It’s Always Sunny in Arizona

By Sports Enthusiast and Guru Ryan Mitchell, Contributing Blogger

At first glance, one would say that the 2014 season has been kind, to say the least, to the Arizona Cardinals. This year’s Super Bowl host has thus far overcome quite a bit to be sitting pretty at 5-1, and is on pace to potentially buck the long-term host city jinx. No team since the 1984 San Francisco 49ers has reached the Super Bowl in a year in which they were host to the big game. In addition, since 1984, only four host city teams have even made the playoffs in the same year, a stunningly low percentage over a 30-year span in a league in which such parity exists. Call it chance, collusion, or a little bit of both, but that is what these Cardinals are up against this season. It’s a start only fitting after QB Carson Palmer went down with a shoulder injury in Week 1 and missed three weeks in a row.

Fortunately for the birds of the desert, he is back now and as sharp as ever. Their 5^th ranked defense has been the strength of the team, stopping the run and forcing turnovers. In the hotly contested NFC West division, the Cardinals have been the mark of consistency and now have an inconceivable comfortable early season lead. The schedule continues to provide challenges with upcoming contests against the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, which should give us a much clearer picture of this team. Should they be able to split, or dare I say even sweep, the next two games, it would impossible to deny them of being the class of the entire NFC. The question then becomes, for a team sitting at 5-1, how many wins will it take to make the postseason and threaten the long-standing jinx? Last year, these very Cardinals won an impressive 10 games and missed the playoffs. History couldn’t possibly repeat itself, could it? These are some of the things to keep in mind as you begin to shift your Sunday late afternoon game viewing towards the team from the valley of the sun. Keep on shining Cardinals. Keep on shining.