Even though the Cardinals season is over, it's not too late to look back at the season and what it meant to this organization. You've heard it befo
re: the Cardinals first division title since 1975, first home playoff game since 1947, first home playoff win since then also, first NFC Championship, and first Super Bowl appearance. Unfortunately, they couldn't take home their first Lombardi trophy, but there's always a first for everything. The season was without a doubt, a magical season that none of us can ever forget. It will remain as one of the best in Arizona Cardinals history, and in all of our memories. That brings us to the next subject: The Top Five Most Surprising Moments of the 2008 Season. This can range from most memorable performances to most shocking. The season was full of surprising moments and I really had to think about what the most surprising were. So here is the top five for 2008:
- Going to Super Bowl XLIII. It still doesn't seem like a reality. The Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. It was the first appearance in franchise history and hopefully not their last. One of the more surprising moments was seeing all the other fans around the league rooting for the Cardinals.
- Winning the NFC West. The Arizona Cardinals were the door-mat of the NFC West for the last 5 years. They continually blew chances to capitalize on leads in games, and fell apart at the worst times. The Seahawks had been winners the last 4 years and were even favorites to do it again this year. We all knew it was coming, but when they did it against the Rams in week 14, it was even more of a surprise.
- Kurt Warner having MVP-like season. This one has to rank towards the top. I don't think anybody thought he would play like this. He almost ended up riding the bench but Matt Leinart blew his shot in the preseason. Kurt was ahead in MVP talk for the majority of the year until some poor performances from fellow teammates. He led this team to the Super Bowl, and was possibly one hail mary away from a win.
- Anquan wanting out. Before the season started, and before Boldin wanted out, not many fans would have expected one of their star players and faces of the franchise to want to leave. That's exactly what happened in the 2008 off season. Anquan claimed he was promised a deal, and that the organization didn't follow through with it. The whole off season was a controversy about whether he would be traded or not. He ended up playing all year, but as we all know, it has now lapsed into this off season.
- Steve Breaston's break out season. He's up for Most Improved Player, and he will most-likely win. As mentioned then, Breaston went into the 2008 off season as a possible 3rd string receiver. Nobody was sure if he would surpass Urban or Doucet on the depth chart, but as the stats show, Breaston did just that. He gained over 1,000 yards on the season and proved he could last the whole season and not fold under pressure.
This is the Arizona Cardinals top five most shocking moments of the 2008 season. You could easily say the entire season was surprising at that. Was there any other surprising moments? Was there anything more surprising then the top five?