The Cardinals are off to a 2-0 start with wins over the Saints and Bears. Although it’s still very early in the season, Arizona is perched atop the NFC West and people have taken notice.
Others may be heaping praise on the Cardinals, but head coach Bruce Arians isn’t going to let the early success get into his players’ heads. He started Wednesday’s team meeting by letting them know they haven’t accomplished anything yet.
Palmer said Arians dealt with the props #AZCardinals have gotten from 2-0 start with first line in team meeting today: "You ain't (bleep)."
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) September 23, 2015
That’s one way to get your team’s attention. Arians is right, though. September isn’t even over yet. It’s way to early to reading your own press clippings, as they say.
However, there are things to like about the Cardinals going forward. Carson Palmer is still more than capable of taking a team to the playoffs, when healthy. Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, and Michael Floyd make up a good threesome of targets. D.J. Humphries was selected in the first round and Mike Iupati came over from the Niners to help on the offensive line (and should be ready to contribute in Week 3).
On defense, Calais Campbell is coming off his first Pro Bowl season and Alex Okafor had eight sacks as a rookie a year ago. Patrick Peterson is as good as any cornerback in the NFL and Tyrann Mathieu is a playmaker.
The Arizona Cardinals might not be s–t yet, but they definitely have the ingredients to be a playoff team and challenge for the division title. And between this great quote and some other awesome things we’ve heard him say in the past, it’s easy to see why Arians is a good motivator.
