Last season the Cardinals went 9-7-0 and finished in first place in the NFC West division. In the playoffs the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 in the wild card round, and then defeated the Carolina Panthers 33-13 in the divisional playoff round. The next week the Arizona played the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game winning 32-25 to go to the Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers defeated the Cardinals 27-23 in one of the most exciting endings to a Super Bowl in the history of the NFL.

Offense: The Cardinals offense that finished 4th in the league in both points scored and total yards was led by a passing game that finished 2nd. Quarterback Kurt Warner threw for 4,583 yards and 30 touchdowns while having the best tandem of wide receivers in the league in Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Bolden. The problem that the Cardinals had last season was running the ball as they finished last in the league running for only 73.6 yards a game. Changes to the running game included releasing leading rusher Edgerrin James and naming second year back Tim Hightower the starter for this season. They also addressed the running back position in the draft, taking Ohio State running back Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells with the 31st pick. Wells is a quality back and will help push Hightower and himself to become better players. Arizona will need both players to perform better than the unit did last season if they want to have a chance to return to the Super Bowl this season.

Defense: Arizona has a mix of youth and experience on the defensive side of the ball. The youth is one of the reasons this defense ranked in the lower half of the league in: points allowed and total, rushing and passing yards allowed. It is the experience from guys like Chike Okeafor and Clark Haggans that give the Cardinals hope that next season this unit will be better. The secondary has the potential to be one of the best in the league led by safety Adrian Wilson. This unit should be better this season, and it will take the leadership of guys like Wilson to shore up this defense for another run at the Super Bowl.

Star Power: Last season Larry Fitzgerald had the most yards, 1,431, and touchdowns, 12, of his career. Fitzgerald also had his first back-to-back seasons of 1,000 receiving yards and double digit touchdowns of his career playing in one of the most dynamic passing offenses in the league. As a player who is averaging almost 1,000 receiving yards and eight touchdowns a season expect more of the same from Fitzgerald this season as well. I predict that he will eclipse the 1,500 yard mark for the first time in his career to help lead the passing attack down in the desert.

Biggest Addition: After his rookie season some people believe that Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie has the potential to be one of the best cornerbacks in the league. This offseason the Cardinals signed a solid cornerback to play on the other side in Bryant McFadden, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers. McFadden only played in 10 regular season games for the Steelers last season but he put up solid numbers in those games with 41 tackles and two interceptions. McFadden may be the missing piece in the Cardinals secondary that ranked 22nd in the league on pass yards allowed last season.

Biggest Loss: With a surprise run to the Super Bowl last season, the coaching staff of the Cardinals was seen as hot commodities. As a result the Cardinals have two new coordinators this year as former offensive coordinator Todd Hayley is the new head coach in Kansas City while former defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast took the same position with the Chiefs. This season Arizona does not have a coach at the offensive coordinator position, but Russ Grimm is the running game coordinator and Mike Miller is the passing game coordinator. Time will tell if the Cardinals offense and defense will be able to adapt to the new coaching staff.

Biggest Game: On Sunday, September 13th the San Francisco 49ers come to Arizona in a Week 1 matchup. This game is the biggest of the season due to the weak performance in the preseason for Arizona under the new coaching staff. If this team wants another chance at the playoffs or a Super Bowl they need a good performance against an improving 49ers team.