Kevin Kolb led the Arizona Cardinals on a touchdown march in his first possession Friday night. After two performances in which Kolb somehow racked up a 0.0 passer rating, this came as a great relief to coach Ken Whisenhunt. And Kolb. And anyone else associated with the Cardinals.
Unfortunately, Kolb reverted to his usual preseason form after that. He took an intentional grounding penalty right at the goal line. It looked like a possible safety, but the ball was spotted at the 1-yard line.
Kolb was slow to react under heavy pressure on the next play and took a safety. The next two drives included two sacks, two incompletions and no first downs. Kolb completed 3 of 6 passes for 22 yards and took three sacks.
According to the Oakland Raiders' preseason television team, Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly ran off the field screaming about Kolb, "That boy's scared."
"He is skittish," Kelly told The Associated Press after the Cardinals' 31-27 victory. "Anytime anybody gets close to him, he starts looking at the refs. As a defensive lineman, you love a quarterback like that. He ain't even trying to look at the routes no more. He is paying attention to us, and you ain't going to get nothing done like that."
A report surfaced earlier this week that John Skelton was the favorite to win the Cardinals' starting quarterback job. We'd be surprised if Skelton isn't the one starting for Arizona next week and into the regular season.
