NFL

Arizona Cardinals Win First Division Title Ever

Posted Dec 07, 2008 7:40PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Arizona Cardinals, Rams, NFC West

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The last time the Cardinals franchise won a division title, they played their games in Busch Stadium. They were the Saint Louis Cardinals. Coincidentally, they pasted the hapless current St. Louis team today at home to clinch the NFC West.

While it was no surprise the 2008 Cardinals easily handled the 2008 Rams -- 34-10 -- let us examine how rare an occurrence this is.

- The Cardinals franchise has only finished above .500 four times since 1976.

- The Cardinals franchise has not won their division since a strike-shortened 5-4 record was good enough in 1982. In the past 25 years, the Cardinals had only made the playoffs once -- when Jake Plummer took them on a 9-7 whirlwind in 1998.

- Since moving to Arizona, the Cardinals have lost at least 10 games 13 times in 20 seasons.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. This was one futile organization. I'll admit that when covering a team who is not your favorite, you still develop some love for the team. I've been rooting for these guys to do well, and they are a likable bunch from top to bottom. To the true Arizona Cardinals fans -- who have been with the team since the beginning -- you really deserve this. Enjoy it, and hopefully it's simply the start of things to come.

As for the game itself, it was pretty much what we expected. The Rams never really had a chance. The Cardinals defense took the ball away three times, Marc Bulger was greatly outplayed by the man he unseated in St. Louis -- Kurt Warner -- and the game was never in doubt.

Steven Jackson is sure to draw the ire of his hometown fans, fumbling the ball away twice and only gaining 64 yards on his 19 carries. He's been a scapegoat this season, and that's not changing after this one. As I said above, Bulger was badly outplayed by Warner, so he'll continue to be a hometown scapegoat as well. I have to ask this question once more to Jim Haslett? Why not let Brock Berlin play? You are 2-11. Give the kid a chance to show if he can succeed at this level. He wasn't a high draft pick, but neither was Tom Brady. At least see what he can do, because there is nothing to lose at this point. You get blown out nearly every week anyway.

Moving forward, the Cardinals will look to build upon this substantial momentum. They have two tough tests in front of them before likely resting many of their regulars against Seattle in Week 17. Taking on the Minnesota Vikings at home next week should be a nice playoff primer, for they are likely to face similar level competition in the first round of the playoffs at home. The trip to New England is important for the Cards as well, because they need to prove to themselves that they can execute better in the eastern time zone. Round two of the playoffs will likely be out there, so it will be a nice boost if they play well in Foxboro.

For now, though, it's time to celebrate the rare event. Ken Whisenhunt has turned this thing around in less than two years. The Arizona Cardinals are the NFC West champions.

Tags: brock+berlin, BrockBerlin, jake+plummer, JakePlummer, jim+haslett, JimHaslett, ken+whisenhunt, KenWhisenhunt, kurt+warner, KurtWarner, marc+bulger, MarcBulger, steven+jackson, StevenJackson

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