Back to Square One? Arizona Cardinals Must Address Key Issues

There has never been such anticipation for the beginning of an Arizona Cardinals football season as there is for this upcoming 2009-2010 NFL season. 

By now everyone has heard of the remarkable run the Cardinals made last season with winning the NFC Championship and then finishing runner-up to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first Super Bowl since, well, basically ever.

What an amazing year it was for the Cardinals, and what an even sweeter treat it was to experience as an actual fan of this franchise. Kurt Warner resurrected himself once again as the sexiest available quarterback on the roster and somehow managed to hold on to the ball long enough to throw for 4,583 yards. 

I don’t know if that last sentence really makes sense, but man, did he fumble a lot—when it mattered most—for the Cardinals before last season. But I digress. Warner was unstoppable as he coasted through an MVP-caliber season and hooked up with his receivers for 30 touchdown passes.

However, before last season began, the biggest storm brewing within the Cards training camp was who was going to be taking the snaps for the team come September.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt went against the grain, naming Warner as his starter and leaving his trophy-boy quarterback, Matt Leinart, to grow old and more handsome on the bench. 

This year, there is no controversy at quarterback. Well, maybe a little one, as in why has a party boy like Leinart not had any risqué photos released of him beer-bonging with some coeds this offseason? Please tell me he hasn’t stopped partying?! I mean, even Reggie Bush has Kim Kardashian! 

Side note to Matt (as I am sure he is an avid reader of Bleacher Report): Dude, you are a super attractive, vastly overpaid, backup quarterback in the valley of the sun and plastic surgery—not quite like where you’re from, but still a bit of plastic surgery nonetheless—live it up a little! Again.

Hopefully the Cardinals will get through the season unscathed at quarterback as they did in 2008-2009. That is a big if, however, as it was just before last season that many scouts were questioning Warner’s abilities, as well as his durability among other things. 

He responded with a huge year. This year, the critics have been mainly silent—an eerie calm before the storm, if you ask me. 

On second thought, Clooney, I mean Matt, put that beer bong down and pick up a playbook again. This may be your year! Again! But I promise this time there is no Dennis Green around to muss it up for you. You’re not still dating that Hilton woman, are you? Good, here’s a ball.

However, Warner could stuff a fat sock in my mouth and continue his otherwise brilliant career and have another jaw-dropping performance this season overall. 

He always has been a big-time quarterback, and anyone that can successfully lead this franchise through the NFC Championship and into the Super Bowl is a HOF quarterback in my opinion. It could be worse; we could be the team awaiting Brett Favre’s “test results.”

Perhaps the biggest question mark pertaining to the 2009-2010 NFL season for the Cardinals lies within the team’s running game. 

Although there are high expectations and reason for optimism, the team rid itself of its only proven running back in the release of a future Hall of Famer, Edgerrin James, and enters the new year with essentially two unproven and untested backs.

Sure Tim Hightower, a former fifth round pick, had his opportunity to start as the featured back in seven NFL games last year for the Cards. However, he didn’t exactly turn any heads.

He did have a breakout-quality game in his first start, rushing for 109 yards on 22 carries against St. Louis, but after that he pretty much was a dud. In his other six starts he managed to gain a paltry 134 yards on 64 carries.

This will absolutely be a make or break season for his career, and there is high optimism based on some of his showings last year that he will step up to the challenge.

If not Hightower, the Cardinals did somehow manage to land a pretty high-profile first round back in this year’s draft in Chris “Beanie” Wells. 

Wells was a premier back while at Ohio State and has himself publicly decried the questions regarding his toughness and durability related to scouts’ questioning after a foot injury derailed him for three games last season while with the Buckeyes.

But Wells was absolutely the real deal in college, rushing for a combined 2,800-plus yards in his sophomore and junior seasons combined. 

Questions still abound for Wells and this running game though, as it is still unsure as to exactly what type of role Wells will fill. There was talk during the draft that the Cardinals are interested in perhaps using Wells as a fullback and primarily handling the blocking duties for the sleeker, more nimble Hightower.

