The Arizona Cardinals Will Go to the Playoffs
By: Matt Harmon
11/25/13
The NFC is the far superior conference in the National Football League right now. It’s not even close. Where as in the AFC at least one painfully mediocre team will go into the playoffs, in the NFC several good teams will be left on the outside looking in. The Arizona Cardinals will not be one of those good teams. The Cardinals finally got the attention they deserved after walloping the overrated Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but they showed long ago they have all the ingredients of a playoff team.
It all starts on defense for the Cardinals. People know about Patrick Peterson and the Tryann Mathieu, but not enough mainstream fans know who Daryl Washington and Calais Campbell are. With eleven sacks in the last two years, Daryl Washington is probably the best playmaking inside linebacker in the NFL. Campbell on the other hand, was doing J.J. Watt things before there was a J.J. Watt. Campbell is the catalyst for everything the Cardinals do on defense, and is an absolute terror for interior offensive lineman. The attention given to those two players has allowed veterans Jon Abraham and Karlos Dansby to enjoy revival seasons in Arizona. The Cardinals present a unique set of problems for offenses because of the interior pressure Campbell, Washington, and Dansby bring. Putting bodies in the quarterback’s face is the biggest hindrance to an offenses’ success, and the Cardinals bring it in waves. With quarterbacks apt to make mistakes under duress, a secondary with playmakers like Peterson and the Honey Badger can feast. The defense has been great for the last several years, but it is the rest of the team is finally starting to carry its weight.
The Cardinals have been desperate for a savior behind center ever since Kurt Warner rode off into the sunset. While Carson Palmer is not that savior, he can be serviceable when the pieces around him are playing to peak performance. That is exactly what is going on in Arizona right now. The offensive line that jettisoned its starting left tackle, and lost the guard they took sixth overall for the season, is beginning to gel. Do they still let up pressure? Yes. They are still an undermanned unit, but the past few weeks they have given Carson Palmer the time he has needed to pick apart secondaries. Larry Fitzgerald has been an obvious beneficiary of Palmer’s solid play, but it has been two emerging young talents that have brought on the improved offensive performance.
Michael Floyd, in his second year out of Notre Dame, has looked like the Cardinals’ best receiver at times this season. Floyd, like Fitzgerald, is another big athletic target the likes of which Palmer has never had before in his career. Palmer is no longer much of an accurate passer at this moment in time, so having a guy like Floyd who can snatch passes away from his body is of great utility. Do not be surprised to see Floyd finish the season on a tear if Carson Palmer keeps dealing like he has been. Another young player who may be even more important than Floyd to the offensive revival, is rookie running back Andre Ellington. The coaching staff has kept Ellington on a limited snap count, but he has consistently been an explosive threat when in the game. For the past several seasons Arizona’s running backs have been nearly as boring as their quarterbacks, and Rashard Mendenhall looked poised to continue that tradition. However, Ellington has come from out of nowhere as a forgotten sixth round draft pick to be a revelation for this offensive unit. No only is Ellington quick as a runner, but he is also a dual threat. When Carson Palmer gets in trouble behind the line, he has a reliable outlet receiver in Andre Ellington who can make defenders miss in the open field. With young players like Ellington and Floyd stepping up to compliment solid role players like Rob Housler and Andre Roberts, defenses can no longer just focus on taking away a now healthy Larry Fitzgerald.
Of course, the biggest factor in NFL success is coaching, and it looks like Arizona has assembled a nice group. The offense had some trouble in the early part of the season because some of the pieces did not fit Bruce Arians’ downfield passing attack. With a poor group of pass blockers and an immobile quarterback, the Cardinals were ill equipped to hold the ball for long periods of time and take shots down field. His system is tough to run without big athletic quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck, but Arians has adjusted well on the fly. Seeing the square pegs he had on his roster he stopped trying to slam them into round holes. Instead, Arians has redesigned his offense to feature the play action off the running game and other looks to get the ball out of Palmer’s hands faster. Great coaches know how to adjust their schemes to the personnel on their rosters. Similarly, the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals, Todd Bowles, has been enjoying a revival in Arizona. Bowles took over a disastrous defense in Philadelphia last season, and many snickered when he was tabbed to replace the popular Ray Horton in Arizona. Many felt that Bowles’ conservative zone heavy scheme would not be a fit with what the Cardinals had been doing, and that the hire may ruin a good thing. Bowles did the smart thing and kept much of what Arizona was doing in place. The Cardinals are still blitzing, and bringing pressure right up the middle, like they did under Horton. Smart coaching has been another huge reason the Cardinals are poised to make a playoff run.
