Arizona Cardinals
2011 PFF All-NFC West Team
The most maligned division in the NFL once again produced a mixed bag from its teams this season and for the eighth straight year an NFC West squad collected a postseason victory. The division produced one of the best sides in the NFL, one of the worst, and two teams who had up-and-down season that offered hope to the optimistic that they might make strides next season and equal evidence to doubters that they could fall back in 2012.
But 2012 is for the future and right now we are honoring the best players from the NFC West for the 2011 regular season as we make the final stop on our All-Division tour. The team unsurprisingly features a high number of San Francisco 49ers, but each team had players to be proud of this season and one St. Louis Ram has a rare honor that was afforded to no other player in this series. What was that honor? Read on and find out as we unveil our last All-Division Team for 2011.
Re-Focused: Seahawks @ Cardinals, Week 17
As commentators Sam Rosen and Chad Pennington kept on telling us this was a good, hard-fought encounter where both teams played like they had a lot more on the line than pride. It was as if Fox were concerned you couldn’t work out for yourself if you were enjoying the game; let’s just reassure the people watching that football with nothing at stake can be more entertaining than watching Tim Tebow struggle to complete 25% of his throws, they said … without actually saying it of course.
Truthfully, this was far more to my taste with some outstanding play on both sides to discuss and extrapolate into next year. When the dust of this season settles, the offseason is done and we are looking forward to Kick Off 2012, will what we saw here be far more salient than what was transpiring in Mile High?
Three to Focus on: Seahawks @ Cardinals, Week 17
After a late push for the playoffs, Seattle’s hopes were ended last week when they lost to the 49ers. It was a tough ask for them to find a way into the postseason but Seahawks fans can take faith from the way the team battled down the stretch.
Likewise in Arizona–despite some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL–the Cardinals found themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt until late in the game at Cincinnati. Although they didn’t make the playoffs, the Cardinals looked a much better team late in the season than they had the rest of the year.
Despite the fact that this had been highlighted as a meaningless game by many due to it not having any playoff implications, both these teams go into this game desperate for a win to end their seasons on a high as they head towards 2012 an here are three areas to focus on. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Cardinals @ Bengals, Week 16
At half time the Cincinnati Bengals were coasting. A 20 point lead and a further field goal in the third quarter stretched it to 23. Mission accomplished; a comfortable victory to keep their playoff hopes alive and end the Arizona Cardinals playoff hopes. In the end the Bengals did win out, but a mini fourth quarter collapse put their ability to control their own destiny, in the playoff race, in doubt. But for the most untimely trip of the season, they would likely have been headed to an overtime period with a Cardinals team that has shown itself capable of pulling off the biggest plays in overtime periods to put away their opponent. The Bengals flirted with disaster in the fourth but their win, combined with a New York Jets loss, sees a sixth seed in an AFC North dominated playoffs within their grasp.
For the Cardinals this was the end of an improbable playoff run as they recovered from a 1-6 start to sit at 7-7 entering this week’s game. Behind some of the most inconsistent and at times awful quarterback play during that stretch that is a truly remarkable run that shows that Ken Whisenhunt might just be building a team that can grow and challenge the San Francisco 49ers in the coming seasons if they can find the right man under center.
Three to Focus On: Cardinals @ Bengals, Week 16
When I was growing up, watching a matchup between these two teams would’ve been terrible. In the 1990’s, these teams were consistently near the bottom of their divisions and just not great football teams. Both franchises have slowly turned their fortunes around, and now are having good years mixed with the bad. This year both teams have been very average and with two weeks remaining, both are still alive in the playoff hunt.
Instead of it being a boring matchup like my inner child would think this would be, it is now basically an elimination match. The winner will likely keep their playoff hopes alive and the loser likely having their shot at the playoffs dissipate. There might not be as many stars on these teams to give the game more national attention, but there are plenty of good players that you may not have heard of. You can’t ask for much more than that, so here are the three matchups that will determine who might be playing into January.
Re-Focused: Browns @ Cardinals, Week 15
On the surface of things, a Cleveland Browns versus Arizona Cardinals contest didn’t appear to be something that would provide much excitement. Indeed you only needed to look at the respective quarterbacks on display to think this game could go down as one of those instantly forgettable end of seasons.
Well credit to John Skelton, Seneca Wallace and their respective teams, because in front of a sellout crowd at the University of Phoenix stadium, we were given a match up that delivered more quality, tension and excitement than anyone could have predicted. Ultimately that was to the joy of the home fans, who saw their team overcome a 10-point deficit, with the Browns finally losing their battle to reign in the explosive Patrick Peterson’s punt returns.
That said this game deserved to be remembered more for a break down in coverage or overtime punt return. No, this was a game that featured several impressive performance (and some not so), and it’s only fair we do our bit to highlight them.
Three to Focus on: Browns @ Cardinals, Week 15
When you’re this late into the season, there are three kind of games. There are the ones between two teams fighting for playoff seeding, the one between a future playoff team and a team playing for pride, and then there is the game between two teams who are out of the picture already.
This game is somewhere in between the second and the third, as the Cleveland Browns have no playoff shot, while the Cardinals need a miracle. The miracle has already started with wins over the Cowboys and 49ers. If they can handle two of the better teams in the NFC, then Cleveland who has lost six of their last seven should be no problem. Quarterback Colt McCoy could very well miss this game as well, which should make things even easier. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: 49ers @ Cardinals, Week 14
A drubbing to the 49ers just three weeks ago must have woken Arizona up, because the Cardinals showed plenty of heart and fire this time around. Arizona was on a quest to put together a three-game winning streak after a slow start to what has been an up-and-down season.
For the 49ers, their offense found rhythm at times, but overall, Alex Smith had a day to forget. Frank Gore had a nice 37-yard TD run, but outside of that, San Francisco failed to score touchdowns in the red zone, settling for field goals instead.
Let’s take a look at some of the individual performances that propelled the Cardinals to their sixth victory of the season. Read the rest of this entry »
Three to Focus on: 49ers @ Cardinals Week 14
The battle for the No. 2 seed in the NFC between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints continues to heat up with the Saints looking better and better each week and the 49ers continuing to show their impressive defense with the best front seven in all of football.
They’ll expect to have more success this week against an Arizona offense with very few highlights this year. Defensively, however, the Cardinals have at least seen some impressive and encouraging performances, most notable on their defensive line in Calais Campbell. The Cardinals would surely love to spoil the 49ers’ chances of a bye week to start the postseason with a win here. Read the rest of this entry »
Re-Focused: Cowboys @ Cardinals, Week 13
OK, raise your hand if you saw this one coming. Dallas with a chance to take control of the NFC East blows the game to the Cardinals who were just grateful they didn’t have to start John Skelton anymore.
In a game that went down to the wire (actually beyond the wire as we hit over time), Jason Garrett showed some impressive coaching calamity as he successfully iced his own kicker, negating a kick Dan Bailey put straight down the middle with a late timeout only to see him shank his next try.
Arizona got the ball in overtime and worked their way to midfield before a moment of magic sealed the win with a touchdown. So how did it go down?
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