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Arizona Cardinals Evolution: Quarterback Wrap-Up

Time for the finale of Season One of Arizona Cardinals Evolution.

By ROTB Fumbe
USA TODAY Sports

My Thoughts:

Writing the Evolutionary series for our quarterbacks gave me a new insight as to how Cardinal fans before the arrival of Kurt Warner felt. I always look at a bad season and complain, but what occurred prior to 2007 dating all the way back to 1989 was humbling. I'll always look at a bad season and realize, it could have been worse. (No we won't go 0-16)

Stats:

Completions: Attempts: Completion % Yards: Touchdowns: Interceptions
Overall: 7505 13659 55 90469 446 510
Average: 300 546 55 3619 18 20

This is what the Cardinals Overall stats for the last 25 years look like, and their average per season. If we were to eliminate the success that Kurt Warner had from 2007-2009, then our stats would look much worse.

Here are the league averages from 1988 to present:

Year: Completions: Attempts: Completion % Yards: Touchdowns: Interceptions: Cardinal Pass Rank:
1988 274 505 54 3211 20 20 5/28
1989 286 512 56 3374 21 20 15/28
1990 270 483 56 3116 21 17 19/28
1991 286 498 57 3186 18 17 26/28
1992 275 479 58 3002 18 19 24/28
1993 298 515 58 3210 19 17 9/28
1994 312 538 58 3418 21 17 22/28
1995 324 557 58 3533 22 17 28/30
1996 307 532 58 3319 21 18 6/30
1997 295 524 56 3229 21 16 10/30
1998 292 516 56 3280 22 17 8/30
1999 309 541 58 3396 22 18 27/30
2000 306 527 58 3310 21 17 17/30
2001 308 522 59 3293 21 18 13/31
2002 322 540 60 3396 22 17 29/32
2003 303 515 58 3207 20 17 23/32
2004 305 511 60 3369 23 16 14/32
2005 306 516 60 3255 20 16 1/32
2006 306 512 60 3277 20 16 10/32
2007 326 533 61 3429 23 17 5/32
2008 315 516 61 3381 20 15 2/32
2009 324 532 61 3495 22 16 12/32
2010 328 540 61 3545 24 16 31/32
2011 327 544 60 3675 23 16 17/32
2012 339 556 61 3701 24 15 28/32

As you can see, the Cardinals had a few good years passing, and others they looked absolutely horrible. We were above league average 11 out of the 25 years, falling below, and in most cases, far below the other 14 years.

This is not a lack of talent. As someone stated in one of the other stories, it was mainly a case of being stingy with our fat purse. We had some really talented teams, and some talented individuals, but whether it came down to coaching, or down to the lack of talent that year, the team was only able to pull it together for a playoff run in 1998, 2008, and 2009.

The new regime has promise, but so did Ken Whisenhunt, Vince Tobin, and other coaches, but it appears that on paper this team is far superior to that of the 2008 Cardinals, it will all come down to Carson Palmer and the coaching staff.

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