Are The Arizona Cardinals Playoff Dreams Dead?
By Omar Soussi
When I heard Carson Palmer was out for the season with an ACL tear , I immediately thought this team’s playoff chances were dead in the water. I soon relaxed and gave it some actual thought and I came up with the idea that the Arizona Cardinals playoff hopes aren’t dead just a little hurt.
The Arizona Cardinals playoff hopes and Superbowl dreams are still alive and well. That said, the road to the Super Bowl just got a whole lot tougher.
I’m not gonna write off the Arizona Cardinals just because Palmer is out, this team still has a lot of talent and a damn good coach. Not to mention Drew Stanton and from what we saw is a good quarterback for this system. When Palmer was hurt with the nerve damage in the beginning of the season, we saw him play efficiently (much like Palmer was) and make good reads. I completely expect the same thing for the remainder of this season. That is why I say this team’s chance to get home field advantage, the division and a Superbowl berth (not even mentioning a win) are not dead.
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Drew Stanton is basically Carson Palmer without the experience or the cannon for an arm. He has experience taking over a franchise quarterback’s spot in the starting lineup, just look at what he did with the Lions when they lost Stafford. He is mobile, not like RG3 but has more mobility than Carson Palmer.
Stanton has accuracy and a great supporting cast around him. That being said, the entire team will have to play at a higher level for this team to succeed, especially the pass defense. This team is built to keep games close and the offense win it for them in the fourth quarter and have the defense shut the opponents down in the fourth quarter. The defense is really going to have to step their game up to keep the Arizona Cardinals from getting into a shootout. If that happnes this team will be out of their element and they will struggle.
I never thought the Arizona Cardinals were going to go 15-1, In fact I expect them to lose two or three more games. Now with Palmer’s experience and talent gone they aren’t going to Seattle and getting a win. They are going to struggle when they have to go to San Francisco (both games will have huge playoff implications). This team now looks like an 11-5, possibly 12-4 but I feel like that’s a stretch. If they play their cards right, that should get them a first round bye. If they play the way they’ve played in the regular season, they’ll have an ok shot. But in the playoffs anything is possible. Once you’re in it’s anyone chance to shine.
So to recap, this team should still make the playoffs if their defense plays as good or better than they have played. If Bruce Arians can coach the way he has been and this team should go to the playoffs with a 11-5 or 12-4 record and have a SHOT make a run at the Superbowl.