I'm not the only person who thinks the Cards are overrated.

http://www.cheatsheet.com/sports/5-most-overrated-teams-in-the-nfl.html/2/

Maybe I'm just sick of how Cardinal fans (ringless generally excluded) have been acting this offseason like the Cards were better than everyone else this season with only Carson Palmer's injury stopping them from reaching the Super Bowl, but I found this refreshing from all the chuckle heads picking them to win the West next year. Nice to know someone noticed that statistically, they are one of the luckiest NFL teams in the last 2 seasons. Plus, Carson Palmer is your savior? Seriously? Sorry if this seems harsh..... Cards fans have just been bugging me lately.

I will admit . . . I was buying their hype last off-season to make the playoffs, and I'm buying it once again. Their offensive line went from being one of the worst to the best in the division, they still have the best WR corps in the division, and I think David Johnson was a steal at RB. Defensively, they somehow finished #5 in scoring defense despite a rash of injuries and little to no support from their offense in terms of ball control. Yeah, I think they have a chance to be pretty good.

I don't even think they're the most overrated in the division, honestly.

Arizona has always been a wildcard. Very scary at times and then not so much other times.

They would have won the division last year for sure if they didn't lose not one but two starting QBs.

NINEster":l9o2puge said:

Arizona has always been a wildcard. Very scary at times and then not so much other times.

They would have won the division last year for sure if they didn't lose not one but two starting QBs.

Click to expand...

Last I checked, NO ONE thought Drew Stanton was a starting caliber QB. He's not even in the top half of the league as a backup. Also, Cards are 9-2 in one score games over the last 2 seasons, 12-9 in all other games. Seahawks are 8-6 in one score games and 17-1 in all others. Niners are 8-5 and 12-7, respectively. Cards were 23rd in offensive DVOA with Carson Palmer and were still 23rd without him, and while they were 5th in points allowed, they were only 24th in yards allowed. The Cardinals also gave up 500 yards 4 times last season. The 49ers didn't give up 500 last season and the Hawks only gave up 400 once, let alone 500. Hell, the Rams only gave up 500 yards once. And on top of that, their point differential was only +11. Oh, and all that talk about Carson Palmer's injury bringing them down? It likely would have happened anyway. Palmer has played in all 16 games only 5 out of the 11 seasons he's been active. Plus, his career starting record is 70-73. Not exactly a world beater.

Maulbert":1z6yvff3 said:

NINEster":1z6yvff3 said:

Arizona has always been a wildcard. Very scary at times and then not so much other times.

They would have won the division last year for sure if they didn't lose not one but two starting QBs.

Click to expand...

Last I checked, NO ONE thought Drew Stanton was a starting caliber QB. He's not even in the top half of the league as a backup. Also, Cards are 9-2 in one score games over the last 2 seasons, 12-9 in all other games. Seahawks are 8-6 in one score games and 17-1 in all others. Niners are 8-5 and 12-7, respectively. Cards were 23rd in offensive DVOA with Carson Palmer and were still 23rd without him, and while they were 5th in points allowed, they were only 24th in yards allowed. The Cardinals also gave up 500 yards 4 times last season. The 49ers didn't give up 500 last season and the Hawks only gave up 400 once, let alone 500. Hell, the Rams only gave up 500 yards once. And on top of that, their point differential was only +11. Oh, and all that talk about Carson Palmer's injury bringing them down? It likely would have happened anyway. Palmer has played in all 16 games only 5 out of the 11 seasons he's been active. Plus, his career starting record is 70-73. Not exactly a world beater.

Click to expand...

Why does this matter?
Wouldn't that mean they're really good at closing out games?

ClutchDJ":k46h0crn said:

Maulbert":k46h0crn said:

NINEster":k46h0crn said:

Arizona has always been a wildcard. Very scary at times and then not so much other times.

They would have won the division last year for sure if they didn't lose not one but two starting QBs.

Click to expand...

