The Arizona Cardinals were one of the best teams in the NFL to start the year. They won their first seven games of the year, and everyone thought they were going to be legit Super Bowl contenders. After that, the season was all downhill. They lost a close game to the Green Bay Packers by three and then lost two weeks later to the Carolina Panthers in a bad loss by 24 points.
It seems every year the Cardinals show the league that they can be really good, but then they implode at some point in the season. It almost seems that the rest of the league figures them out for the second half of the year and they are unable to perform on either side of the ball. Last season was much of the same, as they started the year 5-2, but they ended the season just 8-8.
It will be an interesting offseason in Arizona to see if this team makes any significant moves. They did have some major injuries this year, including one to their star wide receiver Deandre Hopkins and also pass-rusher J.J. Watt. Still, this team was bad late in the year, losing four of their last five games when they only needed one more win to clinch the division title.
That ultimately led to the Cardinals’ early first-round playoff exit to the Los Angeles Rams in a blowout loss, 38-11. This team has talent, but they will need to figure it out soon with this group.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cardinals_WR_DeAndre_Hopkins.jpg