But if Hightower struggles, the Cardinals will be forced to turn to “Beanie” in the hopes of establishing a running presence to compliment their high-octane passing game. 

That is a must if the Cardinals are hoping to repeat their success from last season because NFL teams will be sure to adjust to a Cardinals offense looking to pass in 70 percent of their offensive schemes, much like what catapulted them to their success last year.

On the receiving side of things—the Cardinals have some strong questions that could potentially threaten to plague the team with bigger problems in the near future, regarding offensive statistics to even team cohesion overall. 

Luckily for the Cardinals, their receiving corps is anchored by the always solid Larry Fitzgerald. So that should help ease the concern a little at the very least.

Fitzgerald, as we all know, has been one of the top receivers in the league for a few seasons now and has made his impression upon the league. In three of the last four seasons, Fitzgerald has had over 1,400 yards receiving—including both of the last two seasons. 

He shouldn’t be much of a question mark there, unless an injury derails his season. Great, now I am a little worried—I mean, I don’t want to start any Madden or SI type jinx here —so please let us all cross our fingers and hold a moment of silence before proceeding in the hopes of preventing any type of such injury.

One major issue that does threaten to derail the Cardinals’ receiving success does lie in the Anquan Boldin contract situation

Now I must admit, I can see where both sides are coming from in regards to their contract dispute that seems to be far from concluded and has created quite a distraction in the media.

From the Cardinals’ perspective, the franchise did already “reward” Boldin by restructuring his first contract and reworking it to provide him with a higher salary and a heftier signing bonus. They also have already given a huge contract to Fitzgerald and now cannot afford to keep both of them on the books for $10 million plus per year.

On Boldin’s side of the negotiations, the guy is flat-out a freak. I mean, who gets their face broken on a hit and returns to the field three weeks later? Anquan Boldin does, that’s who. And as far as statistics go, Boldin is a flat-out superstar. 

Last season he still had over 1,000 yards receiving, despite only playing in 12 games! In his six-year career, he has topped the 1,000-yard mark four times and when healthy is up in the 1,300 or 1,400-yard range. 

However, keeping him healthy has been a problem in the last two years, as various injuries have forced Boldin into only playing in 12 games in each of those two seasons.

It will be interesting to see how it all eventually plays out with the Boldin contract dispute. Hopefully somehow there will be a successful resolution that will allow him to remain a Cardinal for many more years to come. 

As a fan, I have to admit it would be a devastating blow to see him go. Not only is Boldin a huge spark on offense and an extremely vital piece of the overall success of the offense, but he also is a positive player with his presence, even being elected Captain of the offense in 2007-2008.

Yes, Steve Breaston is a fine receiver who put up 1,000-yard numbers last season, and the early progress of rookie draft pick Early Doucet has been positive to say the least, so it would appear that the Cardinals could do without Boldin on first glance. 

But Breaston and Doucet are not Anquan Boldin and don’t pose anywhere near as big a threat as Boldin does in any type of offensive scheme. Breaston is a good receiver with good hands and good instincts. He is a great complementary third receiver for the two superstars ahead of him. 

Doucet has a lot of upside as well, but with the guys in front of him, the Cardinals can afford to let him learn the NFL game and learn the system before fully implementing him into the offensive game plan.

Good idea in theory, but Boldin could ultimately decide his own fate and the fate of the franchise by continuing to press the issue and eventually forcing them to trade him to another team willing to pay a higher premium for his services.

The Cardinals offense will have a lot of work to do to achieve the type of success as they had last year in their run through the playoffs and ultimately to the Super Bowl. 

For an offensive unit that dominated their success last season, the Cardinals appear to have even more questions to answer this season regarding the offensive unit as a whole. 

If guys like Hightower, Wells, and Doucet can mature faster than expected, they might be even stronger this season, and that could really spell trouble for the other defenses around the league. 

But if these guys fail to produce, and Boldin continues to complain while behind the locker room doors, you have all the makings of a one-hit wonder waiting to happen. 