Last I checked, NO ONE thought Drew Stanton was a starting caliber QB. He's not even in the top half of the league as a backup. Also, Cards are 9-2 in one score games over the last 2 seasons, 12-9 in all other games. Seahawks are 8-6 in one score games and 17-1 in all others. Niners are 8-5 and 12-7, respectively. Cards were 23rd in offensive DVOA with Carson Palmer and were still 23rd without him, and while they were 5th in points allowed, they were only 24th in yards allowed. The Cardinals also gave up 500 yards 4 times last season. The 49ers didn't give up 500 last season and the Hawks only gave up 400 once, let alone 500. Hell, the Rams only gave up 500 yards once. And on top of that, their point differential was only +11. Oh, and all that talk about Carson Palmer's injury bringing them down? It likely would have happened anyway. Palmer has played in all 16 games only 5 out of the 11 seasons he's been active. Plus, his career starting record is 70-73. Not exactly a world beater.

Click to expand...

Why does this matter?
Wouldn't that mean they're really good at closing out games?

Click to expand...

One score games have a tendency to reflect luck and regression to the mean. Good teams don't rely on them for a good record.

Maulbert":2z9jw2sn said:

have been acting this offseason like the Cards were better than everyone else this season with only Carson Palmer's injury stopping them from reaching the Super Bowl

Click to expand...

Ehhh, I think everything else being equal Palmer's injury was what kept them from winning the division (they almost won it while starting ground beef at QB, but who knows what happens in the playoffs), but that doesn't mean that they also didn't over-perform and benefit from luck last year.

As for this year, before entering the season the Cardinals have to be the favorites for the WC spot in the division, but I think there are a ton of unknowns outside of the Seahawks.

Does the return of Palmer offset their luck from last year and do they remain good and competitive?

After the prediction has been made every year for multiple years is this finally the year that the Rams don't suck?

And what to make of the 9ers? At least we'll know very quickly if they're even worth talking about, as they start the season playing five playoff teams in the first seven games, meaning if they start the season 2-5 we know they'll be mediocre at best or the wheels will just fall off.

The Cards will be a trendy pick. They sorely missed linebackers last year, they seem to have really bolstered the run blocking, and their coach is a ballsy dude.

Besides, there is no brilliance to be found by pundits in picking the Hawks. Those who want to stand out from the crowd will be choosing the Cards to win the west. Insane people will choose the Rams. Fans of the circus will choose the Niners.

Poor circus gets hit again......dang clowns. 8)

I don't think Arizona even finishes .500 this year. Even with Palmer under center they were extremely fortunate to be where they were at. The Chargers blew the opener. The Eagles blew a lead late in the game on a bomb to John Brown. The Cowboys were without Romo.

Palmer with 2 ACL injuries at age 35 doesn't worry me at all. The Rams are going to be the dangerous team in the West if Gurley stays healthy.

Hasselbeck":1jardpnl said:

I don't think Arizona even finishes .500 this year. Even with Palmer under center they were extremely fortunate to be where they were at. The Chargers blew the opener. The Eagles blew a lead late in the game on a bomb to John Brown. The Cowboys were without Romo.

Palmer with 2 ACL injuries at age 35 doesn't worry me at all. The Rams are going to be the dangerous team in the West if Gurley stays healthy.

Click to expand...

Eh, I feel like I've been hearing this for the past 3 years.

Foles isn't so durable himself either.

The Cards if they had gotten Peterson might be a threat.They lost their DC and some players off the D,I don't see them being in 1st

If Arizona runs the ball like they did last year, they can forget it. 3.3 yards per attempt. Awful.

Did we get lucky sometimes? Absolutely. Did the Seahawks also get very lucky? Absolutely? Sure you can list the Chargers game, or the Cowboys game or your PFF stats.. Why is it lucky for the Cardinals to play the Cowboys without Romo but not lucky for teams to play the Cardinals missing 32 million worth of salary that ended up on IR? The Seahawks were lucky to even be in the Super Bowl, and to even have the #1 seed. If the Packers didn't make a series of unforced mistakes you guys don't even get to play the Patriots. I can remember a lot of fumbles that happened to end up in the Seahawks favor last year and fumbles are truly one stat that will revert to the mean.

Numbers can always be manipulated right?
You say the team was exactly the same and ranked 23rd offensively with and without Palmer, but you leave out that we scored an Average of 26.42 PPG with Palmer and had one of the highest scoring offenses in the league and Palmer with a top 10 QBR. To the contrary and what you consider to be the same When Stanton came in we only averaged 17.22 PPG...... A huge difference. (Not to mention he came nowhere near top 10 in QBR) Why doesn't PFF explain the 9+ PPG differential?

