The 2011 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 92nd in the National Football League (NFL), their 24th in Arizona and their fifth under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. This was going to be the Cardinals first season with new starting quarterback Kevin Kolb, but he was injured and replaced by John Skelton. Despite a 1-6 start the Cardinals managed to win 7 out of 9 games, including a stunning upset against the San Francisco 49ers in week 14. The team improved on their 5–11 record from the 2010 season, but missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
The 2011 Cardinals won four overtime games, an NFL record that would later be matched by the 2021 Las Vegas Raiders.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, team won game, Game went to overtime, sorted by descending Date.
Offseason
Signings Pos. Player 2010 Team Contract G Daryn Colledge Green Bay Packers 5 years, $27.5 million LB Stewart Bradley Philadelphia Eagles 5 years, $25 million C Lyle Sendlein Arizona Cardinals 5 years, $16 million TE Jeff King Carolina Panthers 3 years, $5.5 million DE Nick Eason Pittsburgh Steelers 2 years, $1.9 million S Michael Adams Arizona Cardinals 2 years, $1.7 million G Floyd Womack Cleveland Browns 1 year, $1.7 million RB Chester Taylor Chicago Bears 1 year, $810,000 CB Matt Ware Arizona Cardinals 1 year, $855,000 C Ben Claxton Arizona Cardinals 1 year, $700,000
Departures Pos. Player 2011 Team WR Steve Breaston Kansas City Chiefs DT Alan Branch Seattle Seahawks G Alan Faneca CBen ClaxtonQBDerek Anderson Carolina PanthersCBDominique Rodgers-CromartiePhiladelphia EaglesRBJason WrightFBNehemiah BroughtonTEStephen SpachSt. Louis Rams
2011 NFL draft
+ Arizona Cardinals 2011 NFL Draft selections Draft order Player name Position Height Weight College Round Choice Overall 1 5 5 Patrick Peterson CB 6'0" 219 lbs. LSU 2 6 38 Ryan Williams RB 5'9" 212 lbs. VT 3 5 69 Rob Housler TE 6'5" 215 lbs. FAU 4 6 103 Sam Acho OLB 6'2" 262 lbs. Texas 5 5 136 Anthony Sherman RB 5'10" 242 lbs. UConn 6 6 171 Quan Sturdivant ILB 6'1" 241 lbs. UNC 19 184 David Carter DE 6'5" 297 lbs. UCLA 7 46 249 DeMarco Sampson WR 6'2" 204 lbs. SDSU
Undrafted free agents Name Position College Jared Campbell Safety Miami (FL) Daiveun Curry-Chapman Wide receiver Northern Arizona Tommy Irvin Safety Wofford Sean Jeffcoat Wide receiver Elon Duke Lemmens Linebacker Florida Ricky Lumpkin Defensive tackle Kentucky Eric Mensik Tackle Oklahoma Aaron Nichols Wide receiver Oregon State Bryant Nnabuife Cornerback California Kristofer O'Dowd Center USC Stephen Skelton Tight end Fordham Kendall Smith Linebacker Florida State Jason Speredom Tackle BYU Jake Vermiglio Guard NC State D. J. Young Tackle Michigan State
Acquisitions On July 28, 2011 the Cardinals acquired Kolb from the Philadelphia Eagles for CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and a 2012 2nd-round pick. The next day they signed former Carolina Panthers starting CB Richard Marshall.
