Now normally Denver coach Mike Shanahan does not like to play his regulars in the final pre-season game, but with the running back situation suddenly muddled, he will make an exception on offense tonight.
That is because Shanahan appears to be second-guessing his announcement of a couple of weeks ago naming undrafted rookie Mike Bell as the starting back. Both Tatum Bell and Cedric Cobbs outplayed Mike Bell in a 17-14 win over Houston last week, and a repeat of that tonight may result in one of those other two backs starting in the season opener last week. Thus look for the starting offensive line to play into the third quarter at least in order to give the auditioners maximum protection, and that alone should be enough to get the cover here.
Conversely there is nothing unsettled in Arizona. It is already known that Kurt Warner begins the season as the starting quarterback with the franchise QB Matt Leinart waiting in the wings, and the other offensive skill positions are all set with Edgerrin James at running back and the lethal Boldin/Fitzgerald receiving duo. Thus we do not expect any of those players to play more than one series in this contest including Leinart, who already showed he belongs last week. Thus the second quarter of this game may very well end up matching up the Denver starters vs. the third-string Cardinal team!
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