DESERTED CARDINALS OF ARIZONA

 

         Arizona has always been known for its natural attractions.  The weather there is mostly dry, non-humid heat.   The cuisine is mostly southwestern with its unique Sonoran style of Mexican food with its bold flavors and plenty of chili peppers & spices, especially on the southern border of Arizona.  Other styles of food you can find out there are mesquite barbecued meats because of the mesquite trees that are Indigenous to Arizona.  The Velvet, Honey, and Arizona native mesquite trees can all be found there and are all very useful for their unique dishes.  Another reason people would be intrigued to visit or live in this southwest state is the beautiful natural sites all around including the Grand Canyon, Saguaro National Park, Monument Valley, and then of course the city of Tucson.  The NFL team that calls Arizona its home is about two hours north of Tucson in Glendale, Arizona.

 

CARDINALS FRANCHISE HISTORY:

        The Arizona Cardinals were established as a football team in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club in Chicago.  The Cardinals were the first football franchise in the United States and are one of only two original franchises still operating in the NFL.  The other active original team is the Chicago Bears.  Arizona hasn’t always been the home for the Cardinals though, they have moved multiple times and have had several different names along the way.  After they were known as the Morgan Athletic Club (1898), they became the Racine Normals (1899-1900), and then they were known as the Racine Street Cardinals (1901-1906, 1913-1919).  It wasn’t until 1920-1943 that they became the Chicago Cardinals and then again from 1945-1959.  In 1944, the Cardinals merged with the Pittsburgh Steelers and were named Card-Pitt due to a draft that had many players lost for at least a season if not longer. 

        Upon the 1960 season, the Cardinals moved to St. Louis where they played from 1960-1987 before making their way to the state of Arizona to become the Phoenix Cardinals (1988-1993) where they played their home games for 18 years at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.  It wasn’t until the 1994 season that the Cardinals changed their name yet again to the Arizona Cardinals which is still their name today.  Though the Cardinals are one of the two original American football teams they unfortunately do not boast a good winning percentage. They possess one of the worst in NFL history dating back to 1920 when they first took on the Cardinals name.  From 1920 to 2023, the Cardinals franchise had an overall win percentage of just 42.4%, they own the most losses by any franchise in NFL history with over 800 losses in the regular season, and as Arizona fans already know, they also own the current longest active championship drought in North American sports. (77 years since their last championship) In the Cardinals' entire history, they have won just two Championships that date back to 1925 and then again in 1947.  Since the NFL renamed their ultimate game from the Championship Game to the Super Bowl, the Cardinals have only made one Super Bowl appearance in 2008.

        The Arizona Cardinals are in a group of their own in the NFL, though it is not a group you would want to be associated with, as they are currently one of twelve NFL teams to have never won a Super Bowl Title.  These Cardinals have more than 200 more losses than wins in their respective team’s history.  It may not surprise you that the Cards have only made it to the playoffs nine times since the Super Bowl era was born.  They have had some pretty good teams over the past three decades, they were just never good enough to earn a title.  The division they play in (NFC West) is also considered one of the toughest in the NFL.  The other three teams in their division have all individually either played in or won the Super Bowl within the past 10 years.  In the NFC West, the Cardinals divisional opponents consist of the Seattle Seahawks, who won the Super Bowl in 2014, the Los Angeles Rams won in 2022, then there are the San Francisco 49ers who have been in two of the last five Super Bowls though have lost both of those games coincidentally to the same Kansas City Chiefs team twice.

 

KEN WHISENHUNT ERA:  

        During Ken Whisenhunt's time as the Arizona Cardinals Head Coach, the Cards seemed to be in better spirits.  The Cardinals enjoyed some success under Whisenhunt as he had led the Cardinals to six playoff games in his tenure and they enjoyed a playoff record of 4-2, however, his overall win-loss record was under .500, 45-51.  Most people probably forget that these Cards had one of the best wide receiver tandems in NFL history in future Hall of Famer, Larry Fitzgerald and his teammate of six seasons, Anquan Boldin.  Larry Fitzgerald was a staple for Arizona for 17 years and produced over 17,000 yards and 121 touchdowns within 263 games.  Larry is an 11-time Pro Bowler, 1-time All-Pro, and was voted to the HOF All-2010s Team.  Anquan Boldin was a 3-time Pro Bowler, 2003 AP OROY and a 1-time Super Bowl Champion.

        Another player that made the Cardinals a legit threat to the rest of the league was the 4-time Pro Bowl, 2-time All-Pro, 1-time Super Bowl Champ, Super Bowl XXXIV MVP, and 1999 PFWA OPOY quarterback Kurt Warner.  Kurt was one of the best overall QBs of the last thirty years with a much different story than most.  I don’t think there is another story in comparison to Kurt’s as he was originally a walk-on for the Green Bay Packers after going undrafted in 1994.  The Packers cut Kurt as he was not good enough in their opinion to even be their third string.  The funny thing is Kurt Warner ended his career with a trip to Canton, Ohio when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.  Warner had a few stops along his way to Canton; after getting cut from the Packers he spent a few years with the Iowa Barnstormers (Pro indoor team) before arriving in St. Louis to play for the Rams.  It was this move that helped his career take off.  Fast forward to 2005 when Warner signed with the Cardinals.  Kurt was originally brought to Arizona to be a bridge QB and help develop the USC standout Matt Leinart; however, the opposite became the team’s destiny as Leinart never quite worked out and Warner had the Cards in the Super Bowl in his fourth year there.  For Warner, this was his third Super Bowl appearance, and he became the NFL’s second quarterback to take two teams to the Super Bowl.

