Interested in your thoughts. I like the over, even if it's -150.
Top 10 defense, a big improvement at QB, OL, and RB. Are they Super Bowl contenders, definitely not. Are they capable of taking second in the NFC West? Absolutely.
Interested in your thoughts. I like the over, even if it's -150.
Top 10 defense, a big improvement at QB, OL, and RB. Are they Super Bowl contenders, definitely not. Are they capable of taking second in the NFC West? Absolutely.
Interested in your thoughts. I like the over, even if it's -150.
Top 10 defense, a big improvement at QB, OL, and RB. Are they Super Bowl contenders, definitely not. Are they capable of taking second in the NFC West? Absolutely.
Suuma is well-respected, and I appreciate his reply, but I just politely disagree.
Not sure where he gets the bottom 10 defense from, they weren't bottom 10 in passing or running. Their PPG was a little high, but that was also inflated due to a few nasty blowouts. I see their defense improving with the help of a defensive-minded head coach.
Don't get me wrong - the Rams are far better. But Seattle is on the decline (their secondary is a joke), and the 49ers aren't as good as the general public thinks they are after they beat some mediocre teams. The Cards will get at least 3 wins against NFC West foes.
The Cards are coming off a season where they went 8-8 with Drew Stanton and Gabbert starting most of their games, missing their record-setting starting RB the entire season, and an improved OL (they rolled the dice on some new FA signings, but hey, they still got better from last year). They lost Honey Badger and a few replacement level D-linemen, but they also hired a defensive minded coach and made some new acquisitions.
With home games against Detroit, Chicago, Redskins, Raiders, and Broncos, I see them being able to win at least 3 more games to clear that 5.5.
Honestly, a lot of it will come down to how well the team picks up Mike McCoy's offense. If they sputter badly out the gate and never put it together, Suuma will be right. If they pick it up and are slightly better than last year's team, then they will easily clear the 5.5 total.
I watched every Cards game last season, along with most of the league, and I think their offense will be better than last year, where there were games when Stanton overthrew every WR on every mid-to-deep pass. David Johnson is far, far better than the low-WAR guys they started last season too.
Good luck guys, and thanks for the responses!
Suuma is well-respected, and I appreciate his reply, but I just politely disagree.
Not sure where he gets the bottom 10 defense from, they weren't bottom 10 in passing or running. Their PPG was a little high, but that was also inflated due to a few nasty blowouts. I see their defense improving with the help of a defensive-minded head coach.
Don't get me wrong - the Rams are far better. But Seattle is on the decline (their secondary is a joke), and the 49ers aren't as good as the general public thinks they are after they beat some mediocre teams. The Cards will get at least 3 wins against NFC West foes.
The Cards are coming off a season where they went 8-8 with Drew Stanton and Gabbert starting most of their games, missing their record-setting starting RB the entire season, and an improved OL (they rolled the dice on some new FA signings, but hey, they still got better from last year). They lost Honey Badger and a few replacement level D-linemen, but they also hired a defensive minded coach and made some new acquisitions.
With home games against Detroit, Chicago, Redskins, Raiders, and Broncos, I see them being able to win at least 3 more games to clear that 5.5.
Honestly, a lot of it will come down to how well the team picks up Mike McCoy's offense. If they sputter badly out the gate and never put it together, Suuma will be right. If they pick it up and are slightly better than last year's team, then they will easily clear the 5.5 total.
I watched every Cards game last season, along with most of the league, and I think their offense will be better than last year, where there were games when Stanton overthrew every WR on every mid-to-deep pass. David Johnson is far, far better than the low-WAR guys they started last season too.
Good luck guys, and thanks for the responses!
Yeah I am not sure what to think about the defense as well..lots of change in the organization, the new HC pretty much tossed everyone out and brought in his crew, so who knows.
I am not convinced on the QB position, Bradford is just like Palmer was and I dont consider him an upgrade..and their pick reminds me of Matty- a glass jaw from the soft conference.
I am also not feeling that this HC is as smart as Arians was, I think he will be an under-achiever but we will see.
Yeah I am not sure what to think about the defense as well..lots of change in the organization, the new HC pretty much tossed everyone out and brought in his crew, so who knows.
I am not convinced on the QB position, Bradford is just like Palmer was and I dont consider him an upgrade..and their pick reminds me of Matty- a glass jaw from the soft conference.
I am also not feeling that this HC is as smart as Arians was, I think he will be an under-achiever but we will see.