Even with all the improvements to the Cardinals roster and coaching staff, they will still find the road to the playoffs a difficult one. With the NFC North and East certainly only sending their division winners to the playoffs, their biggest competition for the second wild card spot lies within their own division; the San Francisco 49ers. Providing the 49ers get past the Redskins on the road Monday night, the Cardinals and the 49ers will have matching 7-4 records heading into Week Thirteen. After this week, both of these teams have pretty favorable schedules, with only their matchups against the Seahawks looking like certain losses. Of course teams like the Rams, Titans, and Buccaneers have been spunky at times this season, but the Cardinals and 49ers should be able to get past those guys. If they keep their current pace, the 49ers and the Cardinals will be set to meet at University of Pheonix Stadium in Week Seventeen for all the marbles. And provided everything remains as we see it today, the Cardinals should be favored in that game. Unlike the 49ers, the Cardinals can play in a shoot out, and despite the public narrative, they are much better on defense than the 49ers. It was crazy to think this before the season, but the Cardinals are more of a threat in the NFC than the 49ers, and it may not be close.
The Arizona Cardinals are still rebuilding with a veteran stopgap at quarterback, but they are poised for a playoff run in Bruce Arians first season. General Manager Steve Kiem could be the Executive of the Year, and Bruce Arians might deserve a second Coach of Year award with the way this team is playing. As long as the Cardinals can protect Carson Palmer, he can move the ball through the air well enough for this team to earn a playoff spot. Provided those two things happen, the Cardinals have a complete team, and will enter the NFC playoffs as the sixth seed. You heard it here first.
Image taken from: http://i.azcentral.com/i/4/1/e/L169_CIFRb7b9fc24eac9b33b21231c92f66bee14.jpg
11/25/13
The NFC is the far superior conference in the National Football League right now. It’s not even close. Where as in the AFC at least one painfully mediocre team will go into the playoffs, in the NFC several good teams will be left on the outside looking in. The Arizona Cardinals will not be one of those good teams. The Cardinals finally got the attention they deserved after walloping the overrated Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, but they showed long ago they have all the ingredients of a playoff team.
It all starts on defense for the Cardinals. People know about Patrick Peterson and the Tryann Mathieu, but not enough mainstream fans know who Daryl Washington and Calais Campbell are. With eleven sacks in the last two years, Daryl Washington is probably the best playmaking inside linebacker in the NFL. Campbell on the other hand, was doing J.J. Watt things before there was a J.J. Watt. Campbell is the catalyst for everything the Cardinals do on defense, and is an absolute terror for interior offensive lineman. The attention given to those two players has allowed veterans Jon Abraham and Karlos Dansby to enjoy revival seasons in Arizona. The Cardinals present a unique set of problems for offenses because of the interior pressure Campbell, Washington, and Dansby bring. Putting bodies in the quarterback’s face is the biggest hindrance to an offenses’ success, and the Cardinals bring it in waves. With quarterbacks apt to make mistakes under duress, a secondary with playmakers like Peterson and the Honey Badger can feast. The defense has been great for the last several years, but it is the rest of the team is finally starting to carry its weight.
The Cardinals have been desperate for a savior behind center ever since Kurt Warner rode off into the sunset. While Carson Palmer is not that savior, he can be serviceable when the pieces around him are playing to peak performance. That is exactly what is going on in Arizona right now. The offensive line that jettisoned its starting left tackle, and lost the guard they took sixth overall for the season, is beginning to gel. Do they still let up pressure? Yes. They are still an undermanned unit, but the past few weeks they have given Carson Palmer the time he has needed to pick apart secondaries. Larry Fitzgerald has been an obvious beneficiary of Palmer’s solid play, but it has been two emerging young talents that have brought on the improved offensive performance.
