2015-16 The Arizona Cardinals Thread

[MHSL82]

As explained in the Team-by-Team Thread, I am planning on making a thread every four days for a different team. The first few posts will be questions, requests for predictions, etc. There will be a poll unless I don't feel like making one. Some teams are less interesting than others. Please participate in posting articles, predictions, etc.

Last Year: The Arizona Cardinals Thread

This Year So Far:

1. The New England Patriots Thread
2. The Seattle Seahawks Thread
3. The Indianapolis Colts Thread
4. The Green Bay Packers Thread
5. The Baltimore Ravens Thread
6. The Carolina Panthers Thread
7. The Denver Broncos Thread
8. The Dallas Cowboys Thread
9. The Pittsburgh Steelers Thread
10. The Detroit Lions Thread
11. The Cincinnati Bengals Thread
12. The Arizona Cardinals Thread

 

[Eli Chadwick]

The Cardinals will have a winning season this year we have been averaging 10+ wins with Bruce behind the wheel and now we have a killer O line with D.J., Valdaheer, Mike I., Ted L., and a healthy Cooper also a healthy Massie!!! and now Palmer is healthy with a healthy back up QB team right behind him and we got a hammer of a running back in the draft also a health Andrea Ellington. And the defense will always be good, come on its the nfc west! my team will go at lease 11-4 this year agn.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

AZ makes it to the NFCCG and loses to either GB or Dallas? Pending they stay healthy this year.

 

[The Derski]

Loses in the NFCCG to GB

 

[MHSL82]

The Cardinals will have a winning season this year we have been averaging 10+ wins with Bruce behind the wheel and now we have a killer O line with D.J., Valdaheer, Mike I., Ted L., and a healthy Cooper also a healthy Massie!!! and now Palmer is healthy with a healthy back up QB team right behind him and we got a hammer of a running back in the draft also a health Andrea Ellington. And the defense will always be good, come on, it's the NFC West! My team will go at least 11-4 this year again.

Well, then 11-5 or 11-4-1 or 12-4, right?

 

[CCF151]

I voted the Homer Super Bowl Champs, but realistically it all depends on if the O-line can keep Palmer's uniform grass stain free. If that happens I think they have a puncher's chance of taking it all; if not I think they do what they did last season, make the playoffs and lose in the Wildcard round.

 

[cdumler7]

The Cardinals will have a winning season this year we have been averaging 10+ wins with Bruce behind the wheel and now we have a killer O line with D.J., Valdaheer, Mike I., Ted L., and a healthy Cooper also a healthy Massie!!! and now Palmer is healthy with a healthy back up QB team right behind him and we got a hammer of a running back in the draft also a health Andrea Ellington. And the defense will always be good, come on its the nfc west! my team will go at lease 11-4 this year agn.

Not sure your math is quite right? Are you planning on one game of the season being canceled? As for the OL there are still a lot of question marks in my opinion. Iupati has been one of the worst pass blocking Guards in the NFL the last couple of years so is that who you really trust protecting your franchise quarterback who is known to be injury prone? DJ is a rookie so there is no telling what he will bring to the table. Last year it was about 50/50 of whether a 1st round OL player was above average or just down right terrible. Cooper hasn't shown he can be healthy for an entire year and Valdheer also has had some serious injury issues. So a lot of question marks in my opinion of whether that group can stay healthy for an entire year plus a couple of guys that haven't shown they can play at a high level yet.

I still do like the Cardinals though to do well as I think with the 49ers on a downhill trend that 2nd spot behind Seattle is ripe for the taking once again and 10 wins should get you into the playoffs.

 

[Eli Chadwick]

Well, then 11-5 or 11-4-1 or 12-4, right?

11-5 at lease my bad

 

[Eli Chadwick]

Not sure your math is quite right? Are you planning on one game of the season being canceled? As for the OL there are still a lot of question marks in my opinion. Iupati has been one of the worst pass blocking Guards in the NFL the last couple of years so is that who you really trust protecting your franchise quarterback who is known to be injury prone? DJ is a rookie so there is no telling what he will bring to the table. Last year it was about 50/50 of whether a 1st round OL player was above average or just down right terrible. Cooper hasn't shown he can be healthy for an entire year and Valdheer also has had some serious injury issues. So a lot of question marks in my opinion of whether that group can stay healthy for an entire year plus a couple of guys that haven't shown they can play at a high level yet.

I still do like the Cardinals though to do well as I think with the 49ers on a downhill trend that 2nd spot behind Seattle is ripe for the taking once again and 10 wins should get you into the playoffs.

i have faith in Bruce and his ability to make a no one into a someone. this year is bound for playoff potential. maybe and i say maybe super bowl contenders. we will see when week 12 comes around to see if the cards seem like super bowl contenders if not playoff contenders. the offence has had some boo boos fixed and the D is always rocking.

