The Cardinals franchise began play in 1920. They were NFL champions in 1925, again in 1947, and played in Super Bowl XLIII in February 2009.
They have played in three different cities over the years (Chicago, St Louis and Phoenix), but this organization has never had a more talented team than they have today in the desert.
The NFC Western Division Champions have already won more games (13) than any Cardinals team in the 95-year history of the franchise. As the No. 2 seed, they are coming off of their first postseason bye in team history.
Yes, this team is better than the 11-3 Don Coryell Cardinals of 1975 who lost in the divisional playoffs.
While we can only project, suffice to say, this year’s Cardinals are more talented than those championship teams of long ago.
But their road to the Championship will involve three games, not one (like in '47) or, in the NFL's early going, no postseason games as was the case in ’25.
Renaissance men
Bruce Arians, in his third season as a head coach, is truly a renaissance man getting his first head coaching position in his sixties, but he’s not the only one on this squad!
Quarterback Carson Palmer, at 36 years old, is coming off his best season ever with a 104.6 passer rating (ranking 3rd in the league).
Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, at 32 years old, posted one of his best overall seasons, finding a fountain of youth in the slot. He set a franchise record with 109 receptions for 1,215 yards and 9 touchdowns.
Finally, Dwight Freeney, one of the league’s all time leading sackers (115.5) but a discarded street free agent this season, was picked up at midseason by Arizona and came on to make eight sacks for the Cardinals. That included three sacks, a forced fumble, and two tackles for losses in the week 16 victory over Green Bay.
For these three renaissance men this might be their last chance to grasp a championship ring.
Super caliber
What makes this team “Super” is not just its outstanding offense, second in scoring (30.5), first in yardage (408.3), but the defense.
James Bettcher's unit is seventh in scoring (19.5) and fifth in yardage (321.7). Only Carolina (first in scoring and sixth in points allowed) really compares with Arizona’s overall numbers.
There are three teams that appear to have that intangible “Super” quality, and they all reside in the NFC: the Panthers, Cardinals and (yes) the Seahawks.
In the next two weeks, two of them will go home and the other to the biggest game of the season. Long a losing franchise, these Redbirds appeared poised to make that Super Bowl run.
But nothing is a given, every post season win must be earned on the field and anything can happen in the playoffs. That’s part of what gives Green Bay hope despite a 38-8 defeat three weeks ago to these Cardinals in Arizona.
