E: Cardinals never got wake up call in San Diego

It's amazing what an inopportune camera angle can present.

At some point in the first-quarter, FOX cut away to a shot of the Cardinals' sideline. Standing behind Ken Whisenhunt was an overweight and not-so-coincidentally inactive Dan Williams.

Dressed in a lightly colored Cardinals t-shirt, the first-round pick stared out towards the action and seconds later proceeded to yawn.

He certainly wasn't the only Red Bird who never got the wake-up call Sunday in San Diego.

If Whiz was "embarrassed" by his teams' performance in Atlanta two weeks ago, I'm not sure what adjective he used to describe what happened against the Chargers.

There's no point in rehashing the one-sided box score, but chew on the fact the Cards were outgained 419-124 and their "deeper, much-improved" offensive line yielded nine sacks, including four and a pick-six by Shaun Phillips who whipped Brandon Keith like a turnstile at Qualcomm Stadium.

After the physical beatdown, the Cardinals were left with a nice parting gift in the form of a date with the defending Super Bowl champs Saints next weekend in Glendale.

Great.

The biggest question now is who will be the starting quarterback opposite former Charger Drew Brees?

Yes, it appears we may not be playing "good cop, bad cop" much longer with Derek Anderson. Certainly not after two more interceptions and a passer rating of 23.2 Sunday.

It's unfair and unrealistic to think Max Hall will save the day, much less a season which could be on the verge of spiraling down the drain. For everything he does well, that Anderson doesn't (show leadership, get rid of the ball, make smart decisions), he still lacks real NFL game experience.

Exposing a rookie quarterback is a dangerous game-especially one that went undrafted.

Let's not be fooled into thinking shaky quarterback play is the only problem the defending NFC West champs have.

Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates picked apart the Birds secondary and had equal success on the ground pounding out 180 yards at nearly five yards per attempt.

The Birds' run-game was non-existent, but that's to be expected when you fall behind 28-7 on the road at halftime.

So for the second time in two weeks, a team twisted the Cards' arm until they said mercy.

I guess that's the best way to decipher Norv Turner directing back-up quarterback Billy Volek to run a fullback dive on 2nd and 11 with ten minutes left in the game.

One of the bigger storylines this week in southern Cailfornia was the game being blacked out in the greater San Diego area.

It's a shame we didn't have the same thing here.