Arizona Cardinals poised for another Super Bowl run

The Arizona Cardinals are coming off a disappointing end to 2015, ready for 2016 to start

Last season the Arizona Cardinals had one goal. Win the Super Bowl. As we know they came up short in that goal, losing in the NFC Championship to the Carolina Panthers. It was a game many Cardinals fans would soon rather forget.

Fast forward from January until now September. The Arizona Cardinals have one goal. Win the Super Bowl. There is little reason to doubt the Cardinals will make another good run at it.

There’s the doubters, make no mistake about it. The doubters let everyone know everyday about it. The doubters don’t just exist outside the Cardinals fan base either. There are doubters within the fan base.

The doubters for the most part come from watching preseason football. While it is understandable that some worry about the performances of players like quarterback Carson Palmer, the preseason is a completely different beast.

No, the Cardinals offense did not look in sync for much of the preseason. Keep in mind however that the offenses are vanilla. You aren’t going to see much of the playbook. Plus the starters don’t play much. A lot of the mistakes came from backups.

Are there things to work on? Absolutely. No team, no matter how hard they try, is perfect. The second and third stringers are going to have to step up their game if the Cardinals are to reach their ultimate goal in 2016.

The Cardinals offense is healthy. The receivers are set to go. Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown are over their preseason injuries. Jaron Brown played very well in the preseason but again, its just preseason. He needs to show he can carry his performance over to the regular season.

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Running back David Johnson has a lot of hype coming into the season. Chris Johnson came back to the Cardinals, taking less money than offered by the Miami Dolphins. Why? The Cardinals are ready to win now. It says a lot that he’d rather be the backup making less money in Arizona than being in Miami making more money and competing to be the number one guy.

The offensive line has its questions. There are some changes. D.J. Humphries, the 2015 first-round pick who was not active at all in 2015, is now the starting right tackle. A.Q. Shipley is now the starting center.

Jared Veldheer at left tackle and Mike Iupati at guard are still here. Guard Evan Mathis has joined the Cardinals fresh from winning the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos.

As for the defense, they are ready. The defensive line is eight deep and eight strong. The pass rush is greatly improved with the addition of linebacker Chandler Jones.

The secondary has its questions, mostly at cornerback. Rookie Brandon Williams will be the starter, at least for now while Justin Bethel still nurses his sore foot. Bethel is coming off surgery in the offseason and missing part of camp. The position isn’t deep.

After Patrick Peterson, Williams, and Bethel, there is newly acquired Marcus Cooper. Cooper was picked up last week after the team had to place Mike Jenkins on season-ending injured reserve.

The Cardinals are deep at safety. They are officially five deep with Tyrann Mathieu, healthy again after a torn ACL last December. They also have D.J. Swearinger, Tyvon Branch, Tony Jefferson, and rookie Marqui Christian. Deone Bucannon can play the position despite being officially listed at linebacker.

The special teams should be special once again. Their biggest change is their long-snapper. They bring in rookie Kameron Canaday to replace the retired Mike Leach.

The Cardinals re-loaded. Every starter on offense is the same in 2016 as it was in 2015. There is no reason to believe the Cardinals can’t come close to or match their 2015 effort in the regular season.

The schedule takes the Cardinals through the AFC East and NFC South this season. This means the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Carolina Panthers will be on the docket. The Cardinals are ready to win it all. Are you Birdgang?

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