BACH

Every year, there's a team that many of the so-called experts peg as the next perennial postseason outsider to become a playoff contender. With the Cincinnati Bengals finally busting through after several years of being the next rising team to reverse a long stretch of misfortune, the next logical candidate still has a long way to go.

And for now that squad comes in at the top end of the bottom half of the league's teams.

The Arizona Cardinals.

In an age of parity, which has entailed plenty of quick turnarounds and even faster falls from grace (e.g., the Super Bowl loser hasn't made it back to the playoffs in the next season for five straight years), the Cardinals have found a way to avoid playing beyond Week Seventeen since 1998.

That's the longest current drought for any NFL franchise.

How chronically bad have the Cardinals been? But for the 16-team tournament that the league threw together at the end of the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Cards have qualified for the playoffs only once in the last 30 years.

That's pathetic, and it's evidence of a problem that runs all the way to the top of the organization.

The flaws in this franchise have been so deep and profound that not even Denny Green has found a way to turn it around quickly. And we're talking about the same Denny Green that pulled the Vikings out of a two-year funk and thrust the team into consistent playoff contention, taking it to the playoffs in eight of his nine full seasons.

Instead, the Cards have been 6-10 and 5-11 in Green's first two years, and even with the addition of running back Edgerrin James and a brand new stadium that plenty of real, live human beings will be frequenting this year, we still think that a lot needs to be done to erase the stink of all of the years of ineptitude that have plagued one of the oldest franchises in pro football.

For now, the biggest trouble is in the trenches.

Though the guy known as E.J. might think he's on track to don an ugly mustard sports jacket and deliver a ten-minute speech on the temporary dais at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, he should give Ricky Williams a call regarding the realities of trying to gain yards on the ground without, you know, effective blocking.

So what did the Cards do in the offseason to improve an offensive line that paved the way for only 1,138 rushing yards in 2005, nearly 200 yards behind the No. 31 team? They signed a guy that the Texans gave up on. (They also selected Deuce Lutui in the second round of the draft, going with a guard at a time when it might have made more sense to take a tackle.)

On defense, the Cards signed tackle Kendrick Clancy, an underrated nose tackle who overachieved for the Giants in 2005. But Clancy isn't capable of carrying the entire line, and for a franchise that has rented a string of quality defensive ends over the past decade or so there's none of them left right now.

The strangest aspect of all of this is that the Cardinals' defense wasn't all that bad last year. Statistically, they finished in the top ten, allowing fewer yards per game than the Redskins, Colts, Broncos, Seahawks, and Patriots. Thanks to a high-octane passing game, the offense was in the top ten as well.

And yet they still found a way to lose six more games than they won.

Thus, we think the trend will continue, at least for another year, even as more and more league observers will take the position that it's time for the Cards to make the playoffs in a non-strike year for the second time since the Ford administration.

But barring a major injury to one or more key players, the Seahawks will win the division going away. So then the question will be whether the Cards can snag a wild card berth. Even though the NFC has generally become the AFC's eight-beer biatch, the numbers don't favor Arizona. With four legitimate contenders in the East and three in the South, the Cardinals will need to rack up plenty of wins in a schedule that includes games against the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers, Cowboys, and Falcons.

Sorry, Cardinals fans. It'll inevitably happen for you. But not yet.

Next, the fantasy grades.

Quarterback: Kurt Warner still has plenty of name recognition, and with all of the hype surrounding the team this year he's certain to be drafted higher than his remaining ability merits. Don't fall for it -- he hasn't played 16 games since 2001, and this likely will be his last season as the Week One starter. He gets a C. (And it might be a good idea to throw a late-round lasso around Matt Leinart, especially in a keeper league.)

Running back: If Edgerrin James can churn out 1,500 yards behind the Arizona line, he deserves to be put in the Hall of Fame right now. We're skeptical, however. We think he'll get his 1,000 yards, but it won't be easy and he might get hurt. We give him a B-.

Wide receiver: The stats of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin were virtually identical in 2005. Both had over 100 catches, each had in excess of 1,400 yards. We like Fitzgerald a little bit more than Boldin, so we'll give Larry an A and Boldin an A-.

Tight end: With all of the balls that will be sailing toward the wideouts, there's no chance of this position generating decent numbers.

