ESPN Hacks still consider Cardinals middle of the pack team...

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/nfcwest/0-9-448/Power-rankings--How-the-voters-voted.html

 

[cardsfanmd]

Clayton is such a clown. I really dont think you should be allowed to write on a sport without actually playing it, and there is no way his scrawny tail ever played a down of football.

 

[the_future23]

I don't see what's wrong with it. We were 9-7 last year and 6 of the wins came from the pathetic NFC West.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I don't see what's wrong with it. We were 9-7 last year and 6 of the wins came from the pathetic NFC West.

Apparently you decided to stop watching after the regular season ended. Guess what? We made it to the Super Bowl!!! It was really exciting, too bad you missed it.

Clayton, among others have to be kidding. What else does our offense need to prove? It was already the best offense in football last year, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be better this year.

In addition, the defense wasn't spectacular last year, but should be just as good, and proved itself time after time in the postseason.

I'm not one to bitch about objectivity, but to have all these teams ahead of the Cards is pretty ridiculous. Clayton even has the Texans, Cowboys and Packers ahead of us, just hilarious. More bulletin board material I guess.

 

[Nash2Amare]

...We're gonna murder Houston and Green Bay this year. (assuming we have something to play for in Week 17)

 

[SuperSpck]

Clayton is such a clown. I really dont think you should be allowed to write on a sport without actually playing it, and there is no way his scrawny tail ever played a down of football.

Football guys, like Howard Cosell and Ernie Accorsi have done fine without playing it professionally or in college.
There's room for anyone in football, but it's Clayton's writing merits that show his value not his lack of playing experience.
I also wonder if he'd be better off at another network, ESPN is hardly the bastion of good reporting these days.

 

[the_future23]

Apparently you decided to stop watching after the regular season ended. Guess what? We made it to the Super Bowl!!! It was really exciting, too bad you missed it.

Clayton, among others have to be kidding. What else does our offense need to prove? It was already the best offense in football last year, and there is no reason why it shouldn't be better this year.

In addition, the defense wasn't spectacular last year, but should be just as good, and proved itself time after time in the postseason.

I'm not one to bitch about objectivity, but to have all these teams ahead of the Cards is pretty ridiculous. Clayton even has the Texans, Cowboys and Packers ahead of us, just hilarious. More bulletin board material I guess.

The team does have question marks. Warner is 37 years old. You don't know how he is going to perform or if he is going to get hurt. The defense is the biggest question mark. Making the switch to a 3-4 is a difficult process. The Cardinals didn't have that great of a defense last year, this year is still questionable.

I love the Cardinals and all, but this team is not a given this year. Just because we made it to the Super Bowl doesn't mean people should forget how average our season really was.

 

[ajcardfan]

The team does have question marks. Warner is 37 years old. You don't know how he is going to perform or if he is going to get hurt. The defense is the biggest question mark. Making the switch to a 3-4 is a difficult process. The Cardinals didn't have that great of a defense last year, this year is still questionable.

I love the Cardinals and all, but this team is not a given this year. Just because we made it to the Super Bowl doesn't mean people should forget how average our season really was.

You're never going to make the cheer squad with THAT sort of attitude!

 

[Stout]

The team does have question marks. Warner is 37 years old. You don't know how he is going to perform or if he is going to get hurt. The defense is the biggest question mark. Making the switch to a 3-4 is a difficult process. The Cardinals didn't have that great of a defense last year, this year is still questionable.

I love the Cardinals and all, but this team is not a given this year. Just because we made it to the Super Bowl doesn't mean people should forget how average our season really was.

Yeah, we're not switching TO the 3-4. We already run the 3-4. We're just going to use it more and use it in more of its purest sense. How can you not know this at this point?

 

[40yearfan]

The team does have question marks. Warner is 37 years old. You don't know how he is going to perform or if he is going to get hurt. The defense is the biggest question mark. Making the switch to a 3-4 is a difficult process. The Cardinals didn't have that great of a defense last year, this year is still questionable.

I love the Cardinals and all, but this team is not a given this year. Just because we made it to the Super Bowl doesn't mean people should forget how average our season really was.

http://dansideas.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/wet-blanket.jpg

 

[the_future23]

You're never going to make the cheer squad with THAT sort of attitude!

I'm just realistic besides some other delusional fans who think were actually a top team in the league.

 

[lauraw]

Clayton played powder puff...

 

[Buckybird]

Clayton doesn't ever get anything right he says on air. Tell me he doesn't look like a lightbulb.

 

[Buckybird]

...We're gonna murder Houston and Green Bay this year. (assuming we have something to play for in Week 17)

Yeah I thought that we would kill the Texans when I traveled there in 2005. One game at a time baby!!!

 

[Buckybird]

Yeah, we're not switching TO the 3-4. We already run the 3-4. We're just going to use it more and use it in more of its purest sense. How can you not know this at this point?

And we still don't have the edge rushing LB's to make it better than average (at best), unless we're counting a lights out season from a rookie LB'er.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I'm just realistic besides some other delusional fans who think were actually a top team in the league.

It's just ridiculous that you have chosen to focus solely on the regular season with no consideration for the playoffs.

Nice how you talk about being realistic and one of your question marks is a pro bowler and a guy that has started 31 straight games. Excellent argument. Of course he could be injured, but it's obvious any team that loses their starting qb is in trouble.

I love how you call people delusional that think we are a top team. Making it to the Super Bowl, beating quality teams soundly and barely losing to the Steelers doesn't make us a top team?