Michael Floyd, in his second year out of Notre Dame, has looked like the Cardinals’ best receiver at times this season. Floyd, like Fitzgerald, is another big athletic target the likes of which Palmer has never had before in his career. Palmer is no longer much of an accurate passer at this moment in time, so having a guy like Floyd who can snatch passes away from his body is of great utility. Do not be surprised to see Floyd finish the season on a tear if Carson Palmer keeps dealing like he has been. Another young player who may be even more important than Floyd to the offensive revival, is rookie running back Andre Ellington. The coaching staff has kept Ellington on a limited snap count, but he has consistently been an explosive threat when in the game. For the past several seasons Arizona’s running backs have been nearly as boring as their quarterbacks, and Rashard Mendenhall looked poised to continue that tradition. However, Ellington has come from out of nowhere as a forgotten sixth round draft pick to be a revelation for this offensive unit. No only is Ellington quick as a runner, but he is also a dual threat. When Carson Palmer gets in trouble behind the line, he has a reliable outlet receiver in Andre Ellington who can make defenders miss in the open field. With young players like Ellington and Floyd stepping up to compliment solid role players like Rob Housler and Andre Roberts, defenses can no longer just focus on taking away a now healthy Larry Fitzgerald.
Of course, the biggest factor in NFL success is coaching, and it looks like Arizona has assembled a nice group. The offense had some trouble in the early part of the season because some of the pieces did not fit Bruce Arians’ downfield passing attack. With a poor group of pass blockers and an immobile quarterback, the Cardinals were ill equipped to hold the ball for long periods of time and take shots down field. His system is tough to run without big athletic quarterbacks like Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck, but Arians has adjusted well on the fly. Seeing the square pegs he had on his roster he stopped trying to slam them into round holes. Instead, Arians has redesigned his offense to feature the play action off the running game and other looks to get the ball out of Palmer’s hands faster. Great coaches know how to adjust their schemes to the personnel on their rosters. Similarly, the defensive coordinator for the Cardinals, Todd Bowles, has been enjoying a revival in Arizona. Bowles took over a disastrous defense in Philadelphia last season, and many snickered when he was tabbed to replace the popular Ray Horton in Arizona. Many felt that Bowles’ conservative zone heavy scheme would not be a fit with what the Cardinals had been doing, and that the hire may ruin a good thing. Bowles did the smart thing and kept much of what Arizona was doing in place. The Cardinals are still blitzing, and bringing pressure right up the middle, like they did under Horton. Smart coaching has been another huge reason the Cardinals are poised to make a playoff run.
Even with all the improvements to the Cardinals roster and coaching staff, they will still find the road to the playoffs a difficult one. With the NFC North and East certainly only sending their division winners to the playoffs, their biggest competition for the second wild card spot lies within their own division; the San Francisco 49ers. Providing the 49ers get past the Redskins on the road Monday night, the Cardinals and the 49ers will have matching 7-4 records heading into Week Thirteen. After this week, both of these teams have pretty favorable schedules, with only their matchups against the Seahawks looking like certain losses. Of course teams like the Rams, Titans, and Buccaneers have been spunky at times this season, but the Cardinals and 49ers should be able to get past those guys. If they keep their current pace, the 49ers and the Cardinals will be set to meet at University of Pheonix Stadium in Week Seventeen for all the marbles. And provided everything remains as we see it today, the Cardinals should be favored in that game. Unlike the 49ers, the Cardinals can play in a shoot out, and despite the public narrative, they are much better on defense than the 49ers. It was crazy to think this before the season, but the Cardinals are more of a threat in the NFC than the 49ers, and it may not be close.
The Arizona Cardinals are still rebuilding with a veteran stopgap at quarterback, but they are poised for a playoff run in Bruce Arians first season. General Manager Steve Kiem could be the Executive of the Year, and Bruce Arians might deserve a second Coach of Year award with the way this team is playing. As long as the Cardinals can protect Carson Palmer, he can move the ball through the air well enough for this team to earn a playoff spot. Provided those two things happen, the Cardinals have a complete team, and will enter the NFC playoffs as the sixth seed. You heard it here first.
Image taken from: http://i.azcentral.com/i/4/1/e/L169_CIFRb7b9fc24eac9b33b21231c92f66bee14.jpg
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