Arizona head coach Kent Whisenhunt has brought a new identity to the Cardinals--a contender

It was only a matter of weeks ago that the Arizona Cardinals clinched their division, which really didn’t surprise anyone. The Cardinals play in perhaps the worst division in the NFL. The Cardinals had to slug it out with juggernauts such as the San Francisco 49ers (7-9…which is actually a dramatic improvement for the 49ers, but still sub-par), Seattle Seahawks (4-12), and St. Louis Rams (2-14). Their division is so bad that every one of their teams lost their head coaches to retirement or to just stinking, the Cardinals had no choice but to take the division crown. The Cardinals followed up their division clinching game by traveling to New England and having the Patriots clip their wings.

If there is one thing that we all know (or should know by now), it’s that the #1 seeds in each conference don’t always make it to the Super Bowl. As a matter of fact, the last time two #1 seeds met was in 1993 when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills. So, building on that, it is the teams that get hot that get to the Super Bowl. As bad as the Cardinals were when they limped into the playoffs, they got hot. Just like the New York Giants last year, Arizona got some swagger and put away the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers on the road, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Kurt Warner and company have done what the skeptics have kept telling them they couldn’t. How could you blame everyone for doubting them? They are the Cardinals after all, until this post-season the best thing they had going for them was an awesome stadium with the retractable field.

No doubt the Cardinals are ecstatic to be in the Super Bowl, but the question still remains, is it good for the Super Bowl to have the Arizona Cardinals? Will the Pittsburgh Steelers embarrass Arizona in the first half and shift viewers attention away from football and toward the commercials, or will Arizona keep it close? Last year was the most viewed Super Bowl ever, so they are already looking at a decrease in their TV audience. In my opinion, the Cardinals have a great chance to beat the Pittsburgh. Warner isn’t exactly leading “The Greatest Show on Turf,” nor is he in his prime anymore, but he has a lot of weapons and they think they are a greater show on turf. Thinking they are that good is half the battle, I think they are just a Marshall Faulk short.

Tags: NFL

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.