NFL, Arizona Cardinals Preview 2011
By Scott Allen
Back to Football. That’s the motto. Even with as many moves that were made in the free agency frenzy, I say back to a lot more of the same in 2011. The Dallas Cowboys will not be as improved as some people think. The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers will be the teams to beat again and might have better offenses than last season. The Pittsburgh Steelers will have a great defense. The Philadelphia Eagles should have a great defense. NBC Sunday Night Football and the NFL Redzone will continue to be the best football has to offer, while ESPN’s Monday Night Football does have better match-ups on paper, will still probably be a dud.
Then there are your Arizona Cardinals. They will be better and no not 6-10 like many of the yahoo’s are saying out there. Think this over. The Cards finished 5-11 last season, with NOTHING. Nothing at QB, only six touchdowns by Larry Fitzgerald, and and offense that played worse than a Pop Warner team at times last season. It HAS to be better this season. Just one win better? C’mon, let’s be serious.
Now, I am going to predict 9-7, but given the schedule, it is feasible to win 10 or 11. I don’t think I’ll go that far just yet though. I want to see some action. This season it will be how the defense performs which will most likely decide games for the Cards this season, or lack thereof. They do have some injuries they were dealt in the preseason, so it will depend on how they handle those losses. With Greg Toler out for the season at corner, the Cards will rely heavily on rookie Patrick Peterson, which is a little bit of a scary notion right now. Then at running back, the load will be carried by Beanie Wells after the loss of rookie Ryan Williams. The Cards went out and got Chester Taylor as a backup but he will be merely nothing more than a band aid in 2011.
So, all that being said, here are my picks for 2011:
AFC East Champ – New England Patriots
AFC North – Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South – Houston Texans
AFC West – San Diego Chargers
Wild Cards: Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets
AFC Champ: New England Patriots
NFC East – Philadelphia Eagles
NFC North – Green Bay Packers
NFC South – Atlanta Falcons
NFC West – Arizona Cardinals
Wild Cards: Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Bucs
NFC Champ: Atlanta Falcons
Super Bowl Champ: New England Patriots
There you have it, yep, the Patriots are ready to win it again. I’m no Patriots fan by any stretch, just looking at reality. Of course in reality, once you make the playoffs, the Cards have proven if you catch lightening in a bottle, anybody can win the big one.