Head coach Ken Whisenhunt Owner Bill Bidwill Division place 2nd NFC West | General manager Rod Graves Record 8–8 | |
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Home field University of Phoenix Stadium | ||
The 2011 Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 92nd season in the National Football League and the 24th season in Arizona. For Ken Whisenhunt, it was his fifth season as the head coach of the Cardinals. This was going to be the Cardinals first season with new starting QB Kevin Kolb, but he was replaced by John Skelton. The team improved on their 5–11 record from the 2010 season, but missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
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The 2011 Cardinals won four overtime games, an NFL record.
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.
Preseason
The Cardinals' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.
Regular season
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.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.