Arizona Cardinals Tickets

Coming off a surprising run to last year's Super Bowl, it's been more of the same from the always inconsistent Arizona Cardinals this season.

One week, Arizona looks like a legitimate Super Bowl contender. A good example would be their thumping of the Minnesota Vikings before a national audience. The next week they look like a sloppy, unfocused group. A good example was their embarassing loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Quarterback Kurt Warner has had another outstanding year despite dealing off and on with a hip injury.

Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has failed to measure up to last year's amazing playoff performance, but he is still one of the top players at his position.

Fellow wideout Anquan Boldin has moved past frustration over his contract and had a solid season despite missing several games for various injuries. He injured his ankle in the team's blowout loss to the Green Bay Packers in the season finale, but the Cardinals are hopeful that he will be able to play in their first round playoff rematch.

The Packers rolled over the Cardinals in the meaningless season finale, so only so much can be taken from that game. The Cardinals played quarterback Matt Leinart for most of the game, which gave their offense literally no chance to move the ball.

Things should be different in the first round playoff matchup. The Cardinals will throw all of their starters at the Packers, and their defense should fare much better without Leinart under center to put them in bad field position.

The Packers do have playmakers that can cause Arizona some problems, but nothing they haven't dealt with before. The Cardinals completely shut down Minnesota's offense, which features even more playmakers than that of the Packers.

Coming into the playoffs last year, many joked that the Cardinals were the worst division champion in years. No one gave them a chance to reach the Super Bowl, but the Cardinals ended up just one drive away from winning it.

The Cardinals gained respect from that run, but this season still sounds an awful lot like last year. Don't be surprised if Arizona has one more run left in them behind Warner.