Dear Cardinals: Time For Talk is Over

It's time for the Arizona Cardinals to deliver on a promising 2024 season.

Jan 7, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) looks on prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The smell of football swirls in the desert air today as the Arizona Cardinals begin another season, and with that comes hope.

Every team starts out the year 0-0, affording 32 different fan bases the opportunity and potential to dream of what could be. And for what it's worth - expectations, predictions and all the other noise doesn't mean anything when action starts.

"I see they got us that we're going to be ranked last in the NFL and all that," Cardinals LB Kyzir White told reporters this week. "All that is motivation for us, fuel to the fire. We don't really care what people have to say but we definitely hear it."

The Cardinals approach their Week 1 matchup against the Buffalo Bills as underdogs, much like they'll do for most games this season.

While most people sleep on Arizona's chances this season, the Cardinals themselves are ready to wake everybody up.

"I really do think Week 1 in Buffalo we're gonna put the league on notice, I feel like that'd be the perfect team to do it (against) because everybody thinks they're going to win the Super Bowl this year," said Cardinals DL L.J. Collier a few weeks back.

"So why not start with the Super Bowl contenders and put ourselves in the mix?"

The national outlook on Jonathan Gannon's second-year squad doesn't surge much past the 4-13 finish Arizona had last year. The local belief of the Cardinals being sneaky postseason contenders too exists with a healthy Kyler Murray and revamped offense.

There's a noticeable shift in the Cardinals as 2024 approaches.

"This is my first year being very excited for both sides - offense and defense. ... I'm definitely excited. I'm not going to make many predictions or anything like that," star safety Budda Baker said.

"I just know that come Week 1, watch what the Arizona Cardinals can do."

It's been another commendable offseason under the watch of Monti Ossenfort, who again did a strong job of assembling ingredients for the coaching staff to cook with.

In every sense, the Cardinals should be better than a four-win team. Coaches, players and everybody officially involved with the logo are saying and doing the right things. Even some media outlets - including us here at Cardinals on SI - are fairly bullish on where this team can go.

Last season, the Cardinals were given a free pass. It was the first year of Arizona's rebuild under the new regime, and the roster reflected it after being stripped of some fairly big names out in the desert.

Expectations were at zero.

The Cardinals scratched and clawed their way to four wins, though Gannon's squad impressed with their 60 minute tooth-and-nail effort every Sunday.

That was without a healthy Murray for the first half of the season - or a shiny new weapon in Marvin Harrison Jr. - or what should be a better offensive line to ensure one of the league's top rushing attacks hums on schedule.

“It can be elite. Kyler’s a freaky athlete. He’s one of those guys who makes stuff happen when there shouldn’t be anything there. I just love playing with him. And Marvin, he’s one of those generational guys you don’t see come through very often. For us to snag him, it’s very special," Cardinals tight end Trey McBride said earlier in the summer.

“Michael Wilson’s been great. He’s had a great offseason. I’m just super excited about the future of this offense, the future of this team. I’m excited about where we’re going and to have Kyler Murray as healthy as he is now. I think the sky’s the limit for us. We definitely have the potential, have the team, to be the top offense in the NFL.”

Now, the Cardinals have talent assembled at each position on offense, with their franchise player back in the mix, locked and loaded for what the new year will bring.

"Football has been on my mind this whole offseason," Murray told reporters. "It always is but last year, being hurt and having to rehab and stuff like that, (I tried) not to get too far away from the game mentally.

"I have had this on my mind for a long time, what I want to accomplish, what I want this team to accomplish."

But, as the pads are strapped and game day is finally here, the time for talk is over.

The Cardinals must prove themselves to be a better version of what they were a season ago. Matching their four-win output or barely eclipsing it won't be satisfactory. While this roster isn't ready to hold up the Lombardi Trophy, Arizona should find themselves as a more prominent player down the stretch as opposed to a season ago.

Growth - that's what Cardinals fans want to see. They want to see this train is actually rolling on the right track.

That train won't be derailed with a loss today - nor should fans make Super Bowl plans with an upset victory in Orchard Park.

It's a long season, and with that comes the ups and downs every franchise has (and will continue) to experience.

Personally, I don't think these are the "same old Cardinals" fans who fill State Farm Stadium are used to watching every Sunday.

After months of chatter from every direction imaginable, they'll have the chance to prove exactly that. Fate's in their own hands now.

Enjoy the game, everybody - and welcome to football season.

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