National Football League

Whisenhunt safe until season ends

Published Dec. 10, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Arizona Cardinals President Michael Bidwill said a decision on whether Ken Whisenhunt remains as coach will be made after the season.

Bidwill called the team's 58-0 loss at Seattle on Sunday ''unacceptable'' and said he has been evaluating the situation on a week-to-week basis as the losing streak has grown to nine games.

''Not making a rush decision is the right way to go,'' Bidwill said Monday in his first comments on the matter.

He said he and fans have been ''living and dying with each one of these losses. It's extremely hard to watch.''

''We know we can do better,'' Bidwill said. ''I know that there is a lot of emotion around what happened yesterday but I don't intend to make any decisions based on emotion.''

Bidwill said ''there is plenty of responsibility to spread around'' in the losing streak.

''Injuries have been a factor, but I think even with that we expected a much different season than what we've got,'' he said.

Bidwill, whose father Bill Bidwill owns the team, runs the franchise. He said finances would not figure in the eventual decision.

''Winning football games and staying focused on what's best for winning football games is what we're going to stay focused on,'' he said.

Whisenhunt is due about $5.5 million in the final year of his contract next year.

The evaluation of the entire organization will be more thorough than usual, Bidwill said, adding that's why it's important to have ''a complete set of facts.''

Earlier Monday, Whisenhunt said he knows only one way to respond in the face of increasing speculation that his sixth season in Arizona may be his last.

''I was a college walk-on, a 12th-round draft pick in the NFL,'' he said, ''so I've always been in situations where you had to fight.''

With three games to play, beginning at home Sunday against Detroit, Whisenhunt said he would ''stick with'' what has been successful in the past.

Whether the players are with him remains to be seen.

In the locker room before the Monday team meeting, defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said he would keep playing hard for defensive coordinator Ray Horton and fellow defensive linemen. But for Whisenhunt? Dockett said, ''No comment.''

Perhaps it's not a surprising answer since Whisenhunt fined Dockett somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 for his behavior at the end of the previous week's game against the New York Jets.

But it's nonetheless revealing about the reality bubbling below the surface in the locker room, where the defense that had been the team's strong point caved to the tune of 493 yards — 284 on the ground — in Seattle in the face of yet another awful show by the Arizona offense.

Whisenhunt once rode a wave of popularity for leading the Cardinals to a stunning run to the Super Bowl following the 2008 season, then got the team to the NFC West title the following year. But Kurt Warner retired and nothing has been the same since.

Whisenhunt knows his job is on the line.

''I control things that I can control,'' he said. ''Like I said, I understand this business. I have a job to do. I feel disappointed that we haven't done it, but my greatest disappointment is for our fans. They've been so good to me and to us. I feel like I've let them down for not being able to do what we want to do, but it's not for lack of effort and it's not from not wanting to do it the right way.''

The 58-0 loss was one point shy of the NFL record for the most one-sided shutout defeat and the franchise's losing streak is its longest since World War II. And that 1944 team, which lost 10 straight, was merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers due to the shortage of players because of the war.

So, how do you pick up the pieces?

''I don't know,'' safety Adrian Wilson said. ''You tell me.''

Whisenhunt said he felt mistakes, not a lack of effort, led to Sunday's debacle. He said that players must rely on professional pride from here on out.

''They've got to understand that they're going to be watched and monitored,'' Whisenhunt said. ''They're going to be on tape, and that's one of the things that when you're evaluating players you look at. You see how they handle those things, so we're going to continue to work. I think that we have enough of the right guys on our team, especially good young guys that want to do it right that are hurting, that it shouldn't be an issue.''

Defensive end Vonnie Holliday, in his 15th NFL season, said players are ''playing for a job, be it here or anywhere else in the National Football League.''

The coach wouldn't say whether John Skelton or rookie Ryan Lindley would start Sunday. The team added a third quarterback on Monday by claiming Brian Hoyer off waivers from Pittsburgh.

Skelton, three games after being benched, returned and threw four interceptions and fumbled the ball away once. Lindley came on and fumbled, too. Two other turnovers came from Patrick Peterson on punt returns.

Overall, Arizona had just two more first downs (10) than it had turnovers (8).

''After a 58-0 loss like that it's hard to come in to work,'' Skelton said. ''But whether we like it or not we're playing those next three games, and I think guys have enough pride to come out and still work and still try to get better for the rest of the year.''