Cardinals Sign Second Round Pick Cody Brown

Unlike some other NFL franchises, the Arizona Cardinals have managed to avoid having problems signing players they drafted in the recent NFL draft.

The future for the Arizona Cardinals is uncertain to say the least. Will Kurt Warner be able to repeat his performance from last season? Will Anquan Boldin sign a new contract or go elsewhere? How will their rookie running back work out?

Some many questions for the defending NFC champs, but one thing is for sure they will not have to worry about their new defensive end Cody Brown who just inked a deal with the Cards for four years. The financial aspects of the deal have not been released, but the Cards will have him under contract for the next four seasons.

Brown was a monster last season in the college game with 11 sacks, 56 tackles and five forced fumbles while playing at UConn.

Betting on the Super Bowl?

It has to be one the most, if not the most, bet on game in all of sports. Even people who don’t have a clue about NFL football bet on the Super Bowl. It is just something Americans do to make the game more enjoyable!

When it comes to Betting on the Super Bowl, most people, even the amateurs know who is favored regardless of their knowledge of Sports Handicapping. But when it comes to knowing who to put their money on they are completely lost in a fog.

What people don’t know is they can get the upper hand by getting Free NFL Picks. Check it out, click on the link and be ahead of all your friends and co-workers come Super Bowl Sunday. Nothing is sweeter on Super Bowl Sunday than being the big winner at your Super Bowl party!

Arizona Cardinals Advance to First Super Bowl in Team’s History

It has been a long rough road, but the Arizona Cardinals have finally gotten to the NFL promiseland by beating the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in Cardinals history.

Kurt Warner is the man! Everyone and I mean everyone thought that the Cardinals had no chance to get to the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl, but Warner was able to defy the odds and prove all his doubts wrong by leading his underdog Cardinals past the Falcons, Panther and the Eagles to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa.

Coming into the playoffs the Cardinals were the last team anyone expect to go the distance, especially since they have depended on their high powered offense all season long and every team that managed to make the playoffs had suffocating defenses.

Even though the Cardinals were labeled as the biggest underdog, they pulled it together and played some great football on their way to a historic Super Bowl appearance.

Against the Philadelphia Eagles, who had made a great run into the playoffs themselves, the Cards offense was perfect executing both in the air and on the ground. Throughout the regular season the Cards running game was dreadful with Edgerrin James not playing like the Edge of old and rookie Tim Hightower only coming through in goal line situations.

With no one expecting the Cards to do anything on the ground and having a gimpy Anquan Boldin their chances of pulling out a another surprising victory was slim at best, but with Edge coming through out of the backfield and Larry Fitzgerald having the best game of his NFL career with 152 yards and 3 touchdowns the Cards were unstoppable.

Although Edge and Fitzgerald came through when the Cards needed them the most, it was Kurt Warner who was the MVP of the game with 279 passing yards, 4 TDs and no interceptions. Those stats are amazing, but what is even more amazing is that he only had 7 incomplete passes out of 28. That is incredible against a good Philadelphia defense!

Now that the Cards have done the impossible by getting to Tampa they are in for their biggest challenge yet against the best defense in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As usual, the Cards are underdogs once again, but with their offensive fire power and movitation to shock thw world as the biggest underdogs in NFL history a Super Bowl victory is a good possiblity!

Anquan Boldin Injury Update: Might Not Play Against Carolina

Bad news for the Cardinals, Anquan Boldin’s hamstring injury might be enough to keep him out of the playoff game against the Carolina Panthers.

This injury could be devasting to the Cardinals as Boldin gives that balance to the Arizona offense that opponents find so challenging to defend. With weapons like Edgerrin James and Tim Hightower in the backfield and Larry Fitzgerald keeping the defense from double teaming both Boldin and Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner has a lot of options to play with, but if Boldin sits the Panthers could force the Cardinals to run the football by locking down Fitzgerald with two defenders at all times.

If the Cardinals are forced to create a running game they will be in trouble. Not saying that Hightower and James aren’t great backs, but they haven’t really a force out of the backfield except for Hightower in goal line situations.

