At long last, the 2017 NFL season is here!

For fans of the Arizona Cardinals, it’s a chance to forget about, well, a forgettable 2016 season in which their team fell short of astronomical expectations placed on it.

For the rest of the league, it’s a chance to try and knock off the rolling locomotive of the New England Patriots, who completed a historic 25-point comeback to win Super Bowl LI in Houston — the franchise’s fifth title in the Belichick-Brady era. No other team has won more than two Lombardi Trophies in that span.

The on-air staff of 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station put its collective prognostication cap on and has provided insight on the prospects for the Cardinals and what the rest of the league could like.

We’ll start with a look at what the guys think about the 2017 edition of the #Birdgang.

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11-5: 4 votes
10-6: 5 votes
9-7: 1 vote 

All of our panelists have the Cardinals notching a winning record, which would be the team’s fourth in five years under head coach Bruce Arians.

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Yes: 2 votes
No: 8 votes 

Of our panel, only Bertrand Berry and Dave Burns think Johnson will make history in becoming the third running back to accomplish the feat. Burnsy added background.

“At first I said no. But after thinking about it, I decided to backspace and delete my initial answer and say yes. B.A. is such a creative play caller and the commitment is there to involve him extensively. I think he’ll be close enough by the end of the season that they will make a concerted effort to get him those numbers,” he said.

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Average answer: 2,032 

While only 20 percent of the panel thinks the third-year back will get 1,000 each rushing and receiving, the average projection still has him going over 2,000 total yards.

Johnson led the NFL with 2,118 yards from scrimmage a year ago, but fell 121 yards short of 1,000 in the passing game.

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Markus Golden: 5.5 votes
Chandler Jones: 4.5 votes 

The Cardinals are blessed with two dynamic edge pass rushers. In fact, Golden and Jones are the only teammates who both had double-digit QB sacks last season.

Doug Franz predicted that each outside linebacker will have 12 sacks, thus the half-vote.

Respondents who chose Golden predict an average of 14.2 sacks. Those who chose Jones project 14.3.

Either way, that’s a lot of sacks!

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Robert Nkemdiche: 3 votes
Jaron Brown: 2 votes
Budda Baker: 1 vote
Justin Bethel: 1 vote
Jermaine Gresham: 1 vote
Josh Mauro: 1 vote
Olsen Pierre: 1 vote 

As you can see, there was a wide variety of answers given by the panel, but three (Franz, Gambo, Lapinski) are banking on Nkemdiche, the physically gifted defensive tackle from Ole Miss, who is entering his second year in the league.

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Offensive Line: 6 votes
Wide Receivers: 2 votes
Cornerbacks: 1 vote
Inside Linebackers: 1 vote 

The majority picks the offensive line — and based on a roster move this week, the Cardinals may agree. Steve Keim went out and signed veteran guard Alex Boone, who should initially provide depth, but most believe he’ll eventually take over for starter Evan Boehm. Protecting Carson Palmer is of paramount importance every season, so the onus falls on this group to perform.

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Jaron Brown: 5 votes
John Brown: 5 votes 

Even though the team says he’s ready to go and despite his two-touchdown performance in a preseason win over Atlanta, there is still a lot of concern about John Brown’s future. When healthy, he’s the Cardinals’ second-best receiver, as evidenced by a 1,000-yard season on his résumé. Jaron Brown, who himself is coming off of ACL surgery, has never had more than 22 catches in a single NFL season.

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National Football Conference

 

Host	NFC West	NFC East	NFC North	NFC South	NFC Wild Card	NFC Wild Card	NFC Championship
Bertrand Berry	Cardinals	Giants	Packers	Falcons	Panthers	Seahawks	Packers over Cardinals
Dan Bickley	Seahawks	Cowboys	Packers	Buccaneers	Cardinals	Giants	Cowboys over Seahawks
Dave Burns	Seahawks	Eagles	Packers	Buccaneers	Cardinals	Vikings	Packers over Seahawks
Paul Calvisi	Cardinals	Giants	Packers	Falcons	Seahawks	Vikings	Packers over Seahawks
Doug Franz	Seahawks	Cowboys	Packers	Panthers	Cardinals	Giants	Packers over Seahawks
John Gambadoro	Seahawks	Giants	Packers	Falcons	Cardinals	Buccaneers	Packers over Falcons
Mike Jurecki	Seahawks	Giants	Packers	Falcons	Cardinals	Cowboys	Seahawks over Falcons
Luke Lapinski	Seahawks	Giants	Packers	Panthers	Cardinals	Cowboys	Seahawks over Giants
Vince Marotta	Seahawks	Giants	Packers	Buccaneers	Falcons	Cardinals	Packers over Giants
Ron Wolfley	Cardinals	Giants	Vikings	Panthers	Seahawks	Packers	Panthers over Packers

American Football Conference

 

Host	AFC West	AFC East	AFC North	AFC South	AFC Wild Card	AFC Wild Card	AFC Championship
Bertrand Berry	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Chiefs	Titans	Patriots over Raiders
Dan Bickley	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Chiefs	Bengals	Raiders over Steelers
Dave Burns	Chiefs	Patriots	Steelers	Titans	Raiders	Texans	Patriots over Steelers
Paul Calvisi	Chiefs	Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Raiders	Ravens	Patriots over Steelers
Doug Franz	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Chiefs	Ravens	Patriots over Raiders
John Gambadoro	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Titans	Chiefs	Texans	Steelers over Patriots
Mike Jurecki	Chiefs	Patriots	Steelers	Titans	Raiders	Texans	Patriots over Steelers
Luke Lapinski	Chiefs	Patriots	Steelers	Titans	Raiders	Ravens	Patriots over Steelers
Vince Marotta	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Titans	Chiefs	Broncos	Patriots over Steelers
Ron Wolfley	Raiders	Patriots	Steelers	Texans	Ravens	Chiefs	Patriots over Steelers

Super Bowl LII

 

Host	Super Bowl Champ	OVER	Runner-up
Bertrand Berry		OVER
Dan Bickley		OVER
Dave Burns		OVER
Paul Calvisi		OVER
Doug Franz		OVER
John Gambadoro		OVER
Mike Jurecki		OVER
Luke Lapinski		OVER
Vince Marotta		OVER
Ron Wolfley		OVER

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