While the Arizona Cardinals struggled out the gate in 2016 and finished 7-8-1, a far cry from the Super Bowl expectations they had locally and even nationally. Despite the disappointment in the season, quarterback Carson Palmer believes how they finished will aid how the team starts in 2017.

“I feel like we finished the year strong,” he told Dan Bickley and Vince Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM on Tuesday.

“It’s a pat on the back, but what I was impressed with this group is it’s so easy to shut it down,” he continued. “It’s so easy to just get through that last New Year’s Eve game and then go about your business, but we showed up to work, we practiced every day, Coach kept his foot right on our back and expected like it was Week 1.”

He noted how there are many organizations where his occurs, but he was very pleased because “it showed we’re not that kind of team.”

Finishing strong in 2016 will pay off in 2017, Palmer believes, saying he thinks the Cardinals “will reap the benefits” of their late-season wins in Los Angeles and Seattle.

“I think we take off where we left off.”

For the Cardinals to bounce back from their disappointing 2016 campaign, that’s exactly what they need to do.