Coaching staff Arizona Cardinals 2011 staff Front office Owner/chairman – Bill Bidwill President – Michael Bidwill general manager – Rod Graves Director of football administration – Reggie Terry Director of player personnel – Steve Keim Director of pro personnel – T. J. McCreight Assistant director of pro personnel – Quentin Harris
Head coaches Head coach – Ken Whisenhunt Assistant head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line – Russ Grimm
Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Mike Miller Quarterbacks – Chris Miller Running backs – Tommie Robinson Wide receivers – John McNulty Tight ends – Freddie Kitchens Offensive quality control – Chad Grimm Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Ray Horton Defensive line – Ron Aiken Linebackers – Matt Raich Defensive backs – Louie Cioffi Assistant defensive backs – Deshea Townsend Defensive quality control – Ryan Slowik
Special teams coaches Special teams – Kevin Spencer
Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – John Lott Assistant strength and conditioning – Pete Alosi
Final roster
Preseason Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 August 11 at Oakland Raiders W 24–18 1–0 O.co Coliseum Recap 2 August 19 at Green Bay Packers L 20–28 1–1 Lambeau Field Recap 3 August 27 San Diego Chargers L 31–34 1–2 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 4 September 1 Denver Broncos W 26–7 2–2 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 11 Carolina Panthers W 28–21 1–0 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 2 September 18 at Washington Redskins L 21–22 1–1 FedExField Recap 3 September 25 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–13 1–2 CenturyLink Field Recap 4 October 2 New York Giants L 27–31 1–3 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 5 October 9 at Minnesota Vikings L 10–34 1–4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap 6 Bye 7 October 23 Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–32 1–5 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 8 October 30 at Baltimore Ravens L 27–30 1–6 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 9 November 6 St. Louis Rams W 19–13 2–6 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 10 November 13 at Philadelphia Eagles W 21–17 3–6 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 11 November 20 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–23 3–7 Candlestick Park Recap 12 November 27 at St. Louis Rams W 23–20 4–7 Edward Jones Dome Recap 13 December 4 Dallas Cowboys W 19–13 5–7 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 14 December 11 San Francisco 49ers W 21–19 6–7 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 15 December 18 Cleveland Browns W 20–17 7–7 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap 16 December 24 at Cincinnati Bengals L 16–23 7–8 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 17 January 1 Seattle Seahawks W 23–20 8–8 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 2: at Washington Redskins
Week 3: at Seattle Seahawks
Week 4: vs. New York Giants
Despite the Cardinals holding a 10-point lead twice in the fourth quarter, the Giants scored three touchdowns in the final frame as Arizona dropped its third straight game and fell to 1–3.
Week 5: at Minnesota Vikings
Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Coming off their bye week, the Cardinals went home for a Week 7 interconference duel with the Pittsburgh Steelers, in a rematch of Super Bowl XLIII. Arizona trailed early in the first quarter as Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller. Pittsburgh would add onto their lead in the second quarter as Roethlisberger completed a 95-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Wallace. The Cardinals would answer with a 1-yard touchdown run from running back Alfonso Smith. The Steelers would close out the half with kicker Shaun Suisham getting a 41-yard field goal.
Arizona opened the third quarter with quarterback Kevin Kolb finding running back LaRod Stephens-Howling on a 73-yard touchdown pass, but Pittsburgh struck back with Roethlisberger completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, along with Kolb's intentional grounding penalty in the endzone resulting in a safety. In the fourth quarter, the Steelers continued to pull away with Suisham making a 42-yard and a 39-yard field goal. The Cardinals tried to rally as Kolb found wide receiver Early Doucet on a 2-yard touchdown pass (with a failed two-point conversion), but Pittsburgh held on to preserve the victory.
With the loss, Arizona fell to 1–5.
Week 8: at Baltimore Ravens
The Cardinals blew a 21-point first half lead and lost their sixth straight game to fall to 1–6.
Week 9: vs. St. Louis Rams
The Cardinals snapped their six-game losing streak as rookie Patrick Peterson returned a punt 98 yards for a game-winning touchdown in overtime. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 2–6. The game also featured the Rams' scoring the four points in the third quarter as the got two safeties on consecutive drives. This was first time in NFL history that a team had recorded four points in a quarter.
Week 10: at Philadelphia Eagles
Week 11: at San Francisco 49ers
Week 12: at St. Louis Rams
Week 13: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 14: vs. San Francisco 49ers
The Cardinals came back from 12-point halftime deficit to stun the 10–2 49ers. With the win, the Cardinals improved to 6–7.
Week 15: vs. Cleveland Browns
Head coach Ken Whisenhunt recorded his 43rd win as the Cardinals' head coach, and surpassed Don Coryell to become the winningest head coach in franchise history. Whisenhunt was the all-time leader in wins for Cardinals head coaches until his record was broken by Bruce Arians 5 years later.
Week 16: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 17: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Standings
Footnotes
References