Will a loaded cannon fire the Cards to the playoffs?

By Eddie Griffin  |   Thursday, September 07, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Arizona Cardinals
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Loaded.

That's one way to describe the 2006 Arizona Cardinals' offense. Sick, amazing, incredible, prolific. All of those adjectives could work as well.

There aren't too many teams with a two-time MVP under center. And there aren't many teams with said two-time MVP that go out and draft a Heisman Trophy-winning, two-time national champion, All-American quarterback.

But the Cardinals did, drafting USC's Matt Leinart at No. 10 in April. Could they possibly have used that pick to get help elsewhere? Certainly. But when a guy of his caliber falls into your lap like that, you can't pass him up (i.e. Reggie Bush to the Saints at No. 2 and even LenDale White to the Titans at 45). USC players must be like hot potatoes, eh?

There aren't too many teams that can boast the talent and depth at wide receiver the Cardinals do. Take a team like the Lions, for example, who drafted Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams in the first round three years in a row. They have the talent, but utilization of those talents is another story.

The Cardinals boast Anquan Boldin (two 100-catch, 1300-plus-yard seasons in three years), Larry Fitzgerald (103 catches last season) and Bryant Johnson (a former first-round pick).

The only thing noticeably missing from the Cardinal offense, the one thing that would put it in elite status, has been a running attack. Their leading rusher in 2005 was Marcel Shipp, who ran for 451 yards on only a 2.9-yard average. Overall, the Cardinals ran for 1,138 yards, which comes out to a woeful 71.1 per game. The team's highest individual single-game rushing total was 59 yards by J.J. Arrington in Week 13 against the 49ers, and that was only one of three games in which the Cards had a back eclipse the 50 mark. And their average yards per carry as a team? 3.2. Touchdowns? Two. And that's not a typo.

In the NFL, you can't put together those kinds of numbers on the ground and expect to have a winning team. Can you say, one-dimensional? There's a reason why the Cardinals were 5-11 last season and joined the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers as also-rans to the dominant Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West.

Apparently, Dennis Green and the Cardinal staff realized that because, in the offseason, they filled that need, in a big, big, big way, making arguably the free agent period's biggest acquisition, signing Edgerrin James, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts.

'Edge' was a key part of the offensive success in Indy; and as a result, the focus has been more on what kind of hole his absence will have on Peyton Manning and the Colts' O, and not what his presence will do for the folks in the desert.

In seven seasons with the Colts, James averaged over 1,300 yards rushing, which, as the above numbers show, is more than the entire Cardinals rushing attack compiled in 2005. Even if he doesn't quite reach those lofty totals in Arizona, he'll put the Cardinals in position for more touchdowns. That might be bad news for kicker Neil Rackers' point totals, but it'll be good news for the Cardinals on the scoreboard.

But, it's James' abilities as a receiver out of the backfield that make him such an asset. As if there weren't enough people to throw to already, right? And, the Cards added one more target while also giving the blockers a little help, drafting Georgia tight end Leonard Pope and drafting USC guard Deuce Lutui. Pope's got good hands, but he's also a beast at 6-foot-8, 265 pounds, and if you've seen the highlight of him dragging Mississippi State defensive back Demario Bobo into the end zone last season, you would agree.

But, with all of the talent oozing out of Phoenix, is it enough for Arizona to muster up a serious playoff run?

If this was any other franchise, this topic wouldn't be all that important. But, this is the Cardinals. The Cardinals! In basketball, you have the Clippers. In baseball, you have teams like the Royals, Orioles and Devil Rays. In football, you have the Cardinals. You can hope for success once in a blue moon; and when it comes, well, you better enjoy it because it's not coming around often.

And here's the Cardinals' chance.

The defense, which only a few years ago was one of the worst in the NFL, is now steadily improving, and ranked eighth overall in total yardage against in 2005, allowing only 296 per game. That total was better than Washington, Indianapolis, Seattle, Denver, Cincinnati, New England and the Giants, all of which were 2005-2006 postseason participants.

The big question mark is the amount of points the D gave up (387 - 24.2 a game, 26th in the NFL). That's something Arizona has to shore up if it wants to maximize its team potential. With the added punch to the offense, the Cardinals will be able to hang tough in a shootout, but you don't want to be caught in too many 34-31 games.

There's a solid mix of veterans (Bertrand Berry, Chike Okeafor, Robert Griffith, Adrian Wilson) and rising youth (Antrel Rolle, Karlos Dansby, Darnell Dockett), and the D is going to need a little help from a poor kick return coverage in order to make their stops matter a little more.

But, there may be just too many hurdles for the Cardinals to be able to seriously sniff playoff contention, or even a winning record.

It'd be borderline ludicrous to think that they'll surpass the Seahawks in the NFC West this season. Give it a few seasons, when Leinart's had time to develop under Warner, and the rest of the offense is in its prime, and the defense has had time to get better. Then it's possible.

That leaves only the two wild card spots up for grabs. And to get one of those, Arizona will have to deal with the likes of the entire NFC East, Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay in the South, Minnesota and Chicago in the North and the Seahawks and Rams in the West.

The schedule gods have handed the Cardinals a mixed bag of cupcakes and tough cookies. Outside of their divisional matchups with the Rams and Seahawks, there are home games with the Chiefs, Bears, Cowboys and Broncos, and away games against the Falcons, Vikings and Chargers. But, to balance it out, there are games with the Lions, Raiders (away) and Packers (away), along with their two games with the 49ers.

One thing's for sure for the 2006 Cardinals: They're going to rack up big yards, and they're going to score points.

But will that carry them to their first postseason appearance in nearly a decade? Only time will tell, but it's going to be a tall, tall task. Five-hundred will be a step in the right direction, but then again, anything's an improvement over 5-11.

But, regardless of if the new-look Cardinals pick up seven, eight, nine or 10 wins, they sure will be exciting to watch.

Get more Arizona Cardinals coverage at RealFootball365.com
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