ARIZONA CARDINALS

Arizona Cardinals camp — the good

Jul 25, 2013, 9:32 PM | Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 1:05 pm

Thursday is the beginning of it all. Almost every team is reporting or has reported for the start of the NFL season.

I have no idea what the season will bring for the Cardinals. It’s easy to assume there won’t be a trip to the playoffs, but in the NFL, there’s always a surprise team.

The Cardinals have a lot of ingredients that would normally put them in the mix as being one of the teams experts pick as a dark horse. Unfortunately, there’s one major issue keeping them from being included in any postseason discussion: the NFC West.

Rod Graves and Ken Whisenhunt did a masterful job of setting up the franchise to dominate the West at the beginning of their tenure together. But as much credit as they deserve, they made a laundry list of bad decisions coupled with stubborn attitudes to open the door for other teams in the division while erasing everything they previously accomplished. Due to those decisions, it will take quite a few lucky breaks for the Cardinals to compete for the postseason in a division where splitting games with NFC West foes would exceed expectations.

So here we are in 2013 with the positives, questions and negatives for the season.

Today we’ll start with the positives.

THE FRONT OFFICE

Michael Bidwill made an expensive but winning decision to release a head coach and some assistants while they were still under contract because there were three years of long losing streaks. Even better, one good decision didn’t lead to a cheap one. At OTAs, it appeared the Cardinals led the league in coaches. There’s a lot of manpower on the field to catch mistakes and “coach ’em up.”

Steve Keim showed how different his regime is this week. When did Rod Graves and Ken Whisenhunt bring in veteran free agents right at the start of camp? Maybe Graves didn’t put the film work in to be able to pounce on players. Obviously Keim knew he could bring in depth at his price. Maybe Whisenhunt thought it impossible for a player to really assimilate himself to the offense/defense without an offseason. Obviously, Bruce Arians is confident in his coaching ability that he can get late arrivals like Eric Winston ready to play.

THE ENERGY OF THE COACHING STAFF

Notice I didn’t say the coaching staff itself as a positive. That will be talked about Friday. It would be complete wishful thinking to say the coaches are a positive when you’re talking about a first-year head coach. You can pre-judge the positive vibe Arians and his staff brought to the team, however. It’s clear there’s a more personal connection between the head coach and his players.

LARRY FITZGERALD

I don’t need to write anything.

PATRICK PETERSON

Peterson possesses a combination of God-given talent, hatred of failure and desire, and is now willingly accepting of a leadership position.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The return game with Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu is loaded. Jay Feely is an accurate kicker. Dave Zastudil is well-above average handling punting. Plus, don’t dismiss the quality signing of Lorenzo Alexander, an excellent kick/punt coverage special team Pro-Bowler.

There are very few negatives. Only a couple more positives than negatives. Tomorrow, the questions.

Arizona Cardinals

Super Bowl NFL...

Dan Bickley

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.

10 hours ago

Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort looks on. It's officially NFL mock draft season with Arizona's...

Tyler Drake

NFL mock draft tracker: What will Cardinals do with No. 16 pick?

A look across the NFL mock draft landscape when it comes to the Arizona Cardinals' No. 16 overall pick in this year's draft.

19 hours ago

Chiefs Eagles...

Associated Press

Eagles deny the Chiefs a Super Bowl 3-peat with dominant defense in rout

The Chiefs didn't come close to completing their 3-peat, as the Eagles' dominant defense led Philadelphia to a rout and Super Bowl victory.

1 day ago

Cooper DeJean...

Damon Allred

Eagles stun Chiefs with pick-6, shutout first half in Super Bowl

Cooper DeJean had more yards on his pick-six than Patrick Mahomes had to his own team as the Philadelphia Eagles blitzed the Kansas City Chiefs to a shutout first half.

1 day ago

Aaron Rodgers...

Associated Press

Jets tell Aaron Rodgers they’re ‘moving on’ from the QB for next season, report says

Aaron Rodgers is still contemplating whether to continue his playing career. If he does, it appears it won’t be with the New York Jets.

2 days ago

The Chiefs try to make history against the Eagles by winning a third consecutive Super Bowl, this t...

Associated Press

Chiefs aim to make history in city where they won their first Super Bowl

The Chiefs will try to make history against the Eagles by winning a third consecutive Super Bowl, this time in the same city where they won their first.

2 days ago

Arizona Cardinals camp — the good