Arizona Cardinals: Was disappointment in 2016 a fluke?
Pegged by many as a possible Super Bowl winner coming into 2016, the Arizona Cardinals finished under .500 and out of the playoffs — but was that a fluke?
When you just look at the numbers and not the record of the Arizona Cardinals for the 2016 NFL season, you’d think they were a sure-fire playoff team. As Pro Football Focus noted recently, they outscored their opponents by 50 points at season’s end. What’s more, they had running back David Johnson flirting with the all-purpose yardage record. If that weren’t enough, they were in the top-half of the league on both sides of the ball.
Yet the Cardinals finished the 2016 season with a wildly disappointing 7-8-1 overall record. They came into the year as one of the Super Bowl favorites in the NFC. Yet they fell short of even the playoffs given their ledger. However, there’s a good chance that the team’s lack of success was largely a fluke.
That’s not to say that Arizona didn’t have their share of problems last season. Between injuries, declining play of Carson Palmer, poor offensive line play and inconsistency, the issues were there. However, they were also exceptionally unfortunate in close games.
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Whether it was Chandler Catanzaro — no longer on the roster — missing gimme field goals in overtime, unfortunate breaks, or lapses late in games, the Cardinals simply had several strokes of bad luck in 2016.
Without question, it’s dismissive to say that Arizona was unlucky. However, there’s reason to believe that things will turn around in 2017. For starters, their offensive line is back to full health. Not only should that make the already dangerous Johnson even more effective, but it should help Palmer to regain something at least close to the form he displayed in 2015.
Those who think that the Cardinals won’t turn things around, however, would point to their defensive losses. Outside of Calais Campbell, though, Arizona truly isn’t losing a great deal. Kevin Minter and Tony Jefferson’s 2016 seasons were marred with inconsistency. They should have more stability on the unit without them, and with a healthy Tyrann Mathieu.
And in the case of Campbell, there’s at least a chance that they’ll be able to replace a large portion of what he offered. Second-year defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche has been maturing under Bruce Arians to get his mentality on the same level as his physical tools. If he can put it together, he has the opportunity to be a force.
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The Cardinals unquestionably disappointed many last season. However, sometimes a team just catches bad breaks and, like a gust of wind and a tower of dominoes, it causes everything to tumble down. But now Arizona seemingly has a much more stable foundation and some massive dominos back in place. As such, they should very well be in the playoff mix once again in 2017.