NFL Network’s Steve Wyche: Cardinals are a Super Bowl favorite
Jul 12, 2016, 3:00 PM
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) celebrates his touchdown catch with teammate J.J. Nelson (14) during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Arizona Cardinals were one win away from reaching the Super Bowl in 2015. In 2016, they could go all the way.
NFL Network analyst Steve Wyche gave his thoughts on the NFC West in an interview on Off the Edge on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Tuesday. Wyche told host Bertrand Berry that the division would likely come down to the Cardinals or Seahawks, but that the Cardinals are a complete team with Super Bowl potential.
“I think it’s going to be Seattle and Arizona,” Wyche said. “Arizona I think will probably enter the season as one of the two favorites to come out of the NFC to the Super Bowl, just because they’re loaded and adding Chandler Jones. I remember talking to Steve Keim before a game last year, he’s like, ‘Look, we like generating pressure from all over but we need that elite guy.'”
The Cardinals traded a second-round pick and offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper to the Patriots in March for Jones, a defensive end. With the Patriots in 2015, Jones logged 12.5 sacks and 44 tackles. He totaled 36 sacks in four seasons with New England.
“He’s a stud, a big time player,” Wyche added. “The Patriots don’t typically have a singular guy getting double-digit sacks, just the way their scheme is. He did it. He’s a huge addition to that defense. And then getting Robert Nkemdiche in the draft, if he plays to his potential, that’s really going to be a big boost.”
Even without Jones and Nkemdiche, the Cardinals went 13-3 last year for the NFC West Division title and made it to the NFC Championship Game. The Seahawks, against whom the Cardinals split their series last year, went 10-6 for second place in the NFC West. The then-St. Louis Rams, now in Los Angeles, were 7-9 and finished third.
“Seattle, there’s question marks,” Wyche said. “That offensive line, they could have five different players starting a new position on the offensive line. Defensively, they’re loaded. I think it’s really going to come down to those two, [Los Angeles] will be a thorn, but I don’t think they’re really going to emerge to challenge for the title.”
The roster from last season’s first-place Cardinals remains largely in tact going into the 2016 season. With the improvements to the defensive line, Wyche said Arizona doesn’t have any major holes to fill.
“I think everyone would like their offensive line to be a little bit better,” he said. “I mean health and durability: You’ve got to keep Carson (Palmer) up, you’ve got to keep Tyrann Mathieu. They lost some folks in the secondary. That’s going to be an issue to see who can come over and play that opposite corner, opposite Patrick Peterson. But there is nothing glaring.
“When you look at other teams, even a team like Carolina, you say to yourself, ‘They still have some issues on the offensive line, that’s concerning.’ Seattle: offensive line issues. Green Bay: Can their defense ever put it together? What about Eddie Lacy? You don’t say that about Arizona. You don’t look at any particular position and say, ‘Ooh, they’ve really got to hide a blemish right there.’ So, again I think that’s why they’re going to be picked going into the season as one of the top teams to be a Super Bowl favorite.”
