1.) The rest of NFC West heavily struggles
On the realistic side, the Cardinals not only need to play at a high level, but they also need a little bit of luck when it comes to the rest of the division. The rest of the NFC West are miles ahead of the Cardinals in terms of talent and productivity in the last two years. The San Francisco 49ers are the defending NFC champs who will be looking to head back to the Super Bowl. Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams have done an impressive job with their mini-rebuild from the 2022 Super Bowl and made the playoffs last year. Then the Seattle Seahawks, despite having a new head coach in Mike MacDonald, are never out of the race and are always competitive with their talent on both sides of the ball.
Cardinals’ head coach Jonathan Gannon and the rest of the coaching staff are going to not only need to prepare the best game plan week-in and week-out, but will also need some additional help from the rest of the NFC West. We see teams struggle every year (some who had high expectations) and anything can happen during a season. If the rest of the NFC West heavily struggles in 2024 and the Cardinals capitalize on their opportunities, Arizona could just very well see themselves in a position for a chance at the division championship.