Sports News Southwest

Oakland, California - The Cardinals and Raiders have met 10 times during preseason play with Oakland holding a 7-3 advantage. Nine of the 10 preseason contests by occurred since 1996. Oakland won the last meeting 27-23 in 2007 at McAfee Coliseum.

Ironically, the first preseason game between the two clubs took place in 1976 on the campus of Arizona State University. The Cardinals lost that game 20-9 on August 7 in Sun Devil Stadium, a venue which would be their home for 18 seasons from the team’s inaugural 1988 season in Arizona through the conclusion of 2005.

Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley was handed the play-calling duties in the offseason, taking over full-time the duties that he began to share during the 2007 season.

Haley took over a portion of the play-calling duties during the 2007 season and the Cardinals offense improved steadily towards the end of the season, culminating in a 48-19 defeat of the St. Louis Rams in the season finale, the most points scored by a Cardinals team since 1977.

“He (coach Whisenhunt) really loosened the leash and gave me a lot of say-so, which was great,” Haley told the press after signing the new contract. “That was a big part of staying and not doing any of the Miami stuff.”

A candidate for the Dolphins head coaching position in the offseason, the Cardinals moved to lock up Haley, signing him to a new three-year contract and giving him the majority of the play-calling responsibility, something Haley relishes.

“That’s what you do the job for,” Haley said. “You prepare all week, design the game plan and when you get to game day, it makes it that much more fulfilling to do that. It’s obviously as close as you can get to the game.”

Whisenhunt sees it as the next step in Haley’s career, an opportunity he was given in Pittsburgh. “I feel an obligation to do that because I was given the opportunity to grow in that capacity,” Whisenhunt said.

For many Cardinals players, each remaining day in the preseason could be their last opportunity to make a good impression on coaches and earn themselves a spot on the team.

This week’s contest in Oakland will be the last opportunity in a game setting to make an impression on coaches before the first cuts must be made on August 26. The Cardinals must cut at least five players by that day with the final round of cuts coming on August 30, the day after the team’s final preseason game vs. Denver. The roster, which currently includes 81 players, must be cut to 76 by next week.

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