        This Cards Super Bowl team had a magical run on their way to the 2008 Super Bowl.  They had an elite offense behind their pass catchers in Fitzgerald and Boldin, but they also had a good offensive line and one of the better running backs of the 2000s in Edgerrin James.  Their defense also had some dawgs with defensive end Antonio Smith, Linebackers, Chike Okeafor and Karlos Dansby, then their defensive backs.  This team posed a major threat with two of the best safeties in the game Antrel Rolle & Adrian Wilson.  En route to their first Super Bowl appearance, they had to play three straight games before reaching their ultimate goal, the Super Bowl, as they had a regular season record of 9-7 and did not lock up a first-round bye week.  In the Wild Card round, they beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-24, and in the Divisional round, they faced the Carolina Panthers and prevailed 33-13.  The NFC Championship Game had the Cards host the Philadelphia Eagles which they were also victorious 32-25.  They had everything going for them until they got to the Super Bowl where they played an unbelievably great coached team in the Pittsburgh Steelers.  We all probably remember how that game ended, however, if the Cardinals had scored a touchdown from only two yards out with 18 seconds on the clock before halftime, then the outcome could’ve been completely different.  Instead, we all watched as Kurt missed Boldin on what looked to be a 2-3 step slant when James Harrison stepped in front of him to intercept the pass and bring it the length of the field back to the endzone.

 

CURRENT 2024 CARDINALS:

           This current Arizona team is much different from the top down.  Their current Head Coach is Jonathan Gannon who was signed to a five-year contract before the 2023 season.  Before Gannon was announced as the Arizona Cardinals Head Coach he made a name for himself as the Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator during the 2021-2022 seasons.  Gannon is now in his second season as the Cards’ Head Coach, and you must figure this will not be his last regardless of the team’s record at the season’s end.  I firmly believe this is the truth in Glendale, Arizona, as last season was a throwaway year.  Gannon could only watch as his team suffered a terrible season-long defeat after losing their superstar quarterback, Kyler Murray.  Kyler went down in December of 2022 to an ACL tear, but once he returned to full health Kyler looked very good.  Regarding fantasy football, Murray had ranked eighth among all starting QBs from weeks 10-18 last season once he was back under center.  He also ranked sixth in fantasy points per game.  Kyler has a win-loss record of 29-37-1 in the regular season along with losing his only playoff game in his six seasons as an NFL starter.

        Kyler is a very talented player who shows special abilities.  He is a dual-threat QB who can extend plays using his legs, even behind somewhat less desirable O-line play.  Kyler is very accurate with his deep ball throws; he has great awareness both in and outside the pocket.  He has speed that most quarterbacks do not possess and can take off when the pocket crumbles around him.  He is also like Lamar Jackson given his vision as a runner, which he has shown through his ability to make tacklers miss with his natural, God-given athleticism and agility.  He also always makes sure he never takes a big hit in the process.  Murray always leaves it all out on the field every Sunday.  Now he has some shiny new toys that the Cardinals have brought in the past couple of off-seasons through the Draft and free agency.

        General Manager of the Cardinals Monti Ossenfort has taken some swings in the NFL Drafts that have been major hits.  When you see the Tight End Trey McBride accumulate over 1,100 yards on 90 receptions for Colorado State you don’t think twice about drafting him if he were to fall to your team.  Monti did exactly that and in his rookie season, he showed some flashes but shared snaps with veteran TE Zach Ertz.  McBride’s second year he caught fire catching 81 passes for 825 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns, while only starting 12 games.  Now Trey is in his fourth year and is the sole number-one Tight End for the Cards.  Ertz is now a part of the Washington Commanders, and I project McBride to have a fruitful statistical season.  I project Trey McBride to have 88 receptions, 1,050 yards, and 8 TDs.

        Another major draft pick that will help change the trajectory of the Cardinals’ offense and team, in general, would be, none other than Hall of Famer and longtime Indianapolis Colt’s wideout Marvin Harrison’s son.  Marvin Harrison Jr. looks to be every bit of a franchise receiver.  At Ohio State, he wowed Buckeye fans in his sophomore year when he caught 77 receptions for 1,263 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.  He nearly repeated this production his junior year with 1,211 yards and 15 total TDs minus 10 receptions (67 rec as a junior).  With Marvin Jr. as the Cards' true number-one option in the passing game, I can see him producing at a high level for the next several years with Kyler Murray at the helm.  I like Marvin Harrison Jr. to record about 98 receptions for about 1,280 receiving yards and around 12 touchdowns this season.  In his first game as a pro, he had a dud, but in his second game, he showed up and showed out, scoring twice in the first half against the division-rival Los Angeles Rams.  Marvin's final stat line for week two was 4 rec, 130 yards, and 2 TDs.

        When it comes down to it, I certainly believe that this team is now in a good place, under good management, and has a good coaching staff.  The Cardinals are full of untapped potential and young talent on offense and defense.  Kyler Murray in my opinion, is an immensely talented quarterback, though maybe not a top-ten QB at this given time.  Having James Conner in the backfield is also very helpful as he is a hard runner with good vision and doesn’t turn the ball over.  Then you add in Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, wideouts Michael Wilson, and Greg Dortch and that is an offense that can wreck even the best of defenses.  Through the first two weeks of the season the Arizona Cardinals are now 1-1.  In week one Arizona lost to Buffalo 34-28 and in week two the Cards shredded the Rams 41-10.