Arizona Cardinals hope that the worst is already behind them in 2022
By Jim Koch
The Arizona Cardinals will need to experience a reversal of fortune if they hope to contend for a Super Bowl title in 2022
If the first half of 2022 is any indication, there’s a very good possibility that the Arizona Cardinals will end the year on a sour note.
To say that the last six months haven’t exactly gone the Cards way would be an understatement. Of course, it hasn’t been completely doom and gloom for the team during that time, but the bad has undoubtedly outweighed the good for an Arizona squad that won 11 games in 2021.
The Cardinals’ luck will need to change in a hurry if head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s group hopes to contend for a Super Bowl title this coming fall. Actually, could things go any worse?
Rotten luck has followed the Arizona Cardinals through the first half of 2022
Arizona started the year in awful fashion back in January, when they were thoroughly humiliated in the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Rams inflicted a 34-11 beatdown on a Cardinals crew that was flying high just a couple of months before.
Free agency arrived in March, and the Cards basically stood by as the scavengers of the NFL plucked key players from their roster.
The defections of Chandler Jones, Christian Kirk, Jordan Hicks, and Chase Edmonds will be felt in a big way when the season gets underway in September.
The Cardinals were then dealt a debilitating blow in May when superstar wideout DeAndre Hopkins was suspended for six games after testing positive for PEDs. Then, roughly a week later, the franchise discovered they’d be facing the league’s second-toughest schedule in ’22.
Tragedy struck Arizona on Memorial Day when cornerback Jeff Gladney was killed in a car crash. The former first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings had just been signed back in March.
A couple of weeks later, the squad’s best offensive lineman was a no-show when the Cards convened for a mandatory minicamp.
Center Rodney Hudson’s absence was “unexcused,” and there are frightening reports that the three-time Pro Bowler may be contemplating retirement.
The Redbirds have experienced a mountain of misfortune over the past several months. Keep your heads up, Cardinals fans, optimistic members of the “Red Sea” would tell you that there are better things ahead.
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