NFL preseason power rankings: Arizona Cardinals listed 29th by Mile High Report

Recently the Denver Broncos sister site Mile High Report did a breakdown of their power rankings and had the Cardinals listed as the 29^th worst team in the NFL, just above the Oakland Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The author of the article, Tim Lynch, had this to say:

(The Cardinals) suddenly find themselves in a powerhouse division with, I think, three true playoff contenders heading into next season and you know what? Someone has to lose football games so that can happen. The Cardinals will be a better team this year, but will end up getting buzz-sawed by their division rivals.

From the outside looking in you can see why Lynch would believe this. The Cardinals were downright awful on offense and had two very memorable loses last season. The blowout in Seattle Seahawks and letting the Atlanta Falcons win despite generating five turnovers against them was downright embarrassing. The horrendous quarterback play, the absence of a run game and the general ineptitude of the franchise with the QB situation last season just added to the historical views casual football fans hold towards the Cardinals.

But it’s not your same old Cardinals. Fans know that the team has much more talent than last year’s record indicated. Despite the misgivings most fans have with former head coach Ken Whisenhunt and GM Rod Graves, the team did well under them in accruing talent at skill positions. The team just needed a GM and head coach that wouldn’t be afraid to draft an offensive lineman. In the first round. With their first pick. You know because the signings of Alan Faneca, Daryn Colledge and Adam Snyder were all such great successes…

With a younger team, a healthy and revamped offensive line, a fresh pack of running backs, Larry Fitzgerald out wide and Carson Palmer slinging the rock, the offense of the Cardinals looks poised to have their best season since 2008. And if the defense doesn’t regress, this team will win more games than they lose.

And we all may not be epic homers for believing it. Reading the articles comments from Bronco fans validates many Cardinal fans opinions of the team. Several Bronco fans believe that the author ranked the Cardinals too low. The fans recognized that the Cardinals are a better team than nationally recognized. Maybe it’s the clean air, or the good beer, or both, whatever it is these guys know what’s up!

In the gauntlet that is the NFC West, the Cardinals are getting no respect. That’s fair too, we all know that you only get respect by earning it and as a fan I’m good with that. I don’t mind being the "worst" team to ever make playoffs, it turned out relatively well for Cardinals fans last time.