Lessons from the 2024 NFL season, and what the Cardinals need to flourish
Monti Ossenfort needs to pull the right levers, signing high-end talent in free agency and drafting impact players just like the Eagles did in 2024.
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Football season is over. The Eagles laugh last. The implications are stunning.
Nick Sirianni outcoached Andy Reid on the biggest stage in football. Patrick Mahomes will be forever haunted for playing his worst game on the biggest stage at the worst time, for failing to become the NFL’s first three-peat champion.
Both Mahomes and Reid are currently pursuing GOAT status at their respective positions. They know they will never get that opportunity again.
I once believed Philadelphia sports fans already had their championship for the ages, a Super Bowl victory over Tom Brady’s Patriots that could never be topped. Now, I’m sure I don’t know. It’s one thing to beat an aging dynasty on a trick pass to quarterback Nick Foles. It’s even better to beat your vaunted opponent bloody, into shock and into submission.
On Monday, a dental hygienist claimed her allegiance to the Eagles while working on my teeth. Last year, one of her wedding presents included a bet on her behalf — a $100 preseason wager on the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. Her $1,400 payout was a near guarantee before halftime. And as a fan of the 1985 Bears, I can attest there is nothing better for civic morale than winning a Super Bowl in dominant fashion.
Here’s what else I learned in the NFL in 2024
– There were 1,387 touchdowns scored in the regular season. None of them were better than Saquan Barkley’s reverse hurdle, which resulted in a modest 14-yard gain.
– Jayden Daniels was the breakout star in 2024. Bryce Young and Michael Penix Jr. are quarterbacks to watch in 2025.
– The Lions proved you can peak too early in a 17-game schedule; that offense doesn’t win championships in football; and no culture is strong enough to survive a never-ending rash of injuries. To wit: Aidan Hutchinson had 4.5 sacks in a game against the Buccaneers in September. He had 7.5 when he broke his leg in mid-October. For all their passion and resourcefulness, the Lions couldn’t replace him when it mattered most.
– This is now a tenuous time for the legacy of Detroit head coach Dan Campbell, one of the NFL’s great ambassadors. He’s lost both of his top-flight coordinators. He went 0-1 in the playoffs after a 15-win regular season. If he doesn’t make the Super Bowl in 2025, the Lions might rank among Steve Nash’s Suns as the greatest eras that led to zero championships.
– Super Bowl 58 was the longest in history, featuring 74 minutes and 57 seconds of playing time. By contrast, Sunday’s encore was over at the 29:50 mark, when the Eagles went up 24-0 with 10 seconds left in the first half.
– Cardinals’ owner Michael Bidwill earned heavy praise for staging an emergency game in Glendale to aid the rival Rams during catastrophic fires in Los Angeles. And then he was hit with another lawsuit from a former employee — a personal assistant who claims he treated her like garbage. The Cardinals strongly deny the allegations and Bidwill seems to be in very good standing with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. But these stories are piling up.
– The Top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL are now: 1. Josh Allen; 2. Patrick Mahomes; 3. Lamar Jackson; 4. Joe Burrow; 5. Jayden Daniels; 6. Jalen Hurts; 7. Jared Goff; 8. Matthew Stafford; 9. Justin Herbert; 10. Baker Mayfield.
– The Diamondbacks have a gem of a GM in Mike Hazen, so competent that the owner is happily granting near autonomy and unprecedented amounts of money to build a World Series title. The Cardinals need Monti Ossenfort to do the same right here and now.
He needs to pull all the right levers, signing high-end talent in free agency and drafting immediate impact players. Just like the Rams and Eagles did in 2024. For the Valley to flourish, Ossenfort needs to make himself irreplaceable in the coming months, earning the leverage, terms and conditions he needs to win a championship in Arizona.
Reach Bickley at dbickley@arizonasports.com. Listen to Bickley & Marotta weekdays from 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
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Comments
38 Comments
I like the idea of getting rid of the lil one. But wouldn't take on Rodgers. He lives to much in his own mind.
i also wouldn't look at reclamation projects.
I'd rather they just take Milroe at 16. You'd be getting a version of Lamar Jackson just not sure which version.
a good QB would cure allot of MHJ 's failings. And day will probably get in his ear about the dropped balls. (Prolly a good QB might figure out getting him the ball in his comfort spots in the route works better.)
and I'm think they'll go edge in free agency, just probably a couple Ojulari types not, Reddick or Sweat.
don't think Monti looks for flash, just system fit.
The classic stat line argument.
Did you watch him play last year? Because, for the life of me, I can't see how anyone could watch Rodgers constantly missing open receivers and think he was better than Murray at this point. This is also coming from someone not high on Murray btw. This is just 100% bogus nonsense.