Analyst Grades Cardinals 2024 Season

The Arizona Cardinals got a fair grade from Bleacher Report.

Jan 5, 2025; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon looks on in the second half against the San Francisco 49ers at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

There's two sides to the coin on how the Arizona Cardinals' 2024 season went.

On one side, the Cardinals displayed a good amount of growth and finished the year with eight wins, surpassing all expectations placed from the outside. They entered the bye week with a 6-4 record and held the NFC West crown for a short amount of time.

However, Arizona collapsed towards the end of the season and missed the playoffs, proving themselves to be far too inconsistent on either side of the ball.

How would you grade the Cardinals' season?

Bleacher Report's Maurice Moton gave Arizona a C+ with the following rationale:

"The Arizona Cardinals missed the playoffs with a sub-.500 record, but they're headed in the right direction. The Cardinals must add a couple of veteran defensive playmakers, and they need a little more out of starting quarterback Kyler Murray," wrote Moton.

"The Cardinals doubled their wins from the previous season. They made significant strides on both sides of the ball, improving from 24th to 12th in offensive scoring and 31st to 15th in defensive scoring. Trey McBride earned his first Pro Bowl nod as a rising star tight end.

"Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing has to figure out how to strengthen the connection between Murray and wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. The rookie receiver finished with an inefficient 53.4 percent catch rate.

"After a couple of injury-riddled campaigns, Murray played through a full season, throwing for 3,851 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He's still an effective ball-carrier, rushing for 572 yards and five touchdowns, but the team needs him to pull through for more game-winning plays in critical moments."

The C+ grade feels fair.

As previously mentioned, the Cardinals' 2024 season went far beyond expectations when taking a step back and evaluating the big picture.

It's possible to feel a sense of hope/promise moving into the 2025 offseason while also being dissapointed with how things unfolded after the bye week.

All in all, the Cardinals showed much needed improvement - we'll see what the offseason brings.