Choking on a Purple Chicken, Er, People Eater

On the frigid, blistery Sunday mornings in my hometown igloo of St. Paul, MN—every red-blooded, pigskin-loving male puts on their golden french braids and even manlier purple beanie (with spiky horns on it of course for good measure) in anticipation of the Vikings’ best to come to play on that day. 

Far too many times those purple beanies and blond braids end in a heap on the floor in disgust as a result of the final outcome.  However, we as fans of these perennial losers have come to accept the fact that they are exactly that—losers.

Oh, but then again, the Vikings aren’t just losers. No, they are actually heart-breakers and homewreckers—downright detractors of the soul. 

It’s true.  Many stories can be heard upon stumbling into any local watering hole of the average fan just up and disappearing—only to reappear some many months later sporting Patriots gear and again smiling and appearing to enjoy life.

For all you spoiled fans of NFL franchises whose owners actually want them to get to the Super Bowl—my Vikings have been there four times. That’s right. They basked in the Super Bowl glory on four occasions and yet never came out with a single W. Not one.  Goose-egg and Four overall! 

Although I must admit, none of these Super Bowls have occurred in my lifetime.  But looking back now, I can see why I was swayed into being a fan in the first place.  They were quite an impressive franchise after all.  They had reached four Super Bowls in about eight years—so I guess I was easily swayed.

And yes, I do know I can’t really complain because they do win a lot of division titles (13 to be exact—good for third best ever in NFL history) but what good is it really if you’re just going to bow out of the playoffs in the first round? 

But this isn’t really about the disappointing nature of being a Vikings fan.  No this is about the gleams of hope that they sometime provide for the dreary kingdom they call fans.  Sometimes they’ll catch you off guard.  They’ll make you believe again.

This is a story about that time – that one time they sucked me back in again into believing only to be…

Well, I think you get the point.  But that team was destined for greatness from the beginning and of course as Vikings fans have come to understand and accept that destiny is an evil witch in our world. 

But the 1998-1999 Minnesota Vikings will always and forever be my favorite NFL team of all-time.  Yup—sniffle—those boys still have my heart.  Well, except for you Gary Anderson. 

Awwwwww, okay, even you too, Gary Anderson.  🙂

It all started with the draft that summer.  With everybody STILL reeling from the Herschel Walker debacle (and yes, even though it was years later, we were still devastated and numb as a community.) we desperately were still waiting for our hero to come and resurrect the franchise.

The Vikings tried for many years by bringing in past their prime superstars like Warren Moon, Jim McMahon, and, of course, Randall Cunningham. But nothing ever quite clicked and they always were left wanting when it came time to go all the way.

And then Baby Jesus came to a small town in Minnesota that draft day in 1998.  (It’s true, on the day of the NFL draft in 1998 there was a baby Jesus sighting way up north in Minnesota.)  Baby Jesus was spotted in a stroller outside of the Baby Gap and people were alarmingly intrigued. 

But also on that day the Minnesota Vikings drafted another form of Baby Jesus in Randy Moss.  I was a huge fan of him during his career at Marshall University so I was instantly swept away in his beautiful rows the minute he donned the purple and gold hat and flashed his pearly whites.

For the next few months, I told everyone within earshot that this year was going to be the Vikings year.  The Super Bowl was already wrapped up and the trophy headed to Minneapolis as far as I was concerned. 

I laughed at the people who were laughing at me and I rolled my eyes at the people that rolled their eyes.  I didn’t care—this year I was committed.  This was my team—and we, WE—were going all the way.  Luckily, I didn’t catch the entire Vikings franchise at a drunken kegger because—chuckle—we WERE going all the way…

But I digress.

So with the drafting of Randy Moss the Vikings put together literally one of the greatest offensive teams ever to put on the pads in an NFL game.  On paper they were electric with names like Robert Smith, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Moss and even the former textile forklift driver Cunningham. 

Every time that team took the field, you knew you were going to be mimicking the Vikings horn all day long. 