Defense: Another unit that isn't quite elite, but still a cut above the background noise of the so-so and the poor units out there. B-.

Kicker: Neil Rackers set a league record with 40 field goals in 2005. He gets a B+.

azcardsfan1616

First all negative review ive seen all year. I dont agree with anything he said except for the O-Line. Hopefully we prove him wrong.

Duckjake

Does this writer not know that Bertrand Berry plays DE for the Cardinals?

An even bigger plus than the writer and many others imagine. THE #1 reason IMHO that the Cards have been so bad for so long in Arizona. For example think how much difference it will make for the offense to not have to fight crowd noise in their own stadium.

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Forget the pay. Can the guy play.

moklerman

I think it's an all negative review because this guy seems to be getting his information from the stat sheet alone.

DakotaCardsFan

What does the guy have to do to get an A?!

BigRedRage

wow, i checked every post waiting for them to do arizona and they do this stinky pile of crap? lame

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#BIRDGANG
Draft a top Guard - check!

joeshmo

Texans did not give up on M. Brown. Not by a long shot. They went to a new scheme in which they have moved 90% of their remaining OL to new positions and have asked all of them to loss 10-15 LBs. The bigger Mauler types such as Brown were no longer in their plans so he was not a priority to re-sign. And people keep bringing up the Texans OL like its a bad thing. Only in the pass blocking department, not in the run blocking department.

Berry, Okeafer, Dockett. Not exactly nobodies.

What I find to be the funniest about this article is despite all of the pot shots he takes, and not even mentioning anything positive such as Wilson, Dansby, Berry, barely metions the WR trio, and the such he still gives a lot of good grades, (although a few should be higher then they are). Go figure.

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I just spent my live savings on Kangol Hat stock!

SeattleCard

Well, give the guy credit for actually NOT picking the cards to make the playoffs. Most pundits are once again picking us for the playoffs.

Cards were the sexy pick last year, and they are again this year.

After last year, I approach this season with a 'wait and see' approach. I won't be fooled again like I was last year.

Harry

I’m not sure of the source on this. I’m guessing Pro Football Weekly (PFT?). That would be no surprise, as they haven’t had anyone working there who knew anything about football since Joel Buschbaum died.

Let me start by saying ranked 18th is probably close to right, though I think the Cards make the playoffs and certainly the author’s O-line concerns are well founded. Additionally I have already stated that while I like Clancy, letting Davis go was likely a mistake, though Watson has the talent to go right by Davis’ performance level if Watson is motivated to do so.

After that the author and I totally part company. The give away that this person has no idea what he’s writing about comes when stating, “The strangest aspect of all of this is that the Cardinals' defense wasn't all that bad last year.” There’s nothing strange about it. The presence of extremely talented, unusually athletic players like Wilson and Dansby along with a good defensive line was enough to cover up the loss of likely the best corner on the team (Rolle) and the Cards’ only true middle linebacker (Hayes). The scheme was even better than the personnel and figures to be improved this year by the infusion of more and better personnel overall. The shot at the defensive ends was inane. Berry is one of the best in the league and except for injury might well have been in another Pro Bowl. If the author doesn't understand why a defense works, why is someone paying him to write for them.

As to the offense, Warner’s health is a gamble. James will not benefit from the line unless the coaching improvement is marked. However, he will benefit from the number of quality receivers on the field and he will likely get 1200 yards rushing and a few hundred more receiving.

The tight ends will prove valuable in the second half of the season, especially in red zone situations.

Finally, I have no idea what Rackers would have had to have done to justify giving him an “A.” Apparently having arguably the greatest regular season of any place kicker in history wasn’t enough. At least that part was worth a good laugh.

This article is much like the kid in high school who ends up with nearly the right answer in math class, but does the problem in the wrong way and just gets lucky. No offense to the guy who posted this, but I’m glad you spent your money and not mine if this is typical of their analysis.

CardShark

Wide receiver: The stats of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin were virtually identical in 2005. Both had over 100 catches, each had in excess of 1,400 yards. We like Fitzgerald a little bit more than Boldin, so we'll give Larry an A and Boldin an A-.

Boldin missed a couple of games and still had nearly matched Fitz in stats. How could you not give him an A.

