Article Courtesy of Ted Sevransky, A Professional Football Handicapper Featured on Touthouse.com. If you are betting on football this season, be sure to check out Ted’s 2008 Football Predictions!

2008 Arizona Cardinals NFL Football Predictions
For the last few seasons Arizona has been a popular ‘sleeper’ choice for pundits and handicappers alike, a team poised to break out of their perennial doldrums.  The good news for Cardinals supporters is that Arizona certainly showed signs of improvement last year in head coach Ken Whisenhunt’s first year on the job.  Arizona notched eight wins in 2007, with their 8-8 record their best mark since 1998! 
 
The bad news, of course, is that we’re talking about a franchise with one winning season in the last 23 years.  In addition, six of their eight losses last year came by a touchdown or less – a couple of key fourth quarter plays in their favor and the Cardinals could have earned a rare postseason berth.
 
The Cardinals scored 404 points last year, second most in franchise history.  Much of their offensive success came with the aging Kurt Warner behind center.  Warner, now 37 years old, threw 27 touchdown passes in his eleven games as the starter in ’07, and his 62.3 completion percentage was his personal best since the Rams Super Bowl season back in 2001.
 
Warner is not the starter heading into 2008, and there’s no QB controversy afoot either.  Matt Leinart, now entering his third year in the NFL after a storied collegiate career at USC, is firmly entrenched as the #1 guy.  Leinart has tremendous natural abilities, and showed some flashes of brilliance as a rookie in 2006.  Last year, however, Leinart had a terrible 61.9 QB rating in five games before going down with a season ending injury.  After some offseason controversy involving attractive young women, a hot tub and a Youtube video, reports out of Arizona have Leinart working hard and showing progress in minicamps.  The face of the franchise is that of a potential future star quarterback.
 
Coach Whisenhunt brought offensive line coach Russ Grimm with him from Pittsburgh when he took the job.  Grimm’s line showed great progress last year, and the entire starting unit returns intact for 2008, giving the unit potential to develop into an elite blocking corps.  Just as importantly, Arizona has dramatically improved their OL depth, giving them the ability to withstand an injury or two and still protect their quarterback and open up holes for the running game.
 
That running game looks like the weak link on offense heading into the season.  Edgerrin James is on the downside of his career, now in his tenth year, well past the shelf life of most NFL backs.  James is still a solid ‘grinder’, but he no longer has the explosiveness that he once enjoyed.  In two full seasons with the Cardinals, Edge has only four runs longer than 20 yards, none longer than 27 yards.  Former #2 pick JJ Arrington used to have that elusive explosiveness, but he’s been a bust at the pro level, with his career high 3.3 yards per carry set back in his rookie year of 2005 under former head coach Denny Green.
 
Despite the loss of former #1 Bryant Johnson in free agency, the Cardinals receiving corps looks excellent.  Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin both sport pro bowl talent, as good a duo as you’ll find in the NFL.  Rookie Early Doucet out of LSU could step in as the third receiver.  Tight end Leonard Pope has caught only 39 passes in his first two seasons in the league, but he has the potential for a breakout season in ’08.
 
Well respected defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast is one breakout season away from getting a head coaching gig somewhere in the league.  This could be that season, with pro bowl performers on the defensive line, the linebacking corps and in the secondary. 
 
There are certainly no question marks in terms of Arizona’s defensive ends, with Darnell Dockett earning a pro bowl berth last year.  He’s joined by a deep group including starter Antonio Smith, rookie second rounder Calais Campbell (Miami-FL), rookie fourth rounder Kenny Iwebema (Iowa) and free agent acquisition Travis LaBoy (Tennessee). 
 
Questions persist about the Cardinals ability to stop the run between the tackles, a problem at times for them last year.  Nose tackles Alan Branch and Gabe Watson form an All-Michigan Wolverines duo in the middle, but neither has lived up to expectations in their first few years in the league. With linebackers Bertrand Berry and Chike Okeafor both coming off injury plagued seasons last year and on the wrong side of 30, pro bowl caliber LB Karlos Dansby will need to step up once again.  Free agent acquisition Clark Haggans (Pittsburgh) should help provide quality depth.
 
Arizona spent their #1 pick on Dominique Rogers-Cromartie (Tennessee State), shoring up a good looking secondary.  Starting corners Rod Hood and Eric Green are solid; safety Adrian Wilson is a pro bowler, and former #1 pick Antrel Rolle is making the move to free safety where he should excel.  If the pass rush is there (and it should be), this unit is not going to get burned very often.
 
The Cardinals have a fairly tough schedule after facing a relatively weak slate last year.  And, the Cardinals have a long history of tantalizing their supporters in training camp, then disappointing those supporters once the regular season starts.  Given those two factors, my enthusiasm for Arizona is modest and tempered – they’ll need to prove their mettle on the field, not on paper over the hot summer months.