The Cardinals have wrapped up their season on a positive note as they took down the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field for the 4th straight year. The Cardinals win allowed Cardinals fans to again cheer a winning team while simultaneously spoiling Seattle’s season -because they were eliminated from playoff contention. The season is over and the Cardinals finished this season a respectable 8-8.
Offense:
- Quarterback Drew Stanton didn’t light up the score board, but he certainly did enough to win the game and keep the Seahawk Defense honest. Stanton went 15/34 with 145 yards passing along with one touchdown and one interception. Drew looked like he was playing for a possible job in free agency come this off season, and now that the Bruce Arians era is over in Arizona don’t expect Stanton back in Cardinal red next season.
- The running game of Penny and Williams was very effective against the Seahawks as both Running Backs seemed to find open spots and manipulate the line of scrimmage in order to produce a stable run game in the win over Seattle. With Williams still under contract and a lot cheaper than Adrian Peterson, expect the Cardinals to move away from Peterson this spring.
- Once again, the most effective Receiver was none other than Larry Fitzgerald, even if he was a little quiet in the 2nd half. He was still noted on the field and the defense had to keep him in check – this would open spots for other Receivers to shine.
Defense:
- The Cardinal front seven made life very difficult for Quarterback Russell Wilson on Sunday as he was only sacked 3 times. However, players were constantly in the back field or knocking him down while he was throwing, which ultimately never allowed Wilson to get into a groove of things.
- The Star of the game had to be All-Pro linebacker Chandler Jones, with his two sacks on Sunday he is now the single-season franchise sac leader as well as the NFL’s sack champ. When Jones signed his extension in the Summer many were skeptical if he was worth the cash, after one season he has proved all the doubters wrong.
Special Teams:
- After a long list of made field goals, I’ve decided to give Kicker Phil Dawson another chance, if the Cardinals decided to invite the veteran back I have no ill thoughts about it. However, they should field their options and bring in another kicker just for training camp to give Dawson a little bit of competition.
The off-season has started early for the 2nd straight year in Arizona. With the retirement of Bruce Arians and Carson Palmer the Cardinals have some big shoes to fill. Even though, every year should be a “Super Bowl or bust” mentality the Cardinals should be content with an 8-8 record considering all the obstacles they encountered. We’ll see what General Manger Steve Klem and Owner Michael Bidwell do this offseason, it should prove to be interestng.