I'm not saying that we're going to the Super Bowl again, but I think it's pretty ridiculous to think we don't have as good a chance as almost any team in football, and we are the odds on favorite in our division. Sure, we've lost a couple pieces, but the majority of the team is back and we've added some quality talent.

Since you're such an expert, I'd love to know what teams are obviously better than us.

 

[Sandan]

Somebody remind him we were just in the Superbowl, we couldn't have sucked that badly

 

[Gaddabout]

Clayton doesn't ever get anything right he says on air. Tell me he doesn't look like a lightbulb.

You must be registered for see images

 

[the_future23]

It's just ridiculous that you have chosen to focus solely on the regular season with no consideration for the playoffs.

Nice how you talk about being realistic and one of your question marks is a pro bowler and a guy that has started 31 straight games. Excellent argument. Of course he could be injured, but it's obvious any team that loses their starting qb is in trouble.

I love how you call people delusional that think we are a top team. Making it to the Super Bowl, beating quality teams soundly and barely losing to the Steelers doesn't make us a top team?

I'm not saying that we're going to the Super Bowl again, but I think it's pretty ridiculous to think we don't have as good a chance as almost any team in football, and we are the odds on favorite in our division. Sure, we've lost a couple pieces, but the majority of the team is back and we've added some quality talent.

Since you're such an expert, I'd love to know what teams are obviously better than us.

Going off the top of my head and not in any particular order...

Patriots
Colts
Falcons
Eagles
Giants
Vikings* (with Favre and the Williams duo)
Steelers
Chargers
Bears
Titans

Just a little above middle of the pack. I think the Cardinals are a Top 15, even Top 12 team. I just don't think the Cardinals are a top tier team after a playoff run. You have to take the season record just as serious as the playoff run.

I do however think the Cardinals will win the division and make the playoffs again though.

 

[Gaddabout]

I do however think the Cardinals will win the division and make the playoffs again though.

I dunno. The Cardinals know what they are going into this season. That accounts for a lot of forward momentum. They spent most of early last season ramming James into the back of linemen and more or less cuffing the passing attack. It wasn't until they had no choice but to open up the flood gates that Cardinals took on an identity, and the defense started to figure things out in the playoffs.

Assuming people stay healthy, I would expect 10 wins from this team. I defer to those in the know how the defense is unfolding this year and how they'll deal with the loss of Antonio Smith (a bigger loss than I think people realize), but the secondary looks better at the start of this season than it did last year. On paper.

 

[187]

I dunno. The Cardinals know what they are going into this season. That accounts for a lot of forward momentum. They spent most of early last season ramming James into the back of linemen and more or less cuffing the passing attack. It wasn't until they had no choice but to open up the flood gates that Cardinals took on an identity, and the defense started to figure things out in the playoffs.

Assuming people stay healthy, I would expect 10 wins from this team. I defer to those in the know how the defense is unfolding this year and how they'll deal with the loss of Antonio Smith (a bigger loss than I think people realize), but the secondary looks better at the start of this season than it did last year. On paper.

I think a lot of people might be surprised at how well Calais Campbell is going to fill in for Antonio Smith. He's not going to be an overly special pass rusher (just like Smith), but he should play the run very well and is almost ALWAYS around the football. I've got high hopes for CC this year, I'm not too worried about losing Antonio. I agree on your expectation for 10 wins, our defense lost focus after we clinched the division and if we play with the same fire we had in the playoffs 10 W's is definitely achievable.

I need to get up to training camp, I can't handle not having any football. Thank god we have the NFL Network, I've been watching NFL Replay and NFL Classics all week to hold me over some.

 

[Gaddabout]

I think a lot of people might be surprised at how well Calais Campbell is going to fill in for Antonio Smith. He's not going to be an overly special pass rusher (just like Smith), but he should play the run very well and is almost ALWAYS around the football. I've got high hopes for CC this year, I'm not too worried about losing Antonio. I agree on your expectation for 10 wins, our defense lost focus after we clinched the division and if we play with the same fire we had in the playoffs 10 W's is definitely achievable.

My fear is, in Smith's absence, we're going to discover that much of Dockett's success had a lot to do with playing on the same side as Smith. I like Campbell but he's not going to receive the kind of attention Smith did. Smith always got a quality push up field, allowing more room for Dockett to create havoc as a pass rusher.

 

[Feeble Mcjackson]

It makes me mad, but at the end it was this kind of disrespect that fueled are "nobody believes in us" mentality that helped make our super bowl run. So in other words, keep pouring on the hate media. All your gonna do is put more fuel on the fire.

 

[Perfectionist]

I really don't care where anyone ranks our Cards, because in a few weeks answers will be given on the field. Last year we were ranked 13th by espn heading into the playoffs. No one gave us a chance to do well in the playoffs, but we saw what happened.

I would love to see us have a better regular season, in fact, if we don't we probably won't make the playoffs.

But it sure is great heading into a season arguing how high we should be ranked instead of praying that we could just be a little competitive.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

I don't see what's wrong with it. We were 9-7 last year and 6 of the wins came from the pathetic NFC West.

Yet, it is OK to tout the Patroits who played versus the NFC West, the AFC West and there own division.

So the Pats played the two worst divisions in football, that would be 8 total games, and then played the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins twice.

That would be 14 games against some poor competition.

So, justify what ever you want with scheduling, but be fair across the board.