Arizona Cardinals: Don't Write Off the Underdogs

The Arizona Cardinals!! Can you believe it? “They are who we thought they were”! As I watched the Cardinals cut up the Eagles defense in the final minutes of the 4th quarter to clinch the NFC title over a team that had mercilessly destroyed them a few weeks ago in the regular season, those infamous Dennie Green words rang loud in my head. “They are who we thought they were.” I thought “this is the type of irony reserved for an Alanis Morissette song”, because these Arizona Cardinals are definitely not who we thought they were, but should we be surprised?

It seems like too often in the sports world we are so quick to write people off. Everything is what have you done for me lately, and it’s just not in sports. It’s the society we live in. This cut throat, no patience, give me the results I want 10 minutes ago mentality that in some ways makes us great, could be one of the reasons why nobody saw this coming. This is why the Cardinals were not who you thought they were, but it really shouldn’t have been such a shock.

Kurt Warner that washed up quarterback who couldn’t hold on to the ball, he was actually the two time MVP and Super Bowl winning quarterback that everyone had forgot about. Ken Wizenhunt, the coach who couldn’t seem to get his team to play consistently, or on the road was really that championship coordinator who helped lead a 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers team to three straight playoff road games and a Super Bowl victory. Edgerrin James the running back with too many carries and too many miles who needed to retire turned out to be the 4 time pro bowler that he had been with the Colts. Throw in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, probably the most dynamic receiving core in the NFL, and a Cardinals Super Bowl appearance doesn’t sound so crazy.

There is a championship caliber personnel on this team, and more importantly there always has been. Just because we hadn’t seen the results recently, doesn’t mean that this group of guys didn’t have it in them. A lot of these guys have shown they can get it done on a championship level. So maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to write the underdogs of this world off, and instead have a little patience. I think we might have learned a lesson from this team, a lesson that applies to more than just football.