Cardinals embrace sky-high expectations
After reaching NFC title game, Arizona has Super Bowl look
The Arizona Cardinals ended one of the NFL’s longer training camps on Friday, shutting it down amid talk around the league that this could be a Super Bowl team.
The expectations for running back David Johnson are as high as they are for the team.
As a starter in the final five games of the regular season, Johnson ran for 658 yards, had 216 yards receiving and scored five touchdowns. Overall, he led the team in touchdowns with 13 — eight rushing, four receiving and one kickoff return.
Johnson embraces the hype.
“It’s good for me,” he said. “After the way I ended last year, the expectations are high, definitely. I feel like I’m ready to prove my worth.”
The expectations are equally high for the Cardinals, who went 13-3 last season — second-best record in the NFC — but finished with a blowout loss to Carolina in the NFC championship game.
Every skill player on offence who gained a yard or scored a point for the No. 1 offence in the league last season is back. The offensive line is rebuilt, with veteran Evan Mathis at right guard and T.J. Humphries, a first-round draft pick who didn’t suit up for a game as a rookie last season, at right tackle.
The first-team offence drove the length of the field in the pre-season opening loss to Oakland but didn’t do much in three series in the second game, a loss at San Diego. But head coach Bruce Arians and quarterback Carson Palmer said they’re not concerned because it’s only pre-season.
On defence, the Cardinals added Pro Bowl outside linebacker Chandler Jones in a trade with New England and signed free agent safety Tyvon Branch.
“I think all those guys are exactly what we hoped for,” Arians said, “solid pros, team-oriented people, want to do whatever it takes to win a championship.”
Arizona opens on Sept. 11 at home against New England.