 

[johnson]

I trust in Bruce, but health will be the key factor this year. We need more than a good O-line to protect Palmer...we just need to hope we get lucky. Palmer's injury last year had nothing to do with the line. He just stepped back and boom...season over. He's old and somewhat fragile. Fingers crossed.

I like Stanton as a backup. It'd be nice to see them put some serious thought into the 3rd string QB, but most teams don't (I suppose for good reason). Last year should be a lesson. If they go into the season with Lindley or Logan Thomas (guys that have no business playing professionally) on the roster, they've failed. I don't expect them to have a great QB back there, but they can do a lot better than those turds.

 

[cdumler7]

I trust in Bruce, but health will be the key factor this year. We need more than a good O-line to protect Palmer...we just need to hope we get lucky. Palmer's injury last year had nothing to do with the line. He just stepped back and boom...season over. He's old and somewhat fragile. Fingers crossed.

I like Stanton as a backup. It'd be nice to see them put some serious thought into the 3rd string QB, but most teams don't (I suppose for good reason). Last year should be a lesson. If they go into the season with Lindley or Logan Thomas (guys that have no business playing professionally) on the roster, they've failed. I don't expect them to have a great QB back there, but they can do a lot better than those turds.

Not sure I agree with that 2nd part. The NFL has shown that they have maybe 10 great QB's, 10 average QB's, and then a whole host of terrible QB's. So the idea of having 3 of the top-20 guys on your roster is just not really possible. It is why teams fight so hard to find even a decent QB year in and year out. If you are on your 3rd string QB I don't care what team you are in the league your team is screwed for that season.

 

[Uhsplit]

AZ makes it to the NFCCG and loses to either GB or Dallas? Pending they stay healthy this year.

What? No faith in the local boys?
Not trying to go full homer but I still think Seattle>Az. I like Seattle's D, QB, and run game over Az's. Az has some solid contributors but are a definite notch below what the Seahawk's offer.
2nd place in the NFCW and a WC or Div round loss is my prediction for the Cards.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

What? No faith in the local boys?
Not trying to go full homer but I still think Seattle>Az. I like Seattle's D, QB, and run game over Az's. Az has some solid contributors but are a definite notch below what the Seahawk's offer.
2nd place in the NFCW and a WC or Div round loss is my prediction for the Cards.

Trying not to take the obvious choices. But, I really think AZ has a solid chance. Not trolling and not making excuses but I really thought AZ was going to be there last year. Both teams are coming back in roughly the same state they were in at the start of last season. Given that the only difference I see miuns new FA (+) goes to Seattle, draft picks which we really can't bet on, the difference I see are the small off-field issues in Sea (contracts not done). I'm a firm believer in team chemistry. I believe that chemistry is the difference maker in many cases. So those small issues could be the difference. Especially, when teams are that even matched.

 

[jarntt]

What? No faith in the local boys?
Not trying to go full homer but I still think Seattle>Az. I like Seattle's D, QB, and run game over Az's. Az has some solid contributors but are a definite notch below what the Seahawk's offer.
2nd place in the NFCW and a WC or Div round loss is my prediction for the Cards.

I admit it, I'm hoping for utter disaster on the Sea Offensive line...If not, Sea>everyone...

 

[Wolverine830872]

The NFCW has a tough draw this year: NFCN and AFCN. The only legitimate punching bags in those divisions are the Browns and the Bears. Add to the Mix N.O. and @Phi and you have a rough out-of-division schedule. It will be tough for the cards to get to 10 wins, which is where I have them, which may be just enough to get a wildcard berth.

 

[cdumler7]

The NFCW has a tough draw this year: NFCN and AFCN. The only legitimate punching bags in those divisions are the Browns and the Bears. Add to the Mix N.O. and @Phi and you have a rough out-of-division schedule. It will be tough for the cards to get to 10 wins, which is where I have them, which may be just enough to get a wildcard berth.

Not sure I would call Cleveland a punching bag anymore though. Defensively they finished as a top-10 defense and added some nice pieces this off season. Offensively yes they could be challenged but I do think defensively they are going to make life difficult. Right now honestly I would say they are easily the best defense in the AFC North.

