Bad Luck And Just...Bad
This Arizona Cardinals have long been thought of as..well...bad. It has been among the the poor performers for decades. Yet bad luck has also played its part.
Top first-round draft picks, top free agents and re-signed 'star' players have not done the business for them in terms of investment. Things seemed to be getting better for the Cardinals last year, when Arizona drafted Larry Fitzgerald, third overall. Fitzgerald had a great rookie year and in his second season he has 1,128 receiving yards, leads the NFL in catches of twenty yards or longer and is tied in th NFC with 82 receptions. Then there was free-agent Bertrand Berry who became a Pro Bowler with 14.5 sacks.
Then Berry suffered a season-ending injury that required surgery and landed him on injured reserve. Next, kicker Neil Rackers, who was setting all kinds of accuracy records tore a calf muscle late last week. He missed last Sunday's win at San Francisco but is lobbying hard to be active this weekend against Washington for short and mid range kicking.
Two months ago first-round pick Antrel Rolle, injured a knee after only three games as a pro. He returned to practice Wednesday and may play against the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Cardinals have been dreadfully thin at corner during his absence.
It's not a complete disaster - these players will return - but others need to step up or else a downtrodden franchise is only going to go one way.
