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At last. The Arizona Cardinals, perennial bottom-feeders, are headed to the Super Bowl to play the mighty Pittsburgh Steelers. Arizona is a Cinderella team to the nth power, having spent 61 years in three different cities since their last title, in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals. In that time, the Cardinals have been perhaps the worst franchise in all of American sports.
Arizona somehow accomplished this fairy-tale turnabout with a couple of former stars regarded as long past their expiration date in quarterback Kurt Warner and running back Edgerrin James; an all-planet receiver in Larry Fitzgerald, who happens to be the son of a sportswriter; a defense that apparently forgot just how bad it was; and a coach, Ken Whisenhunt, once the heir-apparent in Pittsburgh who, after being passed over for the Steelers' top job two years ago, wound up with a dubious consolation prize: head coach of the Cardinals. How can you not root for this team?
Here's one reason: After becoming the first team to clinch a playoff spot by winning a weak NFC West with three weeks left to go in the season, the Cardinals didn't exactly exert themselves the rest of the way. The low point was when the defense surrendered 514 yards in a 47-7 loss to the New England Patriots. The game meant nothing to the Cards. But it was a must-win for the Pats, fighting for a post-season spot, and had huge implications for the Jets, the Dolphins and the Ravens. Now I'm not saying Whisenhunt told his team to lie down. But regardless of what he told his players, they tanked the game, going down 31-0 by halftime and ultimately surrendering 514 yards in a 47-7 rout. Cardinals players and coaches have subsequently pointed to that game as an embarrassment, but also as the one that convinced them how much more work they had to do and, thus, set them on the right course. Still, for those of us who like to believe character plays some part in these games, it has remained a turnoff.
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The whole thing has convinced me that it is past time for the NFL to change its playoff structure. This season too many of the playoff teams had nothing at stake in the final game of the season (or in Arizona's case even earlier). So, for example, Indianapolis Colts fans got to see quarterback Jim Sorgi lead his team to victory over division rival as well as the AFC's top team, Tennessee, a game in which the Titans passed for 42 yards and the leading rushers were Quinton Ganther and Lance Ball. (Bonus points to any reader who can tell me which running back plays for which team.)
There is obvious merit in division winners reaching the playoffs. But there is no obvious merit in giving a division winner a higher seed than a team with a better record. And while some meaningless, late-season games involving playoff-bound teams are inevitable, a new mix with prospective division winners and wild-card teams competing for seeding rights would reduce that number. The most conspicuous beneficiary of the current system has been Arizona, which wound up with the fourth seed despite having the worst record, 9-7, of all six NFC playoff teams. As a result of that and a couple of upsets, the Cardinals lucked into playing two of three playoff games at home, where the team was 6-2 during the regular season.
It's far too much of a gift, especially when the Cardinals had reached the playoffs by winning the worst division in the league—they went 6-0 in the NFC Worst. Had Arizona been fighting for a seed based on its record, the team might have shown up against the Patriots. And had the Cardinals still lost, they would have taken their rightful place as a sixth seed in the playoffs. As such, Arizona would have opened the playoffs in Atlanta instead of hosting Atlanta. And if they had still managed to beat the Falcons, they would have gone on to face the Giants in the Meadowlands. Finally, had this still yielded Arizona vs. Philadelphia for the NFC Championship, it would have been amid the snow, deep freeze and verbal abuse in Philly. Beat three teams, in hostile environments on the road, and the Cardinals would have truly earned that trip to Tampa and Super Bowl XLIII.
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