Boldin missed practice on Wednesday because tightness in the hamstring and says he doesn’t plan on putting it to the test until game time against the Panthers.

Although not having Boldin doesn’t exactly mean that the Panthers will have their way with the Arizona offense with Boldin in the lineup the Cardinals are a huge threat to make big plays at any given moment.

Experience Takes Down Youth as the Cardinals Beat the Falcons 30-24

It was a test of the two quarterbacks with the young up and coming Matt Ryan leading the Atlanta Falcons and former NFL MVP trying to take the Cardinals to the promise land.

Even though Matt Ryan threw and uncharacteristic two interceptions, he still did pretty good for a rookie quarterback with young team. Although he only threw a couple picks they were costly as the Arizona defense seemed to dictate the Atlanta offense. It wasn’t just the picks that effected Ryan as he also was tackled in the endzone for a safety in the fourth quarter and fumlbed the football on a botched handoff, but he did throw a touchdown pass to his go to receiver Roddy White to somewhat make up for the mistakes.

Although Ryan seemed to get it going in the fourth with the passing touchdown, it was to little too late as the Cardinals cruised to a 30-24 victory over the Falcons. One of the strong attributes of the Falcons this season has been the emergence of running back Michael Turner who finished second in the NFL in rushing yards, but besides a second quarter touchdown he was pretty ineffective with only 42 yards on 18 carries.

Ryan did have a rough day, one of many growing pains to come, but Kurt Warner was near perfect with 271 passing yards, 2 touchdowns connecting with both his superstar wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald for touchdowns.

One of the biggest surprises for the Cardinals against the Falcons was their running game with Edgerrin James leading the way with 73 yards. Along with James handling the ground game in the middle of the field, Tim Hightower finished it off with 4 yard touchdown run.

Now that the Cards have gotten monkey off their back by winning their first playoff game since 1998 and only their third playoff win in the team’s history, they will have their work cut out for them when they go up against the Carolina Panthers next Saturday in Carolina.

The Rookie vs. The Veteran: NFC Wildcard

In a classic match up between a talent rookie quarterback and a seasoned veteran, rookie standout Matt Ryan will be going up against former MVP Kurt Warner.

Matt Ryan is a freak of nature. Usually when a rookie quarterback comes into this league and takes control of a franchise in the dumps like the Atlanta Falcons was before Ryan came to town, they go through a lot of growing pains that could past last up five years of losing and struggles adjusting to the professional game.

Well, in Ryan’s case he instantly had an impact taking over a franchise and filling the shoes of Michael Vick which at first glance seemed impossible. The kid is calm, cool and collected and has all the right pieces around him to succeed in this league.

Coming into this season the Falcons had virtually no running or a mediocre one at that and a non existent receiving core, but once Ryan stepped in that all changed. First the Falcons made a one of the best moves in the team’s history by taking a chance on LaDainian Tomlinson’s backup Michael Turner who turned out to be worth his weight in gold. Secondly, with Turner being the dominant running back that he turned out to be a great wide receiver was discovered in Roddy White who is quickly turning out to be one of the best in the NFL and the go to guy in Atlanta.

As for the Cardinals, they took a chance on who was considered a has been, too old to compete in the NFL, former Super Bowl champ and NFL MVP Kurt Warner.

No one, I mean no one could have predicted that pulling Matt Leinart for Kurt Warner was the best decision the Arizona Cardinals have ever made, but it was true and now the Arizona is hosting a playoff game.

Not only has Kurt Warner completely turned around a the Cardinals almost single handedly, but he has also had one of the best seasons of his career and is one of the leading candidates for this year’s NFL MVP.

Much like the Indianapolis Colts, the Cardinals showcase some of the most talented offensive weapons with two of the best wide receivers in the NFL today in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald. With these two Pro Bowlers at Warner’s disposal Warner has been reborn and leads one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Experience and multiple offensive weapons makes the Cardinals the clear cut favorite in this playoff game, but if Matt Ryan plays the way he has all season with his veteran like executive and smart decision making then this could be a relatively even match up.

The quarterbacks will tell the tale in this game, but if the Falcons running game gets going the Cards could be in trouble.