Arizona Cardinals: Super Bowl Window is Closing Quickly
By David Mamola
The Arizona Cardinals probably just saw their best chance of winning a Super Bowl come and go
When the final whistle sounded on Championship Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals were forced to walk away licking their wounds after taking a 49-15 beating at the hands of the Carolina Panthers. It was a terrible performance all the way around by the Cardinals, as they were only actually in the game for just a handful of minutes.
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The game marked the end of a record-breaking season for the Cardinals, but it also perhaps ended any real hopes of a Super Bowl title in the foreseeable future for Arizona. You see, Arizona had really everything going for them this season….a career year from their quarterback Carson Palmer, the rejuvenation of veteran receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the league’s number two scoring offense and number seven scoring defense, and relatively good health.
Head coach Bruce Arians had his team clicking throughout the year, and excluding Carolina, Arizona was arguably the league’s best team during the regular season.
Now don’t get me wrong, one loss in the playoffs doesn’t signal doom-and-gloom for the next season (or beyond), and I’m sure Arizona will be right in the thick-of-things of the playoff race next year. But their best chance of winning a Super Bowl probably just ended on Sunday in Carolina.
Age is not on Arizona’s side. Sure, they have young stars like running back David Johnson and receiver John Brown, but they also have aging stars in quarterback Carson Palmer, number one receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and sack-leader Dwight Freeney (who is also a free agent this offseason). You can’t win in this league without a good quarterback, and even though Palmer is coming-off a Pro Bowl season, he is 36 years old and his performance in the playoffs leaves some question marks about his effectiveness moving forward.
Meanwhile in Carolina and Seattle, quarterbacks Cam Newton and Russell Wilson are young and their teams are only getting better. Carolina may very well be Super Bowl champions this season, and Seattle is coming-off two straight Super Bowl appearances (one win). Both of these teams aren’t going away, and the Newton—Wilson rivalry may be becoming the new Manning—Brady rivalry. Arizona has to get through both of these teams just to make it to the Super Bowl!
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In addition to Carolina’s and Seattle’s ascension (you can even throw Minnesota and Green Bay in there too, if you want to), Arizona is going to have to deal with losing some player depth this offseason. Their depth is part of the reason why Arizona had such great success this season, and with guys like safety Tyrann Mathieu needing a new contract, the Cardinals are going to have a hard time retaining some of that depth (such as free-agents-to-be Jerraud Powers and Rashad Johnson).
Bottom line is this: Arizona should have enough talent left to make the playoffs next season; however, with that being said, their best chance of winning a Super Bowl probably just came and went.