Arizona Cardinals 2012-2013 NFL Futures Lines & Predictions
The Cardinals had a pretty up and down season a year ago, and a little more consistency under center could do wonders for this team’s playoff aspirations in the 2012-2013 season.
2012 Arizona CardinalsTeam Preview/Predictions
2011 Record: 8-8
ATS Record: 9-7
2012 Cardinals Futures
Super Bowl Odds: 50/1
Conference Odds: 28/1
NFC West Odds: 5/1
Once again, Arizona endured some pretty woefully inconsistent quarterback play in 2011.
Main man, Kevin Kolb played some solid games a season ago, but then imploded in others, tossing an average of 223 yards per game while putting up an 81.1 QB rating. That number is good for just 17th in the NFL.
While other areas of this team need shoring up as well, Kolb’s inefficiencies are radically highlighted because of the weapons at his disposal. An arsenal that includes, Larry Fitzgerald, Early Doucet, and newly drafted Michael Floyd. All who will provide the many options to Kolb, who will get the nod again this season for many reasons. One of them being the money that is owed to him.
Another major issue for this team is getting consistent yardage on the ground.
Starter, Beanie Wells had an impressive handful of games, but he failed to break the four-yards per carry mark in nine of his 14 games in 2011. Furthermore, he failed to even break three-yards per carry in three of those contests. In the grand scheme of things, he looked to have had a solid season overall with nearly 1,100 yards with over four-yards per carry on average. His main production was bunched into three or four standout games however. That’s not going to work. If the Cardinals want the ground attack to vastly improve, a little more consistency from this guy would go a long way. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Defensively, Arizona was terrible in 2011. Surrendering over 350 yards per game, which was in the bottom half of the NFL. In fact, they ranked in the bottom half of the league in almost every defensive category. Including rushing yards (21st), passing yards (17th), and points allowed (17th). Their turnover differential was also dreadful, at -13.
All of these things aside there is still some form of hope based on last season.
Their home form was quite impressive a year ago, as the Cardinals were 6-2 when playing in Arizona, as opposed to 2-6 when playing elsewhere.
The teams’ two losses came against two pretty noteworthy teams however, as they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7, to the tune of 32-20. The other home loss came against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants, by a score of 31-27.
Finally, as far as rookies go he may not start out of the gate, but receiver Malcolm Floyd will be relied upon to make some big contributions in the passing game. With coverage heavily drifting to Fitzgerald, and to a lesser extent Doucet, Floyd will have some room to make a couple of big plays.
If he can, the Cardinals may be able to find more yardage through the air in 2012.
2012 Cardinals Predictions
Place they’ll finish in NFC West: 2nd
Place they’ll finish in NFC Conference: 7th
