Some call it unprompted enthusiasm. Others, a recipe for disaster. Being labeled the NFL’s next big breakout team can really go either way – especially for a franchise without much history.
Just ask the 2004 Seattle Seahawks. Or the 2005 Arizona Cardinals.
With ticket sales flat-lining and a new stadium being built, the Cardinals couldn’t have asked for better publicity this summer. The franchise that has made exactly one postseason appearance since 1982 was not only being picked to go to the playoffs, they were being tabbed by many as the team to beat in the NFC West.
And that’s just what they’ve done. Gotten beat, that is.
The Cardinals (0-2) are just finding out the other side of a little positive pub, and they’ll find no more miserable company than their opponent this Sunday. The Seahawks found out last year that it’s impossible to win a bikini contest until the robes come off.
Seattle, fans might remember, was the chic pick to win the last Super Bowl. Prognosticators were so frightened of sounding like everyone else – who would want to be so obvious as to pick the Patriots and Eagles in the Super Bowl? – that they all seemed to stumble onto the same sleeper team. The Seahawks’ 3-0 start only amplified the talk … and only made the thud seem louder.
So this summer the Cardinals became The Next Big Thing, and only two weeks later they’ve fallen into the kind of funk that, put in NFL terms, is best described as … well, the Arizona Cardinals.
“I am not afraid of expectations,” Cardinals coach Dennis Green said this week. “There is no reason to be.”
Maybe not. But they sure seemed to spoil the Seahawks’ 2004 season.
Seattle did, after all, win the NFC West and go to the postseason for the second year in a row. They knocked off the playoff-bound Vikings in Minnesota, beat the AFC South champion Atlanta Falcons, and battled the Rams right down to the final seconds of the first playoff game played at home since 1999.
And yet 2004 was seen by most as a huge disappointment. Nine wins and a first-round playoff exit weren’t enough. Not for a team deemed by the so-called experts to be a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren was asked this week about how last year’s team dealt with the big expectations, and he shot down the notion that the preseason talk somehow affected his team.
“The players and coaches in the league don’t pay as much attention to that as the general public (does),” he said. “That’s kind of fun it’s exciting, our fans love it, the stadium’s full, and those are all good things. But as far as what we do on a daily basis, you just get ready to play the next game.”
The effect came after the season, when all those August dreams suddenly unfolded into another January reality.
In Arizona, that reality is becoming clear a little sooner.
“No one wants to be 0-2,” said Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, whose only other 0-2 start came in 2002, the year after his St. Louis Rams made their second Super Bowl appearance. “I guess the good thing is that there are not many teams that are 2-0, and we still have a lot of time to recover and get back on track.”
OK, so maybe reality isn’t for everyone. But at least this year’s Cardinals don’t have to worry about any Seahawk-like fall from grace. They’ve already sunk so far down that there’s no place to go but up.
Fortunately for the Cardinals, “up” is only one game in the mediocre NFC West.
Cardinals at Seahawks
Kickoff: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
TV: Fox (Ch. 13)
Radio: KIRO (710 AM)
Stars to watch: Seahawks – QB Matt Hasselbeck ranks third in the NFC with a 93.3 quarterback rating. RB Shaun Alexander is second in the NFC with 217 rushing yards. WR Darrell Jackson, with 14 receptions, is on pace to break his own franchise record of 87 in a season. OLB Jamie Sharper leads the Seahawks with 13 tackles.
Cardinals – QB Kurt Warner completed 35 of 47 passes for 386 yards in his only meeting with the Seahawks – a 2000 win as a member of the St. Louis Rams. WR Larry Fitzgerald is leading the NFL with 17 receptions. DE Bertrand Berry has a team-high two sacks. SS Adrian Wilson has a team-high 13 tackles.
Breaking down the game: While both passing games are having some success, and both defenses are holding their own, the rushing attacks could decide this one.
And that’s great news for Seahawks fans.
The Arizona Cardinals have fewer rushing yards this season (113) than Shaun Alexander did on his own last week (144).
Seahawks fans just hope that Marcel Shipp doesn’t turn into Thomas Jones. Barring that, Alexander should be the difference again this week.
Pick: Seahawks, 16-10.
Injury report: Seahawks – T Floyd Womack (triceps) and T Wayne Hunter (hamstring) are out.
Cardinals – LB Gerald Hayes (knee) is out. LB James Darling (knee) is questionable. CB Antrel Rolle (knee) is probable.
Little-known fact: Although Arizona quarterback Warner has been on teams that have faced the Seahawks five times, he has missed four of those games due to injury.
Other NFL games
Cleveland (1-1) at Indianapolis (2-0), Sunday, 10 a.m.: The defense-heavy Colts sure would be a contender if they only had a quarterback. It’s just too bad Trent Dilfer’s not available. All witty sarcasm aside, Dilfer ranks fifth in the NFL with a 95.1 rating. Peyton Manning is 20th at 74.7. Even brother Eli is better (76.3). Pick: Colts, 41-10.
New England (1-1) at Pittsburgh (2-0), Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: Call it the Pennsylvania Shuffle: Team wins 14 or 15 games, goes into the playoffs on a roll, but can’t win the big one. The Steelers looked a lot like the Philadelphia Eagles last season, especially when it came time to rise up in the postseason. This would be a great way to prove that they’re legitimate contenders this year. Pick: Steelers, 19-16.
N.Y. Giants (2-0) at San Diego (0-2), Sunday, 5:30 p.m.: So, Eli finally goes to San Diego. Chances are, the Chargers fans won’t be too eager to greet him. But the boo-birds won’t be nearly as important as San Diego’s offense, which has to find a way to get back on track. The remedy could be as easy as 1-2-LT. Pick: Chargers, 24-13.
Scott M. Johnson is The Herald’s NFL writer.
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