Unlike past playoffs, Cardinals enter this run as favorites

TEMPE, Ariz. — In all but one way, the Arizona Cardinals are not exactly trying to make any history as they embark on their playoff run this weekend.

As a franchise, the team has won playoff games. As a franchise, the Cardinals have reached the Super Bowl.

Their last playoff win was in 2010, though, and that Super Bowl — which they lost 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers — was played on Feb. 1, 2009.

Three players on this year’s team, receiver Larry Fitzgerald, center Lyle Sendlein and defensive lineman Calais Campbell, were with the team back then, and have a different perspective than most on what the team is trying to achieve now.

No doubt everyone within the organization would like to win three more games (and thus be Super Bowl champions), but the way the team is entering these playoffs is considerably different than pretty much every other time they’ve gotten to this point.

These Cardinals are not just a plucky playoff team; they are, in many eyes, the team to beat.

“I would say this is probably the first time,” Fitzgerald said of that perception. “The other couple years I’ve been there, last year with us going in limping like we did last year, it wasn’t the same feeling. A couple years back, I think our second year after we went to the Super Bowl there was a little bit more expectations.

“But the first year we were considered the worst playoff team to ever get into the dance, so there wasn’t a lot of pressure. But it’s a lot different situation when you’re being hunted as opposed to hunting.”

The veteran pointed to how during their Super Bowl run, predictions were they would get knocked out in the Wild Card round and that outside doubt is something they fed off of.

“Now, we’re the favorites,” he said. “We’re playing at home, we’re expected to win. So you can’t be lulled to sleep by that stuff.”

Betting lines have the Cardinals at roughly a seven-point favorite over the Packers, and should they beat Green Bay, will have plenty picking them over either the top-seeded Carolina Panthers or sixth-seeded Seattle Seahawks.

Fitzgerald said there is no fear that being favored could be an issue because head coach Bruce Arians won’t allow the team to get complacent.

“But we have a lot of guys, great veteran leadership,” he said, citing Carson Palmer, Dwight Freeney, Frostee Rucker and Red Bryant as players who have playoff experience and understand the situation the team is in. “Not many people get to this position; we’re one of eight teams remaining out of 32.

“That’s a great place to be but you don’t want to fall short of your ultimate goal.”

They are three wins away from achieving it, and in a way, it would be a bit of an upset of they did not. That, in itself, is unheard of for this organization.

In 2008, the Cardinals were two-point favorites for the Atlanta Falcons in the Wild Card Round, but were 10-point underdogs at Carolina in the Divisional Round. They were 3.5-point dogs against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium, and were given 6.5 points in Super Bowl XLIII against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The following season, they were three-point underdogs to the visiting Packers in the Wild Card Round and seven-point road dogs at New Orleans in the Divisional Round.  Last season, in their return to the postseason, they went into Carolina, which finished the season with a 7-8-1 record, 5.5-point underdogs.

They were not favorites in either of their two playoff games in 1998, at Dallas in the Wild Card Round and at Minnesota in the Divisional Round.

Of the nine playoff games they have appeared in, just once were they expected to win.

But this team is different in most every way.

Unlike last season, the Cardinals enter the playoffs with a healthy Carson Palmer.

Unlike 2008 and 2009, the Cardinals feature one of the league’s better defenses to go along with a dynamic offense.

And unlike 1998, the Cardinals did not need some miracle, close finishes down the stretch just to squeak into the playoffs as an upstart team.

This year they are a really good team, and there is a difference between thinking you might win and knowing you can. They are the favorite for a reason.

“We’re a very confident team,” Campbell said. “It all comes down to execution. Talent is never a question, especially this year. This is the most talented team I’ve ever been a part of. A very smart team, too. When we play smart and we play to our full potential, we’re a tough team to beat. That’s the goal. Play as hard as we can, as fast as we can, as smart as we can.”

Opportunities like this do not come around often. For the Cardinals, especially, where they are at is rarefied air. Campbell, Fitzgerald and Sendlein, who have been part of some very good seasons as well as some very, very bad ones, know that about as well as anyone.

“That’s what I’ve tried to tell guys, especially guys that have been here two years, we’ve gone to the playoffs the past two years but there was six years between there where we didn’t make it, so capitalizing on these opportunities — my second year here we went to the Super Bowl,” Sendlein said. “I was young and thought, ‘Oh, we’ll get back.’

“So, hopefully they’ve got that point to enjoy this but a lot has to happen to get here.”

Indeed there is still a lot of football that needs to be played, and while the Cardinals could very well be 120 minutes away from the Super Bowl and 180 away from a championship, they could also be 60 away from their season coming to a close.

That’s the reality of playoff football, and no matter if the Cardinals were the favorites, as they are, or underdogs, as they have been in the past, the only thing that matters is how they play on the field.

But make no mistake, the Cardinals are happy to be where they are, favored to do big things in the coming weeks.

“I think it’s deserved,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve played well up to this point. In this business you get what you put out there.

“We’ve played good and we deserve to be the No. 2 seed, and what we do with it is up to us. There’s no better feeling than to control your own destiny, and we have ultimate control over that at this point.”

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