Quarterback: Kurt Warner still has plenty of name recognition, and with all of the hype surrounding the team this year he's certain to be drafted higher than his remaining ability merits. Don't fall for it -- he hasn't played 16 games since 2001, and this likely will be his last season as the Week One starter. He gets a C. (And it might be a good idea to throw a late-round lasso around Matt Leinart, especially in a keeper league.)

Granted you still have to be concerned about Warner getting hurt, just as you do with every QB in the league. How many actually played every game last year? Warner showed he still is very capable and will be even better if the line does a better job blocking and opponents respect that James is coming out of the backfield.

So what did the Cards do in the offseason to improve an offensive line that paved the way for only 1,138 rushing yards in 2005, nearly 200 yards behind the No. 31 team? They signed a guy that the Texans gave up on. (They also selected Deuce Lutui in the second round of the draft, going with a guard at a time when it might have made more sense to take a tackle.)

How about changing the line coach to someone who knows what they're doing? That could be the biggest difference maker this year.


How chronically bad have the Cardinals been? But for the 16-team tournament that the league threw together at the end of the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Cards have qualified for the playoffs only once in the last 30 years.

Why do they insist on looking so far back in the past? Why can't they just focus on what's happened in the past 3 years? Ever since Michael has taken control of this team, their moves have been unprecedented for the Cards. First they got hold of their salary cap issues and have become one of the better teams at managing it. Then they hired a legitimate head coach in Green which enabled them to begin purging this team of bad players and an even worse atmosphere of despair. Players on this team and around the league are finally looking at the Cards as legitimate. They've had 3 solid drafts. Their offseason moves for the last 2 years have been the best in the league, with this year topping the last.

On defense, the Cards signed tackle Kendrick Clancy, an underrated nose tackle who overachieved for the Giants in 2005. But Clancy isn't capable of carrying the entire line, and for a franchise that has rented a string of quality defensive ends over the past decade or so there's none of them left right now.

How can you say Clancy is underrated and that he overachieved in the same sentence? Echoing another post; Berry, Okeafor and Dockett are going to be killing QB's for any O-Line that buys into what the author is saying here.

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Redheart

I think when you look at last year objectively, you could see why the talk was there. The Red Birds fell flat, but a LOT of that could be traced to a terrible season of injuries on both sides of the ball.

It is easy to look at this year's team and see a marked improvement on paper, know they are healthy, and be on solid ground by saying they have play-off potential.

I would'nt recommend getting carried away with the Kool-aide, but there is a real basis for high expectations.

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Be Kind.

Pariah

To be fair, it's a fantasy football grade. So, missing a few games could be a ding.

gnomepete

Harry,

1) PFT is actually Pro Football Talk

2) Although I usually agree about PFW - Pro Football Weekly - generally not having ANY clue about the Cards anyway, they had an article that at least agreed with my thoughts about last year and this: The team will go as far as the O-line takes them . . .

http://www.profootballweekly.com/PFW...kush062706.htm

3) Rackers sets a league FG record A N D has the strongest leg in the league and STILL gets a B ? ? ? ? Amazingly stupid!

Pete

Krangthebrain

Profootballtalk.com not Pro Football Weekly.

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“Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water, in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn’t worry about what workout to do—his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn’t care ‘how hard it is’; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn’t go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the ‘Cause.’ Now, who wants to quit?”

NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates

On life after football: "I wouldn't mind being a sports commentator. Having my own segment, working for ESPN, my own talk show. Part time trainer. Part time car mechanic. Part time Sprint cell phone salesman. Part time car washman. Grocery store baggage man. Football coach. Model. Actress. Stripper. And I even have dreams of being the next crocodile hunter." - Darnell Dockett

Krangthebrain

You beat me to it!

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“Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water, in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn’t worry about what workout to do—his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn’t care ‘how hard it is’; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn’t go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the ‘Cause.’ Now, who wants to quit?”

NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates

On life after football: "I wouldn't mind being a sports commentator. Having my own segment, working for ESPN, my own talk show. Part time trainer. Part time car mechanic. Part time Sprint cell phone salesman. Part time car washman. Grocery store baggage man. Football coach. Model. Actress. Stripper. And I even have dreams of being the next crocodile hunter." - Darnell Dockett