New Year’s Resolutions for the Arizona Cardinals fan

Happy New Year’s one and all.

As we embark on 2022, the Arizona Cardinals sit at 10-5 locked into the NFL Playoffs for the first time since the 2015 season.

It doesn’t always feel like it, but after 2015 we had two more Bruce Arians seasons before he “retired” because the team he built wasn’t good anymore for health reasons.

Then we had the Steve Wilks thing… Bleh.

Then we had a fun time where people would get mad at myself and some other writers for prepping people for the soon to be first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft Kyler Murray. Those were fun times.

Since then the Cardinals have steadily improved each and every season under Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray.

5-11-1 —> 8-8 —> 10-5 with two games to go and the playoffs.

It got me thinking of some resolutions for the Cardinals and their fans for 2022.

Here are my thoughts.

1. Enjoy what we have – This is the fifth season since the Arizona Cardinals moved to the valley that they have won 10 or more games. That is right, since 1988 when the team moved here they won 10 or more games in 2009 (won one playoff game), 2013 (no playoffs), 2014 (lost WC playoff game) and 2015 (won one playoff game lost in NFC Championship Game). The Cardinals are in the midst of the fifth best regular season since the move and guess what… We are complaining. This franchise flat out stinks, maybe we should remember that.
2. Appreciate Kliff Kingsbury – Kingsbury is now ninth on the all-time Cardinals win list with 23. It is a sad achievement, but also it shows in less than three full season Kliff could be above .500 as head coach. Which would be the second in the Arizona Cardinals portion of their history. Again, impressive.
3. Enjoy Kyler Murray – Murray is seventh in career passing yards, seventh in career passing touchdowns and 15th in career rushing touchdowns. Have Kliff and Kyler had their second half of season struggles? Absolutely, but what they have done in less than three seasons is incredible when you think of this franchise.
4. Prepare for what is next – What that is, who knows, but if you take the first three approaches, then you won’t be ready to move on right now. In fact, you may sit back and remember you cheer for the Arizona Cardinals, Kliff Kingsbury has coached two of the 12 best teams record wise since the move and there are some ready to move on. Do we all want the Arizona Cardinals to win a Super Bowl? Absolutely. Is Kliff the guy that will get them there? I am not sure. Do I know a coach who can and would be willing to come coach this team? Nope.

That is what is tough as a Cardinals fan. In the scheme of this franchise, what Kliff and Kyler have done is basically irreplaceable at this point. It is unheard of for this team to win 10 games and be in the playoffs, it has only happened 12% of the time before. Playoffs, only 15% of the time. For Kliff, they have won 10 games and made the playoffs 33% of the time in his seasons. I am not sure that Kliff is the answer. I know this can get worse and I am not sure I am ready to go back to it.

So, maybe we can enjoy a 10-win team and get ready for the playoffs. It rarely happens for this fanbase.