The Cardinals brought in the big-name free agent on offense in Kurt
Warner, but it's the four defensive additions that might make the real
difference in Arizona.

Defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast did a good job last season and is hoping new faces Robert Griffith, Orlando Huff and Chike Okeafor pan out as well as last year's free-agent surprise, defensive end Bertrand Berry, did. All will be starting with rookie corner Antrel Rolle, giving the Cardinals more than a third new faces on defense from a year ago. Berry didn't look to be a big signing, but he led the NFC with 14 1/2 sacks. Now Pendergast has more flexibility at all three levels of defense with Huff's speed at outside linebacker, Griffith shoring up the secondary at free safety, the rookie Rolle bring speed and boldness to the corner and Okeafor adding his pass rushing skills to Berry's.

The front four is the strength of the defense, so much so that Pendergast has to figure out where to best utilize defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, who played well as the under tackle in his defense as a rookie. The front seven must do a better job against the run, where they were ranked 27th last season, but Huff and Okeafor on the left side should help them be more stout, and that's a start.

One weakness defensively remains the secondary, where the Cardinals lost both starting cornerbacks of a year ago, although somewhat voluntarily. Rolle is being counted on to fill one of those openings and veteran David Macklin the other. Rolle will make rookie mistakes and Macklin has been little more than adequate when with the Colts, but if Berry and Okeafor can put more heat on opposing quarterbacks, those corners might be more than adequate after playing together all summer.

Offensively, Keith Rowen becomes the Cardinals' fourth offensive coordinator in five years and he will be under a lot of pressure from Green to find ways to score. Rowen has three wide receivers who can stretch a defense and he'll often have them on the field at the same time, a set that will be familiar to Warner. Warner ran a similar offense in St. Louis when he was leading what became known as The Greatest Show on Turf. He'd love for this to become The Greatest Show under the Sun. Warner has a career completion percentage of 65.9 percent, and Rowan would like to see something similar. He wants Warner to develop timing with Larry Fitzgerald, Bryant Johnson and Anquan Boldin so he can quickly put the ball in their hands where they have room to run, because they all have the skills to make yards after the catch.

Green would like to see the same thing, because it will remind him of his winning days running the Vikings. He's basically laid the foundation to build the same passing attack he had in Minnesota with Cris Carter, Randy Moss and Jake Reed. If the Cardinals are as successful passing as the Vikings were, Arizona might improve on a dismal record of 15 losing seasons in their 17 years since moving West.

HOT SEAT: Kurt Warner. Warner's getting his last chance to show he still has something left after losing starting jobs on two different teams the past two seasons. The former two-time MVP is not what he was in St. Louis, but coach Dennis Green believes if he's adequately protected, he could still do a lot of damage with the Cardinals' three deep-threat receivers.

Warner agrees, but at 34 he must prove himself again because he's gone 5-11 in his last 16 starts and over the past three years has a touchdown to interception ratio of 16-10. He must prove he can still make quick decisions and get the ball where it needs to go accurately and with something on it after he never seemed to fully recover from a thumb injury of several years ago.

OVERHEARD: Green has always been an offense-minded coach, and he was livid last season at the ineptitude of his offense. The Cardinals scored 14 points or fewer nine times, and Green intends not to repeat that dearth of scoring at any cost. He'll ask Warner to throw the ball downfield and use three wideouts to force teams into nickel coverage, with former Rookie of the Year Anquan Boldin returning to slot receiver where he's best suited and most productive and ex-No. 1 picks Larry Fitzgerald and Bryant Johnson wide. Green hopes the three-wideout sets also will create running room for hot-footed second round draft choice J.J. Arrington, who runs a 4.4 40 and piled up 2,018 yards to lead all college runners a year ago. Green also will pair free agent Oliver Ross at right tackle, who's an upgrade, with Leonard Davis on the left side and probably insert rookie Elton Brown at one guard spot if he's ready to give Warner maximum protection. Green wants points and he's going to go all out to get them.

OUTLOOK: The defense is improved and if Warner can return to anything near his best days with the Rams, Arizona could surprise.

PREDICTION: Third.

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