With three games remaining in the regular season, it is not yet time to reflect on the growth the Arizona Cardinals have shown during the 2024 season, even if some don’t care to admit that’s the case.
After all, given some of the harsh narratives that are heard frequently thanks to the three-game losing streak that brought many down to the earth after the team stood 6-4 heading to the bye, it is instructive to remind everyone what the plan was when Monti Ossenfort took over as general manager 23 months ago.
Mostly, it was to build a roster through the draft while signing a bunch of lower-level free agents in 2023 and then begin to dip into the free agency pool a tad deeper this year without going overboard and spending money unwisely.
The result is a 52-man roster (as of Tuesday morning) that currently includes 17 Cardinals draft choices plus two on injured reserve, three picks from other teams, two undrafted players and another also on injured reserve.
Those young players have played a lot of football, whether on offense, defense or special teams, and this season they are gaining invaluable experience in what it’s like to play meaningful games in December.
That was reflected in the snap counts from Sunday’s game against the Patriots.
- Of the 770 offensive snaps played by 20 players, 165 were played by rookies and 154 by those in their second season. Those 319 snaps are 41.4 percent of the total.
- Of the 23 players that participated in 561 total defensive snaps, 68 snaps were by rookies and 121 by second-year guys. That total of 189 is 33.7 percent of the total snaps.
- In total, of the 1,331 snaps played, 233 were by rookies and 275 were in their second year for an overall percentage of 38.2.
That bodes well for the future no matter how this season finishes considering the Cardinals are one of only four teams in the NFL that has already won at least three regular-season games more than in 2023. Minnesota and Washington have won five more and the Chargers also have won three more. Five other teams have more wins: Kansas City with two, followed by Carolina, Denver, Green Bay and Philadelphia with one. Those numbers can only increase in the final three weeks.
Meanwhile, a stunning 19 teams have won fewer games and that includes eight that were playoff teams last season: Cleveland eight fewer, Dallas and San Francisco six, Miami five, Baltimore four, the Rams two, and Houston and Tampa Bay one.
The other 11 are Jacksonville and Las Vegas six, New Orleans and the Giants four, Chicago, Indianapolis, the Jets and Tennessee three, Cincinnati two, and New England and Seattle one.
Four teams are currently at their same number from 2023: three playoff teams Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh along with Atlanta.
Sometimes it’s important to emerge from the cocoon where everything revolves around the one team we analyze to death and take a deep look at the rest of the league to see that the vast majority of teams are striving for the consistency that is difficult to achieve and numerous teams aren’t in the same place as the Cardinals.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of work to be done, which will make the offseason that begins in three short months fascinating to see how it is approached by Ossenfort.
We should, though, have a certain degree of confidence that the big-picture plan is working based on what we have seen over the last 31 games.
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