Depending On Who You Listen to, Arizona Cardinals Could Be Great or Awful
By Scott Allen
May 14, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer (3) drops back to pass during organized team activities at the Cardinals Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Cardinals certainly have made a lot of changes in the offseason. This we know. Some like the moves that have been made, some hate the moves. Critics didn’t like the Tyrann Mathieu pick in the draft. Majority of fans seem to like the risk the Cards are taking. The Cards appear to be set at quarterback, have great depth at corner and at linebacker on the roster. So, it is no shocker that depending on who you believe, the Cards either will be great or awful in 2013, or somewhere in between. My vote is for in between.
Although I would love to see them be great, reality is they have the seventh-toughest schedule in the NFL and that’s before we even get into all the changes this team has made. Oh, and the San Francisco 49’ers and Seattle Seahawks still reside in the NFC West. This doesn’t mean they can’t have some success though.
I do believe they will finish somewhere between 7-9 and 10-6. Most games, even with the strength of teams they are scheduled to play, could go either way. I’m a believer in quarterback Carson Palmer. I’m a believer in head coach Bruce Arians’s offensive philosophy. From the sounds of it, most players on both sides of the ball have already bought into what Arians is selling. It says a lot that a guy like Karlos Dansby was willing to come back and play in Arizona. To me, that tells me how far the organization has come.
Of course you have to play it out on the field come September but already even after just one rookie camp and a couple days of OTA’s, you can notice the difference. Attitudes are positive, both from a player and media standpoint. It won’t be easy to win and nor should it be. There will be improvement. There will be individual greatness I believe this season. Team greatness is probably a couple of years away still. For this season, I’ll take improvement and average. It’s a long way from where they ended 2012.