Carson Palmer
A few weeks ago the Arizona Cardinals were the feel good story of the National Football League. The Cardinals were 7-1 and they were the class off the NFC. Then in Week 10 when the Cardinals were hosting the St. Louis Rams, disaster struck. In the second half of the game, Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer suffered a knee injury which put a hush over the crowd at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Palmer suffered a torn ACL in his knee which ended his season which put the Cardinals dream of becoming the first NFL team to play in their home stadium for the Super Bowl in jeopardy. The Cardinals would defeat the Rams that day 31-14 and in the following week they would win a defensive struggle at home versus the Detroit Lions 14-6. Following the victory over the Lions, the Cardinals were 9-1 with a three-game lead over both the Seattle Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. But since then the Cardinals have lost two games in a row and their big lead within the division has faded quicker than the sun this time of the year in the Western Hemisphere.
In Week 12, the Cardinals headed to Seattle to meet the Seahawks and a win there would all but wrap up Arizona’s first division crown since 2009. In a defensive struggle, the Cardinals lost 19-3. But there was nothing to fret about due to the fact the CenturyLink Field in Seattle is a tough place for visitors to get a victory and the Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl Champs, right? This past Sunday, the Cardinals were favored on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. But the Cards were dominated from the opening kickoff as they lost 29-18. Now with four games left in the regular season the Cardinals have a two-game lead over the Niners and just a one-game lead over the Seahawks as it has now become nail biting time for them.
Bruce Arians
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has developed a reputation of being a quarterback guru. In 2008, Arians was the offensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers when he helped quarterback Ben Roethlisberger lead the team to a Super Bowl Championship. In 2012, Arians was hired as the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts to work with rookie quarterback Andrew Luck. But when Colts head coach Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia midway through the season, it was Arians that guided Indianapolis to a surprising playoff berth. For his efforts Arians would be named NFL Coach of the Year and after the season he was hired by the Cardinals. In Arizona, Arians had revived the career of Palmer who was former first overall pick of the NFL Draft. But when Palmer missed three games early in the season due to a nerve injury, Arians called on backup quarterback Drew Stanton who led the Cardinals to a 2-1 record. So when Palmer was lost for the season a few weeks ago, Arians and the Cardinals had full confidence in Stanton that he would be able to get the job done.
When Stanton returned to the starting lineup versus the Lions, he looked sharp as he led touchdown drives on Arizona’s first two drives of the game. But since then Stanton has looked like a career backup quarterback as the team has only managed to score 21 points since then and in the last two games he has only thrown one touchdown pass while being picked off three times.
Andre Ellington
It isn’t helping Stanton’s cause the Cardinals currently possess the 31st best running attack in the National Football League as they have failed to produce a 100-yard rusher in any game this season which puts more pressure on him. As a team the Cardinals are only averaging 3.1 yards per game. The Cardinals have the 13th best passing game in the NFL, but they have been without wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald in the past two games as a result of a knee sprain. The Cardinals defense is 13th in total defense while they are tied for fourth with the Kansas City Chiefs for points allowed at 18.7 per contest. But this Cardinals defense is built to play with a lead as their cornerbacks Antonio Cromartie and Patrick Peterson can play tight press coverage and forced turnovers. But more than both the Seahawks and 49ers, the Cardinlas need to win the NFC West in order to secure at least one home playoff game.
This season the Cardinals are 6-0 at home while they have not allowed any opponent to score more than 20 points against them in Glendale. The road is a different story as the Cardinals are 3-3. The saving grace right now for the Cardinals is that they have tiebreakers over the Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Dallas Cowboys this season based on head-to-head meetings. The Cards also defeated the Niners earlier this season, but their remaining schedule won’t be an easy one.
The Cardinals will host the Chiefs before traveling to take on the Rams next Thursday. The Cardinals will then host the Seahawks in Week 16. The Seahawks have won five out of their last six games as they are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. The Seahawks also have one of the best secondaries in the National Football League that features cornerback Richard Sherman along with safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor who’ll be licking their chops if Stanton is unable to pick up his production while continuing to throw interceptions. The Cards will travel to meet the Niners to finish the regular season and it was San Francisco that defeated Arizona in Week 17 last season to prevent them from making the postseason.
A few weeks ago the Cardinals appeared to be a lock not only for the playoffs, but to get home-field advantage throughout. Now they are not even guaranteed a playoff berth as other teams in the NFC are surging while they are faltering. And if Arians is unable to prop Stanton up in these final four games and have him improve off of his 55.3 completion percentage this season, the Cardinals will once again be watching the playoffs take place from home.
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