As for the schedule the same could be said then for Seattle as they have an even tougher schedule with having to play a 1st place schedule. Throw in having 5 of their 8 road games this year being against teams that made the playoffs last year. Throw in then another 4 home games against playoff teams and I would say that is no easy task ahead for them.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

The NFCW has a tough draw this year: NFCN and AFCN. The only legitimate punching bags in those divisions are the Browns and the Bears. Add to the Mix N.O. and @Phi and you have a rough out-of-division schedule. It will be tough for the cards to get to 10 wins, which is where I have them, which may be just enough to get a wildcard berth.

How many wins you predicting for tge Hawks?

 

[MIKE75]

Will be interesting to see how the team does now that they have Carson Palmer back. The last two years since joining Arizona the team is 16-6 when Palmer starts and 5-5 when he doesn't start which is a big difference showing how important he is overall. Hated seeing them sputter in the postseason because had Palmer been playing i honestly believe Arizona would've been the first team in history to play the Super Bowl at home in their stadium. It all goes to show how important a good starting QB is. I think the team has a good coach Bruce Arians and GM in Steve Keim and i think both of them together have built a solid team. Going back to the 2014 NFL draft i've read rumors they are not satisfied with Logan Thomas and i think looking back a QB like Zach Mettenberger would've been perfect instead because he is similar in size to Carson Palmer and plays similar in some ways as well. Hated that Drew Stanton ended up hurt as well which derailed everything in the end.

One of the smartest things Arians did was bring in Carson Palmer. The Cards were winning with Warner at QB including 10-6 and 9-7 in 2008 the year they went to Super Bowl. After Warner left the team had two or three bad years with Ryan Lindley and Kevin Kolb at QB going 5-11 twice. Things got better after firing Whisenhunt in 2012. After replacing Lindley with Palmer and replacing Whisenhunt with Arians in 2013 the team started winning again going 10-6 in 2013 and going 11-5 in 2014. See the pattern yet? Bring in a good vet QB and you can win but plug a struggling rookie in you could struggle and coaches could get fired.



Good draft they picked up an offensive lineman DJ Humphries and just picked up Mike Iupati in free agency so they should have a pretty good line and also i think they got one of the best backs in the draft in David Johnson a steal from a small school the guy is very shifty and great and catches passes out of the backfield. Wow David Johnson and Andre Ellington together along with an upgraded line this offense is gonna be really good. Johnson has return skills as well. Michael Floyd and John Brown at WR. Kudos to Keim he is good at finding those underrated gems. Although they were ranked twenty fourth in offense last year i think that will improve this coming season.



On the defensive side of the ball the team was ranked fifth in points allowed last season with Calais Campbell,Frostee Rucker,Alex Okafer,Patrick Peterson and the honey badger Tyrann Mathieu all contributing.

Looking at how the team is set up they haven't been doing that well on offense last year ranking 24th overall. However GM Keim has done a great job finding talent and the offense now with RB's Andre Ellington and David Johnson will be much better in 2015 possibly top ten. I'm a huge fan of NFL football and i'm telling you now these running backs for a 6th rounder Andre Ellington and 3rd rounder David Johnson this tandem is gonna do big things for the running game and offense. WR John Brown another 3rd round pick has been great and going into his second season. All these players are young and were great picks. Even though the Cards were 24th in 2014 look for them to jump at least to the top fifteen on offense in 2015.



Got a very tough schedule with road games this season at Pittsburgh,Philly,Detroit,Seattle,etc. Starting the whole slate with New Orleans offense will be a good test early for the defense. The team also has to face Baltimore,Cincinnati and Green Bay. The hardest part of the schedule to me is three out of four on the road in October then a bye and have to go back on the road to Seattle.ouch. Biggest test however that will have huge playoff implications for all teams is the last three games at Philly then home games against Green Bay and Seattle. Honestly i think thats one of the hardest December slates i've seen so far. Vegas has Arizona at 8.5 wins and I say they will hit the OVER easily and should go at least 9-7 maybe 10-6 and make the postseason.

 

[Wolverine830872]

How many wins you predicting for tge Hawks?

At least 16 of course. 17 if we're lucky

 

[johnson]

Not sure I agree with that 2nd part. The NFL has shown that they have maybe 10 great QB's, 10 average QB's, and then a whole host of terrible QB's. So the idea of having 3 of the top-20 guys on your roster is just not really possible. It is why teams fight so hard to find even a decent QB year in and year out. If you are on your 3rd string QB I don't care what team you are in the league your team is screwed for that season.

I wouldn't agree with me either if I had said they should try to find 3 top 20 QBs for their roster. Fortunately, I never said anything of the sort. Drew Stanton is not a Top 20 guy btw. They just need someone who is remotely competent. They can't have that third guy be a complete joke. Vick, Jason Campbell, Tyler Thigpen were still out there last I checked.