Raising Zona
FanSided

Why the Green Bay Packers owe the Arizona Cardinals a Super Bowl ring

By Aarron Van Buren

Mike Jones, #75 is the player that changed the NFL landscape in the 1990s. (Getty Images credit)
Mike Jones, #75 is the player that changed the NFL landscape in the 1990s. (Getty Images credit) /
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Arizona Cardinals
(Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images) Larry Centers /

The 1990 Phoenix Cardinals didn’t do much to win over their new fans

Led by Head Coach Joe Bugel, the Cardinals were only at the .500 mark once on the season, coming in a Week 2 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The team would go on to finish 5-11.

When looking at their schedule, they competed in most of their losses. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but for this struggling team, there was that silver lining.

Phoenix had the fourth-worst (24th out of the 28 teams back then) offense in the league and it showed in their win column. The 34 points they posted in their Week 12 win over the New England Patriots were the most points they’d score in a game the entire year. Their touchdown total on the year was 29 (16 passing, 13 rushing).

This was an offense that had Ricky Proehl and Larry Centers on it – not bad options from the 90s. Quarterback Timm Rosenbach and the offense elevated running back Johnny Johnson to a Pro Bowl selection, but that was the only highlight from the season. The Cardinals were still playing in the NFC East, a division that had seen numerous teams go and play in the Super Bowl.

Phoenix needed answers and a solution to get fans into the stadium after the late Bill Bidwill raised ticket prices so much that fans couldn’t afford them. They would fix this after the season. We’ll come back to these red birds later on. But the stage was set for them to improve in the offseason.

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