Head Coach: Bruce Arians (10-6 all-time in Arizona)
Last Year's Results: 10-6, no playoffs
Projected Starters:
(My Player Rankings Guide:
E - Elite Starter: Franchise changing player at his position
HQ - High Quality Starter: One of the best in the game at his position
GS - Good Starter: If this guy's on your team, he's likely starting and you should be perfectly fine with it
AS - Average Starter: This guy is OK, but if possible, I'd be looking for an upgrade
BAS - Below Average Starer: This guy should not be starting, but he will because he's the best option
??? - Not enough information regarding this guy and the jury is still out on him
R - Rookie: Pretty self-explanatory
PS - Poor Starter: This guy shouldn't be starting for your football team. NO EXCUSES!)
OFFENSE:
QB: Carson Palmer (AS)
RB: Andre Ellington (GS)
WR: Larry Fitzgerald (HQ)
WR: Michael Floyd (GS)
TE: Troy Niklas (R)
TE: John Carlson (BAS)
C: Lyle Sendlein (AS)
RG: Paul Fanaika (PS)
LG: Jonathan Cooper (???)
RT: Bradley Sowell (PS)
LT: Jared Veldheer (GS)
DEFENSE:
DE: Calais Campbell (E)
DE: Darnell Dockett (AS)
DT: Dan Williams (AS)
LOLB: John Abraham (GS)
ROLB: Matt Shaughnessy (BAS)
ILB: Kevin Minter (???)
ILB: Larry Foote (BAS)
CB: Patrick Peterson (HQ)
CB: Antonio Cromartie (AS)
SS: Deone Bucannon (R)
FS: Tyrann Mathieu (HQ)
SPECIAL TEAMS:
K: Jay Feely
P: Dave Zastudil
Schedule:
vs. San Diego
vs. @ New York Giants
vs. San Francisco
BYE WEEK
vs. @ Denver
vs. Washington
vs. @ Oakland
vs. Philadelphia
vs. @ Dallas
vs. St. Louis
vs. Detroit
vs. @ Seattle
vs. @ Atlanta
vs. Kansas City
vs. @ St. Louis
vs. Seattle
vs. @ San Francisco
Predicted Results: 8-8 (1-5 in division)
Team Analysis: The Arizona Cardinals are one of those teams that are hard to read this year. While they are definitely a talented team on paper, they have the unfortunate advantage of playing in the NFL's toughest division. The Cardinals would be considered a heavy favorite in any other division in the NFL, but in the NFC West, they could very well drop all the way to fourth place thanks to the dominance of the Seattle Seahawks & San Francisco 49ers and the rising St. Louis Rams. I really love what the Cardinals offer on the defensive side of the ball. Calais Campbell is one of the best DE's in the league and their secondary is arguably the team's best overall unit. The main problem with this team is on the offensive line and at the quarterback position. Carson Palmer is one of those guys who is a decent quarterback as long as he has a good offensive line. Unfortunately for him, the Cardinals don't have one of those. Outside of Jared Veldheer (who the Cardinals picked up from Oakland in the off-season), Arizona doesn't have a guy that I would consider a quality starter on the o-line. There's still plenty of time for Jonathan Cooper to emerge, but all signs are pointing to Cooper as a huge bust and a guy that may never recover from an injury suffered during his rookie season last year. Either way, the Cardinals still have Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Ellington, and Michael Floyd. All of those guys are play-makers who can put up points at anytime, so it's not like Arizona is exactly starving on the offensive side of the ball. They gonna eat.
The schedule is another factor the Cardinals are going to have to face this year. They have a tough slate of games to get through. Not only do they have to play all 3 other NFC West teams twice, but they also have to play the AFC West this year. The AFC West had 3 playoff teams last year and is arguably the best division in the AFC. And if that wasn't enough, they also have to play the Giants, the Eagles, and the Lions as well as make trips to Cowboys Stadium and Atlanta. So as I mentioned earlier, even though I like most of the talent on the Cardinals side of the ball, I think the schedule is going to be way too rough for them and even though I have them going 8-8, that may be a little too generous. The good news is, the arrow continues to point up with this team and if they can fix the issues on the offensive line and get an upgrade at the QB position, they should start to make the Seahawks and the 49ers sweat a little bit more.
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