Cardinals have two players awarded for 2017 efforts

The Pro Football Writers Association named two Arizona Cardinals to their 2017 All-NFC team

The Pro Football Writers Association announced their 2017 ALL-AFC and ALL-NFC teams on Monday and the Arizona Cardinals found two of their own named on the NFC team.  There should be no debate about either.

Linebacker Chandler Jones, along with safety and special teams standout Budda Baker were both named to the 2017 squad.  Both had huge seasons for the Cardinals.

Jones lead the NFL in sacks with 17.5.  Baker, in his rookie season, had a decent season as a backup safety.  He had seven passes defensed, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one sack.

He also had 74 tackles, a number of them on special teams.  He made play after play week after week.  Both players also made the Pro Bowl in two weeks.

Jones turned out to be the right choice for the Cardinals over Calais Campbell as far as the Cardinals are concerned.  They wanted to keep both but could only pay one big money.  For his part, Campbell was named the the All-AFC team.

Baker will become more of a force at safety as time carries on but he put the word special in special teams with his 2017 efforts.  What makes his honor even more special is he is part of a unit that hasn’t played that great as a whole over the last couple of seasons.

Baker could be the start of a changing in that.  He can’t be a one man band but he sure made it seem like he was at times.

There were six Philadelphia Eagles, six Los Angeles Rams, and four New Orleans Saints that made the All-NFC team.  That shouldn’t come as a surprise to many.  All three teams won their divisions in the NFC.

Next: Cardinals hope some can reach next level

Hopefully next season we can see more Cardinals on this list.  The only omission that could be debated is that of Larry Fitzgerald.  He had more receptions and touchdowns than Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones.  That’s what happens when your team doesn’t make the playoffs though.