Steve Keim (like Kevin Minter Sunday) said it right away Monday, about how he sounded like a broken record. The stats were better than the opponent, the score was not. The Cardinals' General Manager, during his appearance on the "Doug and Wolf" show on Arizona Sports 98.7, was also blunt about the hole the team is in after 10 games and a disappointing 4-5-1 record.

"We've let our fans down, especially when expectations were so high," Keim said.

That was the theme of Keim's thoughts. "There's nothing I care about more with in this organization than winning and putting a product on the field for our fans can be proud of," he said. And this: "The season is not over, and I know that's not what the fans and the people supporting us want to hear. But we're certainly not going to quit."

-- Asked specifically about special teams and special teams coaching, Keim said there will be discussions about that and everything else after the season. He said the reoccurring theme not only for special teams but also the offense and defense was inconsistency. Keim is at practice daily, and he has seen and heard the coaching, not only on special teams but team-wide, and he noted that the players have to get better as well. "At some point and time, it comes down to those guys executing,"

-- Along those lines, Keim said he takes ownership in the problems on special teams (and elsewhere) because he's the one who supplied the players. "It's something where we all have to look in the mirror, and that starts with me."

-- That was reflected on the long kickoff return. One issue Keim noted, sometimes it's about "guys running downfield and having the will to make a play." That's about fighting through blocks and having a want-to he's not seeing.

-- Taylor Boggs was in the game late Sunday at right guard because Earl Watford was suffering from stingers, Keim said. He added he did not know if that might impact Watford's availability for Sunday's game in Atlanta. "We were down to our third guard," Keim said. "(The Vikings) were running a lot of games and stunts (up front) and we had trouble picking those up."

-- Keim said he wasn't sure if safety Tyrann Mathieu would be back this week to play, but said he was close in Minnesota and felt there was a good chance Mathieu would be available.

-- He said, knowing how sick Michael Floyd was -- Floyd was apparently up most of Saturday night ill -- that he was willing to give him a pass on the deep pass where Floyd looked to slow up on what turned into a Carson Palmer interception.

-- Palmer was impacted by receivers not getting open and protection that wasn't very good. But "he made some critical mistakes as well," Keim said.

-- Keim said he doesn't have a problem with the effort this season. But he also said, with limited things he can do to impact the current situation, he will continue to look hard at the back end of the roster and see if he can find players that can help, particularly on special teams.

Otherwise, he said he'll continue to work by the motto he said he's followed in his 19 years with the organization. "Be part of the solution and not part of the problem," Keim said. "I have to be a positive leader."