The Cardinals with Palmer were a much better offense and you could tell when he was in as opposed to Stanton. I think its ridiculous to say it was the same offense with and without him.

Will our offense be better this year? More likely yes than no. Will our defense be better this year? Most likely not. Losing Bowles was tough, and losing Dan Williams was tough. However Powers was the #1 rated slot corner in the league last year I believe, and Peterson struggled with health issues last year when he got diagnosed with diabetes, that is now finally under control.

Will the Seahawks still be the #1 team in the division? I think its fair to say without a doubt. The Cardinals are 2nd best in the division however I think they may be able to give the Seahawks a little more trouble this year than last. Lets go back to when the Cardinals beat Seattle in Seattle... Daryl Washington... He is the reason we won. He is the LB that has the lateral speed to contain Wilson. He will be back after serving his year suspension for Marijuana use.


In saying all that maybe we don't have as much luck as we did last year... Maybe some of that can be made up for by fielding a better team this year, a healthier team. Who knows, every year is full of surprises. Teams that come out of nowhere and great teams that fail. But no team gets to play in a Super Bowl without quite a bit of luck. But as Arians said last year when we were winning despite our personql losses. When does it stop being luck? Perhaps luck is the residue of hard work. I think thats something Seahawks fans can relate to....

ringless":qat4tyo0 said:

Will the Seahawks still be the #1 team in the division? I think its fair to say without a doubt. The Cardinals are 2nd best in the division however I think they may be able to give the Seahawks a little more trouble this year than last. Lets go back to when the Cardinals beat Seattle in Seattle... Daryl Washington... He is the reason we won. He is the LB that has the lateral speed to contain Wilson. He will be back after serving his year suspension for Marijuana use.

Click to expand...

So certain are you? He hasn't been reinstated yet, although he's been eligible for a month, and he could still potentially face suspension for domestic violence.

bmorepunk":zdqtfc49 said:

If Arizona runs the ball like they did last year, they can forget it. 3.3 yards per attempt. Awful.

Click to expand...

Their line is improved and Ellington was injured all last season and being misused as an every down back.

I don't think we'll see 3.3 again (which really was awful).

Iupati might get Palmer get killed, but he'll open up some massive holes for their run game.

ClutchDJ":1i2qfn9t said:

Hasselbeck":1i2qfn9t said:

I don't think Arizona even finishes .500 this year. Even with Palmer under center they were extremely fortunate to be where they were at. The Chargers blew the opener. The Eagles blew a lead late in the game on a bomb to John Brown. The Cowboys were without Romo.

Palmer with 2 ACL injuries at age 35 doesn't worry me at all. The Rams are going to be the dangerous team in the West if Gurley stays healthy.

Click to expand...

Eh, I feel like I've been hearing this for the past 3 years.

Foles isn't so durable himself either.

Click to expand...

This

Rams will continue to put other teams QBs on IR. Finally this is the Rams year to make the playoffs.

Maulbert":26e950w5 said:

ringless":26e950w5 said:

Will the Seahawks still be the #1 team in the division? I think its fair to say without a doubt. The Cardinals are 2nd best in the division however I think they may be able to give the Seahawks a little more trouble this year than last. Lets go back to when the Cardinals beat Seattle in Seattle... Daryl Washington... He is the reason we won. He is the LB that has the lateral speed to contain Wilson. He will be back after serving his year suspension for Marijuana use.

Click to expand...

So certain are you? He hasn't been reinstated yet, although he's been eligible for a month, and he could still potentially face suspension for domestic violence.

Click to expand...

He hasn't been eligible for a month, its 60 days from when the appeal is filed. The league already said they wouldn't consider reinstatement until dealing with their golden boy Tom Brady. He did however pass his probation, drug tests, etc with flying colors and his probation officer let him off two months early.

Yes I do believe he will serve around a 4 game suspension from his domestic violence incident in which he was trying to see his child which he had the rights to do. He was assaulted first when his ex threw an object at him (vase or pot type). She then tried to extort him for additional child support funds. He tried to take her cell phone to preserve evidence, which was apparently located on her phone he went downstairs and she chased him to his car. He pushed her away so he could close his door. She fell. Injury occurred. Not excusing the incident by any means, but I can't see him having a crazy long suspension considering the facts and that it was before the new rules.