The Cardinals became the second team this season to reach 11 wins with a 23-20 victory over the Vikings on Thursday Night Football. After bursting on the scene last season, only to be rampaged by injuries, Arizona has proven that they aren’t a flash in the pan. The thing is though that when you think of top stories in the NFL for 2015, the Cardinals probably don’t even make the top ten. And to be honest, Bruce Arians’ men wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
While they are the epitome of a team, two main reasons for Arizona’s continued success this season is the health of quarterback Carson Palmer and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. The 2014 Cardinals campaign was left in shambles when Palmer went down with an ACL tear. Backup Drew Stanton would follow Palmer to the IR. Third stringer Logan Thomas would trudge through his own portfolio of bumps and bruises. So when the 11-5 Cardinals traveled to 7-8-1 Carolina during Wild Card Weekend, fourth stringer Ryan Lindley would be under center. The results were predictably poor. Arizona was also without both of their top two backs, several lineman on both sides of the ball, and their top two linebackers for the game.
They also had a hobbled Larry Fitzgerald who soldiered through injuries that he admitted would have ended his season had they not been heading to the postseason. But for this year both men have been (knock on wood) healthy as can be and the offense has flourished. FItzgerald’s consistent presence on the field has allowed John Brown and Michael Floyd to further develop as viable weapons in the passing game. He isn’t just Arizona’s receiving Yoda. Fitzy is second only to Julio Jones in receptions with 96. His catch percentage (catches/targets) of 75% is better than any other receiver in the Top 10. Palmer is putting up MVP numbers with that trio along with an all-Johnson duo (Chris & David) in his backfield as perfect compliments to one another. Palmer set the single season Arizona passing TD record with 31. He still has three games to go. He also has a legitimate shot to become the sixth QB ever to pass 5000 yards passing.
The Arizona defense has been anything but slouches either. They too were infested with the injury bug last season, but have mixed career renaissances with young stars to become a potent unit. They have a young ball hawking secondary led by safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Deone Bucannon. Dwight Freeney, presumed washed up by both San Diego and Indianapolis, is still getting to the QB in the desert. He doesn’t do much else any more, but the slack is more than picked up by Kevin Minter and Calais Campbell. Arizona is in the middle of the pack defensively if you only look at statistics. But just like Freeney’s strip sack of Teddy Bridgewater on TNF, they have the habit of making the big plays in the big moments.
Arizona came into the year understandably as the second banana in the NFC West to the defending NFC champion Seahawks. That balance of power shifted early in 2015. Seattle got off to a rough start. Arizona made up for lost opportunities. However, the media focused more on Seattle’s shortcomings than Arizona’s ascendency.
It wasn’t just in the division taking the headlines away from the Cardinals. An early, and ugly loss, to the Rams left them in the background as an unprecedented four teams (Carolina, New England, Denver, & Cincinnati) raced out to 7-0 records. Not even I was immune to neglectfulness. Arizona would lose one more game, but as these undefeated squads started to falter, the Cardinals just got stronger.
With the win against the Vikings, Arizona is now qualified for the playoffs. They can clinch the NFC West with a win next week or a Seattle loss this week. They’ll probably enter the playoffs with little fanfare and even less media coverage. The Cardinals will revel in their anonymity. But come that divisional weekend, they’ll emerge from the shadows and show why they should be considered a Super Bowl favorite.