Despite the early season loss of quarterback Carson Palmer the Arizona Cardinals are flying high (Picture: AP Photo)

Thinking back to the start of the 2014 NFL season, when asked who would hold the league’s best record at the midpoint mark of the season most would have reeled off the likely candidates: Denver or New England from the AFC, the Eagles, Packers, Bears, Saints perhaps and then the Seahawks and 49ers from the NFC West.

The Cardinals? Come again? The last time they achieved such a feat? 1974. With their victory this past weekend over Dallas (a game incidentally to decide who held the best record in the NFL but robbed of some of its lustre with Tony Romo’s injury), they shut down DeMarco Murray and moved to 7-1, outpacing both the defending Super Bowl champions Seahawks and 49ers in the process.



No mean feat for the Cardinals to sit atop the standings then considering the brutal division they play in but especially so considering the ill-fortune they have had injury wise this season. Backup quarterback Drew Stanton has featured in three games and even third-string rookie Logan Thomas has seen playing time, with their defense equally decimated with Calais Campbell and Patrick Peterson missing action.

Along the way they have knocked off the Chargers, 49ers, Eagles, and now the Cowboys, with their only loss to a Broncos team during one of the games Palmer was sidelined for. Since the midpoint of last season they have gone 14-3, again a league best.


There won’t be any overconfidence from the Cardinals though. Although they hold a two and three game advantage over the Seahawks and 49ers respectively memories of last season’s 10-win season that was still not good enough to get them into the post-season will loom large.

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Jaron Brown celebrates his touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys (Picture: AP Photo)

The Cardinals too, one Super Bowl appearance in 2008 aside, have long been mired in mediocrity, collapses after positive starts being no stranger but second-year coach Bruce Arians has overseen a culture shift in the desert.

‘The confidence in this locker room right now is through the roof,’ cornerback Patrick Peterson said. ‘No matter who we step in the field with, no matter what the scenario is, we feel we are the best team on the football field.’

Witness the play late against the Eagles, when trailing by three and faced with a tricky third down, Arians called a play that saw Palmer air it out and connect with John Brown for the winning touchdown. Their defense too has excelled, despite the absences, and they have not allowed an opposition running back over 100 yards in the past eighteen games. Little wonder Defensive Co-ordinator Todd Bowles is garnering serious attention as the hottest coaching candidate.

At one point in the NFL a common focus each season was whether the host of the Super Bowl could finally be the team to break the duck of no team ever winning the big game in their own stadium. Such talk has subsided over the past decade given no side hosting the Super Bowl has even made the playoffs during that time.



Where is the Super Bowl being held this year? You guessed it, and the Cardinals are hardly shying away from the discussing the possibility of being the first.

The NFL season is a long road, with many twists and turns at the point you least expect them. This Cardinals team though appear well set to not only overcome adversity but be able to more than hold their own with the elite teams in the league. The next few weeks on the schedule appear favourable to them as well, a run that could see them put distance between themselves and the Seahawks and 49ers and all but guarantee a playoff spot.

If that happens, don’t expect that Super Bowl talk to subside anytime soon.

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