I think their defense will be better because they hired a defensive minded head coach. Bettcher's defense was good against mediocre/average/bad teams, but would get blown out against the super teams with regularity. Wilks is one of the league's top defensive strategist, and inherits a pretty good unit. Sure, it's a 3-4 he's inheriting and he's a 4-3, but I think he's smart enough to work with what he inherited. He didn't get to where he is by being unable to adapt.
As for QB, I think it comes down to scheme. The statheads at the Fantasy Footballers podcast routinely pointed out that during the Vikings years, Bradford was a short-passing game specialist. He can get the ball out quick when in the gun, and is very accurate. Now consider that he has Fitz, Johnson, Kirk, Seals Jones, and Gresham, all of whom are suited to that game.
Now add in Mike McCoy, who is capable of calling that specific type of offense.
Why do I bring up short passing game? Because it helps nullify a subpar offensive line.
Did the offensive line get better? Absolutely. The entire line was injured last year, and they still won 8 games. They improved with Pugh, who in NY was asked to play out of position all the time in perhaps the league's worst unit. Iupati has never been a great pass blocker, but also remember that he was there in 2015 when they made their run. He is good enough when everyone else is clicking. Humphries was much better last year, but had a freak knee injury in that game against the Seahawks. Veldheer is done, and while Smith isn't the best tackle in the league, he's certainly better than Veldheer. Shipley isn't the best, but he's also smart enough to be a good signal caller and avoids the false start penalties that other centers frequently cause.
These guys only need to win six games, which I see being:
Redskins at home
Bears at home
Seattle once
49ers at least once, who are heavily overhyped
Broncos at home
Now we're at 5ish. Toss in the Lions in Week 14, or a lucky game somewhere, and we're easily over the 6 mark.
I feel like a lot of people who are down on the Cardinals didn't watch them last year. Drew Stanton was terrible, but they still won. They've only improved at that position since then.
Best of luck guys! Appreciate your insight!
I think their defense will be better because they hired a defensive minded head coach. Bettcher's defense was good against mediocre/average/bad teams, but would get blown out against the super teams with regularity. Wilks is one of the league's top defensive strategist, and inherits a pretty good unit. Sure, it's a 3-4 he's inheriting and he's a 4-3, but I think he's smart enough to work with what he inherited. He didn't get to where he is by being unable to adapt.
As for QB, I think it comes down to scheme. The statheads at the Fantasy Footballers podcast routinely pointed out that during the Vikings years, Bradford was a short-passing game specialist. He can get the ball out quick when in the gun, and is very accurate. Now consider that he has Fitz, Johnson, Kirk, Seals Jones, and Gresham, all of whom are suited to that game.
Now add in Mike McCoy, who is capable of calling that specific type of offense.
Why do I bring up short passing game? Because it helps nullify a subpar offensive line.
Did the offensive line get better? Absolutely. The entire line was injured last year, and they still won 8 games. They improved with Pugh, who in NY was asked to play out of position all the time in perhaps the league's worst unit. Iupati has never been a great pass blocker, but also remember that he was there in 2015 when they made their run. He is good enough when everyone else is clicking. Humphries was much better last year, but had a freak knee injury in that game against the Seahawks. Veldheer is done, and while Smith isn't the best tackle in the league, he's certainly better than Veldheer. Shipley isn't the best, but he's also smart enough to be a good signal caller and avoids the false start penalties that other centers frequently cause.
These guys only need to win six games, which I see being:
Redskins at home
Bears at home
Seattle once
49ers at least once, who are heavily overhyped
Broncos at home
Now we're at 5ish. Toss in the Lions in Week 14, or a lucky game somewhere, and we're easily over the 6 mark.
I feel like a lot of people who are down on the Cardinals didn't watch them last year. Drew Stanton was terrible, but they still won. They've only improved at that position since then.
Best of luck guys! Appreciate your insight!
Just go look at their schedule. I see 5-11 all over it. I could see them starting 3-5 but then the second half of their season doesn’t look promising.
Just go look at their schedule. I see 5-11 all over it. I could see them starting 3-5 but then the second half of their season doesn’t look promising.
Second half is a tough schedule, you are right. That’s why while I am still doing this bet, I am not going huge with it.
I think what is a little unrealistic is that everyone is assuming that every team in the AFC West is going to be great, when historically at least one or two of those teams flop on their face.
Second half is a tough schedule, you are right. That’s why while I am still doing this bet, I am not going huge with it.
I think what is a little unrealistic is that everyone is assuming that every team in the AFC West is going to be great, when historically at least one or two of those teams flop on their face.
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