (the Cards recovered) on his first possession.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt said at halftime that receivers were partly to blame for not being in the right places. He said he would study the game tape.
But the bottom line is that Warner laid an egg, and Leinart will be scrutinized more than ever.

I wonder how many DPS officers were patrolling I-17 southbound from Flagstaff, noon-ish on Thursday.

That’s when the Arizona Cardinals were driving back to the Valley after a month at training cap at NAU.

The Cardinals scattered quickly after their final practice on Thursday morning. Coach Ken Whisenhunt urged them not to fall and hurt themselves in a stampede to get out of there…

Larry Fitzgerald made a couple of great catches Thursday, including one in which he casually shielded his eyes from the sun to get a better look at the ball while running full speed…

Alan Branch, a disappointment considering he was a second-round pick last year, is playing better. Look for him to get some time Saturday at Oakland…Look for Travis LaBoy to start at linebacker/defensive end…Matt Leinart should play well into the second quarter…Antrel Rolle is back practicing but won’t play Saturday…

The only injury concerns appear to be the same ones entering camp: Center Al Johnson and defensive tackle Gabe Watson are trying to get knee problems worked out in time for the season opener at San Francisco.

 The Cardinals say they’re looking forward to Saturday’s game at Oakland because the Raiders play the sort of aggressive defense that they’ll see in the regular season.
“It will be a challenge for us,” says quarterback Matt Leinart.
“Any time you play a team like that, the one-on-one battles you got to win.”
As a quarterback, he has to find the most favorable matchups and be accurate, “especially with a defense that’s aggressive.”…
Ken Whisenhunt gave a strong indication – by his non-response to a question on the subject – that he’ll have little to say on the Anquan Boldin situation for the time being…
Camp wraps up with a practice Wednesday afternoon, then one final one on Thursday morning.
Then the Cardinals will head back to their Tempe practice facility for a walk-through on Friday morning…
The Cardinals have released receiver Ahmad Merritt, who sat out last year with an ankle injury.
They also waived fullback Dionte Johnson, the son of Pepper Johnson, the former New York Giants linebacker. He will receive an injury settlement.
Running back Chris Vincent, cut at the start of training camp, has been re-signed.

Some thoughts on Anquan Boldin’s latest attack on Cards:

– It seems obvious Boldin wants out, without wanting to say so directly.

– The first diatribe, on the first day of training camp, got a lot of notice. Each subsequent attack gets less attention.

– With three years left on Boldin’s contract, the Cardinals probably should have passed on any negotiations until after this upcoming season.

– Coach Ken Whisenhunt probabably will think twice about sitting at the negotiating table in the future, regardless of whether his presence is requested by an agent….

The Cards may not clearly announce their starting quarterback, the better to keep the 49ers guessing, Whisenhunt hinted on Tuesday