Sunday Debate: Arizona Cardinals Next to Win First Super Bowl

Brendan Pignataro and Mark Morales-Smith will be debating a different topic each Sunday. This week will feature a debate on franchises who have yet to win a Super Bowl. Will the Arizona Cardinals or the Carolina Panthers be the next team to do it?

It is quite amazing that there are still 13 franchises left in the NFL that have not hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy. The fans of the Bills, Bengals, Browns, Cardinals, Chargers, Eagles, Falcons, Jaguars, Lions, Panthers, Texans, Titans, and the Vikings are eagerly awaiting their first championship parade. Which of these franchises will be the next to win a Super Bowl?

Related Story: Carolina Panthers Next to Win First Super Bowl

Just like these losing franchises, Mark has never won any of these Sunday Debates. This week he will argue that the Carolina Panthers will be the next to win a championship. I will outwit him once again with my selection of the Arizona Cardinals.

Both of these two teams were close last year to finally winning. Yes, the Panthers did destroy the Cardinals in the NFC Championship when Carson Palmer imploded.  However, the Cardinals are getting better, while the Panthers may have blown their best opportunity to ever win one.   The Panthers choked against a team with a shell of himself, Peyton Manning, at quarterback. Arizona can win it all as early as this season.

I believe the Cardinals are the most complete team in football today, and they will be even better this season. Last year, with many prolific offenses all over the league, the Cardinals ranked number one overall in yards per game with 408.3 yards per game. That’s 41.4 yards per game better than Mark’s beloved Panthers. They also ranked fifth in the league in team defense, narrowly beating the Panthers who finished sixth.

Every team in the NFL has weaknesses, but the Cardinals may have the least. NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal did a review of every team’s weaknesses and agrees. He stated, “The Arizona Cardinals could have the most loaded roster in the NFL.”

On offense, we all know that the coaching staff has to figure out why Palmer implodes in the playoffs. He had a terrific regular season in 2015 (4,617 yards, 35 touchdowns), and his postseason play is the only thing holding the Cardinals back from finally getting rings. At age 36, he has only a couple years left to figure this out. Luckily for him, he has tremendous talent around him to help. The trio of wide receivers in Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown and Michael Floyd possess everything you need in a receiving corps. Even at age 32, Fitzgerald still has it.

The rushing attack is also stacked with talent. David Johnson bursted onto the scene as a rookie and will only get better. They signed back veteran Chris Johnson as depth, who was having a career rejuvenating season prior to getting hurt. Also, Andre Ellington is a remarkable talent to have off the bench when he’s healthy. Signing one of the best run-blocking guards in the league last season, Mike Iupati, was a huge boost to the team. Adding Evan Mathis to the offensive line this offseason was yet another brilliant move.

On the defense side, trading for 26-year-old superstar Chandler Jones was in my opinion the best move of the whole NFL offseason. I’m sure teams in the NFC West are already hard at work gameplanning on how to account for the pressure of Jones and Calais Campbell rushing the quarterback at the same time. Also, the Cardinals got an absolute steal at the end of the first round in this draft with Robert Nkemdiche. He fell due to off the field concerns, but they don’t have to be concerned about his on the field play. He will add yet another threat of pressure up the middle for Arizona’s deep defensive line.

In addition to Pro-Bowlers Jones and Cambell, the Cardinals defense also features two of the NFL’s best young superstars in the making. I recently debated why Patrick Peterson is already the best cornerback in the league. Also, the Cardinals sorely missed their star safety Tyrann Mathieu in the playoffs. If the Cardinals had Mathieu and Jones against the Panthers last season, it would have been a much closer contest.

Next, another big reason why the Cardinals will be the next franchise to win a Super Bowl, is their head coach Bruce Arians. In his first three seasons as head coach of Arizona, Arians has a 34-14 record. He also went 9-3 with the Colts when he was the interim coach. In this short amount of time, he has already won AP NFL Coach of the Year two times. Arians has a brilliant mind, and is never afraid to be aggressive, which is rare nowadays. I have no doubts he will win a championship during his illustrious career.

Onto the Carolina Panthers, they didn’t have the best offseason. Coming off a Super Bowl loss as a the favorite, the Panthers put a franchise tag on shut down cornerback Josh Norman. After failing to come to an agreement on a long term teal they rescinded the tag and he left for the Redskins. This loss will undoubtedly hurt the team as corners Robert McClain and Bene Benwikere aren’t good enough to fill in his spot. On offense, Cam Newton will hopefully get back Kelvin Benjamin at 100% ,but they still have question marks with depth for wide receiver and running back groups.

According to CBS, after all the 2015 games were played the Panthers ended up playing the easiest schedule in the league. Their 15-1 record is still very impressive, however they will have a much harder time this season. They have the 12th hardest schedule in the league. I expect the Buccaneers to be a much better team this year, and the Saints to also improve as well. The major contenders in the NFC (Cardinals, Packers, Seahawks) all had better offseasons. The Cardinals have a better roster than the Panthers as it stands today.

Drew Stanton knows who won this debate…

Related Story: Pittsburgh Steelers Win AFC in 2016

Please check out Mark’s opposing article, and feel free to join in on the debate in the comments!