NFL.com’s Schein: Cardinals are most likely to be NFL’s version of Cavaliers

On Monday, Arizona Sports’ Dave Burns wrote on how Valley sports fans should at this time be giving thanks to the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks.

His reasoning?

Because without them, we’d be Cleveland. Or at least, we’d be what Cleveland was.

Yes, on Sunday the Cavaliers helped end their city’s incredibly long and torturous championship drought, the likes of which Arizona would be going through had Randy Johnson Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez and Co. not come through in 2001.

Imagine that. Actually, on second thought, don’t. It would be awful.

Even with the ’01 D-backs, Arizona fans have rarely had a chance to root for a championship-caliber team. Things are different now, though, as the Cardinals appear to be every bit the Super Bowl contender. Could this be the season they get back to the big game and, maybe, even win it?

According to NFL.com’s Adam Schein, the answer is yes.

In a piece going over nine teams who could very will win their first Super Bowl this season, the writer put the Cardinals at No. 1.

Arizona has become a model franchise under team president Michael Bidwill, with the Cardinals playing in a gorgeous stadium. They employ the best head coach-general manager combination in the league: Bruce Arians and Steve Keim. The roster is loaded in every phase. Keim addressed the one glaring weakness — edge pass rushing — by trading for Chandler Jones this offseason. Tyrann Mathieu is still recovering from last season’s knee injury, but long-term extension talks tell you the Cardinals aren’t extremely worried about his ability to get back to those Honey Badger, ballhawking ways. The offense is versatile and dynamic. Carson Palmer, fresh off the best statistical season of his career, still should have gas left in the tank at age 36. It certainly helps that the veteran quarterback is surrounded by explosive playmakers: receivers Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd, as well as second-year running back David Johnson, a player Arians believes could be “one of the all-time best.”

Along with explaining why he thinks the Cardinals could make a run at Super Bowl LI, Schein also notes how the Cardinals — with an all-time record of 535-724-39 — have not exactly been a franchise known for winning. That started to change when Bidwill took the reins, and over the last few seasons with Arians and Keim leading the way the Cardinals have become one of the NFL’s most consistently good teams.

In 2013, the Cardinals won 10 games, and that number rose to 11 in 2014 and then 13 in 2015. The Cardinals reached the NFC Championship Game last season, falling just one win short of the Super Bowl and two victories shy of their first Super Bowl title.

So, what’s the next step? As Schein notes, a championship victory.

It would mean so much to fans all over the great state of Arizona, folks who have watched this organization blossom before their very eyes.

Follow @theAdamGreen