If you’re thinking the Arizona Cardinals are the best team in all off football and are planning on backing the Cards throughout the postseason, then you should know that there are a handful of great reasons why Arizona could very well cash in on their value-packed Super Bowl 50 odds!
With that said and Arizona’s intriguing NFC divisional showdown against Green Bay set to get underway on Saturday at 8:15 PM ET, live from University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, let’s hip and hop!
Reasons To Bet The Cardinals To Win Super Bowl 50
Leader of the New-School!
Forget about legendary rapper Busta’ Rhymes and his now-defunct rap Group Leaders of the New School…Arizona’s Bruce Arians is the leader of the new school ear of NFL head coaches – even though he’s been in the business for the better part of the last four decades.
Not only has Arians gone 34-14 in three seasons as the head coach of the Cardinals, but more importantly, Arians is beloved by his Cardinals players – and numerous others across the league, including quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger among others.
Make no mistake about it, Bruce Arians will not get out-coached by anyone – including New England’s Bill Belichick.
No School Like the Old School!
I’m not from the new school, I’m from the old And at an auction my rhymes can never be sold ‘Cause they’re priceless like a piece of Michelangelo art and like Albert Einstein, You Know I’m smart!
– Eklass the Showstoppa
Just like the aforementioned lyrics, ‘old-school’ Carson Palmer is a throwback signal-caller from another era.
Palmer is coming off a ‘priceless’ career year in which he finished fourth in passing yards (4,671 yards), third in quarterback rating (104.6) and tied for second in touchdown passes (35) to earn the second Pro Bowl berth of his career.
Now in his 13th season, Palmer is clearly as smart as Albert Einstein, at least when it comes to football. Arizona’s 13-year veteran set a career-high in passing yards and TD passes while posting the second-lowest interception percentage of his career.
Burn Baby Burn, Disco Inferno!
Now in his 12th season, veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had a ‘burn baby burn, disco inferno’ kind of season as he turned back the clock to record his first 1,000-yard receiving season since 2011.
The 2016 Pro Bowler caught a whopping 109 passes for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns to lead Arizona’s underrated skill position players to what amounted to a stupendous campaign.
In addition to Fitzgerald, Arizona has a bunch of other gifted skill position players including running back David Johnson, (581 yards, 4.6 yards per carry) and wide receivers, John Brown (65 catches for 1,003 yards and seven touchdowns) and Michael Floyd (52 catches for 849 yards).
In Jail Without The Bail!
Just like the legendary ‘Fat Boys’ once sang, when you face the Cardinals’ voracious defense, it’s like being in jail without the bail!
Arizona put their opponents on 24-hour lockdown by ranking inside the top 10 across the board defensively, including fifth in total defense (321.7 ypg), eighth against the pass (230.4 ypg), sixth against the run (91.2 ypg) and seventh in points allowed (19.6 ppg).
The Cards had four defensive players earn Pro Bowl berths including cornerbacks Justin Bethel and Patrick Peterson, interior defensive lineman Calais Campbell and free safety Tyrann Mathieu.
Justin Bethel celebrates with teammates after scoring.
When I Reminisce Over You…My God!
Pete Rock and CL Smooth may have been the first to utter the aforementioned lyrics, but if you reminisce over Arizona’s perfect 4-0 ATS mark in their last four home playoff games, impressive 15-5-1 ATS in their last 21 games following an ATS loss or incendiary 21-9 ATS mark in their last 30 games against their NFC counterparts, you’ll be saying ‘My God’ too!
Do You Remember The Time?
The late, great Michael Jackson’s 1992 hit song sums up my feeling about Arizona’s last meeting against the Green Bay Packers perfectly!
I say, forget about the Cards’ season-ending 38-8 home loss to Seattle and remember Arizona’s 38-8 beatdown of Green Bay in Week 16 as a 6-point road favorite no less. I think the latter serves as a reminder of what potentially lies in store for Arizona’s potential playoff foes.
