Cardinals season not over by any stretch according to Frostee Rucker

Of the many things that have gone wrong for the Arizona Cardinals this season, the one thing seems to be going right is the timing of the bye week.

At a record of 3-4-1, the Cardinals face the prospect of being on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin and not playing for a Super Bowl like many expected.

Nevertheless, it’s not a time to panic for the Cardinals. Instead, it’s a time for them take advantage of the bye week coming at the halfway point of the season.

“It is what it is. We are 3-4-1. We played tough really down to the end of the games and we didn’t come out on top. Last year we did. This year it just didn’t happen,” Cardinals defensive end Frostee Rucker told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Off The Edge with B-Train. “This is a different year, a different team and we are going to create our identity in how hard we work and how hard we finish this next eight (games).”

Last year, the Cardinals finished 13-3 and one win away from making their second Super Bowl appearance. With everyone back from last year’s team, many experts were predicting them to win it all this year.

That has not been the case, however, as the Cardinals dropped close games to New England, Los Angeles and tied divisional rival Seattle. Mixed in there was a blowout loss to Buffalo and a 10-point loss to Carolina.

“It’s just work and that is one thing that we have never shy away from as long as I have been a Cardinal,” Rucker said. “We will be pumped up and excited to get back to work. We had a good week of work. We just had meetings and corrected a lot of stuff and this is a time to get in and reset and recharge and get your mind ready for the stretch.”

It’s a stretch that may not get any easier for the Cardinals, as two of their next three games are on the road against divisional leaders. In addition, the Cardinals will travel to Seattle on Christmas Eve and Los Angeles on Jan. 1.

Still, the spirits are high according to Rucker, saying that there no chance this team feels defeated despite the struggles.

“The season isn’t over by any stretch and we can control our destiny if we can get back to work and get some guys healthy,” he said. “I think we have the team to do it. Our goals have never wavered, it’s just the expectations that were out there are proceeding each other. Everyone is making us out to be this team that is going to go undefeated and that’s not always the case. But you can still go where you need to go if we tighten up a couple of areas.”