And how true it was.  That Vikings team shattered the NFL record for points scored in a season with a then record 556 points.  In fact, they never put up less than 24 points in a game all season long—which equated to a lot of horn blowing all year long! 

They seriously were the original ‘Greatest Show On Turf’.  Apparently though, Minnesotans aren’t as clever as Missourians, because it wasn’t until Kurt Warner and the gang came along that the term was coined.

On defense the Vikings were also above average although they were far from the past Purple People Eater image.  But with names like John Randle, Ed McDaniel, Robert Griffith and Jimmy Hitchcock leading your defensive squad—you really aren’t too shabby.  

The Vikings’ ‘D’ did have its moments and managed to hold teams to 14 points or less in 6 out of the 16 regular season games.  Overall they allowed 18.5 points per game on average—much lower than the offensive average of 34.7 ppg. This brought it in every possible way.

And then those bums had to go 15-1!  Seriously?!  During OUR bye week of the playoffs, I made sure to visit everyone who scoffed at my bold prediction earlier in the year, yearning for my praises for being such a bold predictor and an overall NFL-knowledge dynamo. 

However, most had forgotten the bold prediction had ever even taken place to begin with—so it wasn’t as ego-inflatable as I imagined.

But either way there I was again, heaping praises about my team, my boys and what WE were going to do to those ridiculous Cardinals in that Divisional playoff game.  I was still committed and to the core. 

How could you not be?  Moss made every catch, every touchdown, every game look so incredibly easy that it was impossible to beat these guys when they had a human superman on their side.

The Cardinals (whom would later capture my heart in their own way) posed absolutely zero threat as the Vikings completely stomped through them with a 41-21 thrashing.  Up next were the Falcons, and although they had a tough running game, they didn’t seem to be much competition either.  Plus, the dirty bird dance?  Puh-leaze!!

I don’t remember much about that week leading up to that 1999 NFC Championship game—much of it all a blur now due to what my psychotherapist says is healthy mental blockage of my mind and spirit.  But needless to say, that was my last carefree week ever spent as a Vikings fan.

And I absorbed every minute of it.  I still have the VHS tapes of every interview given by the members of the team leading up to the big game. I was still so innocent.  So naive.

As we all now know, that game was a disaster for the Vikings.  They just could never run away from the Falcons and although they did lead for almost the entire game, the Falcons hung in there and played tougher than anyone expected. 

Some blame Gary Anderson and his two missed field goals that would have clinched and then won the game (ironically, he had just completed the NFL’s first perfect season in history that season not missing a single FG or XP all year long), but I don’t. 

Football is, after all, a team game.

But he did muff the two most important kicks of the season—that is undebatable.  However, my heart goes out to him because I saw a story on SportsCenter one night about how his wife left him and the kids like the night before the game.  So one can understand if his concentration is a bit off kilter.

But that was it.  After going 15-1 on the regular season and demolishing the Cardinals in the first game, it all was gone in a puff of smoke as the Vikings dropped the NFC Championship to the heavy underdog, Atlanta Falcons, 30-27 in overtime. And with a poof—it was all over.

That loss was devastating and the ripple through the local Vikings community was resounding.  It has never been the same after that either. They had the same pieces for a while but could never quite get it back to its heyday form.

Eventually they shipped Moss off to Oakland and a bunch of the other guys almost sunk themselves in a wild boat party gone stripperingly wrong.

For me, it has never been the same.  I tune into the games but I have yet to ever feel the same passion and connection with a team as I did that year with the Vikings. 

I felt violated for a long time—like I was being lead down this path into believing, endlessly teased by their potential, only to have it fall short in the end—as typical Viking fashion.  I am definitely more jaded now.

But for that one glorious, dreary, freezing gray winter, those Vikings provided me with the most excitement I have ever experienced in all of sports. If only the last stop would have been the Super Bowl exit. 

Than maybe I wouldn’t feel robbed emotionally and still be writing blogs about it ten years later.  Then again, who am I kidding.  They probably would have dropped to Goose-egg and five anyway.  Stinking bums.

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