Anderson Gets Start

No surprise here as Arizona Cardinals quarterback Derek Anderson has been named the starter for this week's game against the Minnesota Vikings.  It had to be Anderson over Max Hall.  There was no question, at least this week.

Anderson, who has played fairly well in his relief of Hall over the past two weeks, save for his late interception against the Tampa Bay Bucs on Sunday, has the experience and the understanding of how to play in what will be a very noisy dome this Sunday.

Hall, regardless of how much you want to see him more than DA, just will get eaten alive in that environment.  That's not to say he won't get any play time if something goes wrong with Anderson, however going to Anderson is the right choice for this week.  Next week, it could be a whole different song.

I wouldn't expect much from either quarterback, but it is what it is and we must all be prepared to deal with it.  This year though may be the best opportunity for the Cards to get a win up north in Minnesota.  Vikings defensive end Jared Allen is not having a very good season.

Allen, who had a great season a year ago, has been held without a sack over the past five games.  He only has one sack this season and that came in week two against the Miami Dolphins.  As far as I'm concerned though, with the way the Cards offensive line has played for most of the season, I wouldn't be surprised to see a resurrection of Allen's season this week with a multiple-sack game.

That right there is the key to not only Anderson's success, but his survival as well.  The offensive line is going to need to give Anderson time to throw the ball.  At the same time Anderson is going to need to make multiple reads and learn to get rid of it quickly if need be.  The Cards can't afford to take too many bad sacks on Sunday in a game that certainly could come down to field position.  The way the Vikings offense has played this year, don't expect them to light up the scoreboard either.  Then again, I thought the same thing about Tampa last week.