Arizona Cardinals ‘Ultimate Franchise Player’ Selection

January 21, 2012 By 3 Comments
Image credit: Neil Leifer

This is the first post in Kurt’s epic quest to identify the NFL’s Ultimate Franchise Player. For an explanation of his methodology for choosing each franchise’s ultimate franchise player, and then how you and he will choose the NFL’s Ultimate Franchise Player from that list, click here.

To see all the posts in this series, of which there will be one for every franchise, click here.

The roots of the Arizona Cardinals go back further than any National Football League franchise, being founded by Chicago’s Morgan Athletic Club in 1898 – having no idea that more then a century later the outfit would be playing in a retractable-roofed stadium in the middle of the Arizona desert.

The Cardinals got their handle in 1915 after being given maroon hand-me-downs from the University of Chicago that had faded significantly in color. The franchise took the Route 66 road to their eventual home over the space of several generations, starting at Chicago’s Comiskey Park from the early 1920’s through 1959 before relocating to St. Louis and eventually Arizona in 1988.

As charter members of the National Football League in 1920, there is obviously a lot of quantity to choose from for my first installment of the NFL’s Ultimate Franchise Player series. Unfortunately, the Cardinals franchise is perhaps one of the most perennially-losing outfits in the history of professional sports.

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Filed Under: NFL, NFL's Ultimate Franchise Player Tagged With: arizona cardinals, kurt warner, larry fitzgerald, nfl ultimate franchise player tournament, pat tillman

Fantasy Football Week 8 Stock Report: Battle, Braylon UP; Murray, DJax DOWN

October 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
jackie-battle-fantasy-football-week-8-stock-report-jackie-battle

Did you know that every team that is on a bye this week has a winning record?  I’m not sure if that has ever happened before but I’ll send John Clayton an email and see what he says. One of those teams on the bye, the Bears, has a running back that has two labels thrown at him. Is Matt Forte underrated or undervalued?  He may be both. The Bears front office better figure it out soon.

Now for this week we have some interesting picks for you, but a lot of them are on the down side of the stock.  I had one person ask me how I could have DeMarco Murray down this week after his big game last week; easy.  Just look at Adrian Peterson’s stats after he set the NFL record for yards in a game.  Stay here: he scored 5 points.

We have a special treat for you in this installment of the stock report: kickers, tricks and more.

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Filed Under: Stock Report Tagged With: ben roethlisberger, benjarvus green-ellis, braylon edwards, Cam Newton, demarco murray, DeSean Jackson, fantasy football stock report, fantasy football week 8, fred davis, greg little, heath miller, Jackie Battle, jacksonville jaguars, larry fitzgerald, nfl week 8, nick novak, rob bironas, ryan fitzpatrick, ryan torain

Fantasy Football Week 7: Last Minute Tips on Beck, Hardesty, Sanzenbacher, Sanchez, Peterson, and Fitzgerald

October 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment
fantasy-football-week-8-waiver-wire-pickups-montario-hardesty

Every week in fantasy football there will be guys who seemingly come out of nowhere and stars who disappoint. Let’s take a look at some players who fit each of those descriptions.

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Filed Under: Fantasy Football, NFL Tagged With: Adrian Peterson, dane sanzenbacher, fantasy football week 7, john beck, larry fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, Montario Hardesty

Fantasy Football Week 7 Stock Report: Cutler, Hardesty, Murray UP; MJD, McGahee, Lloyd DOWN

October 22, 2011 By 2 Comments
fantasy football week 7 stock report - jay cutler

It looks like this is the week of the missing quarterback as owners have to deal with the bye weeks of Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tom Brady, Eli Manning and Michael Vick.  This is a turning point of the season for a lot of teams and fantasy owners alike.  Those who are 5-1 feel good, while the 1-5’s may have chalked the season up as a loss already, and those who are 3-3 are biting their nails like LeBron James. (I wonder how he would do as a fantasy tight-end…)

Staying on the topic of quarterbacks, this week we will see some newcomers who will be thrust into the starting role. Though you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for Christian Ponder to make headlines in Minnesota, we’ve got other names to know for you in this week’s Stock Report.

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Filed Under: Stock Report Tagged With: brandon lloyd, curtis painter, demarco murray, Doug Baldwin, Dustin Keller, fantasy football week 7, jay cutler, joe flacco, kevin boss, kevin walter, larry fitzgerald, Matt Ryan, Maurice Jones-Drew, Montario Hardesty, nfl week 7, tim tebow, willis mcgahee

Fantasy Football Week 7 Start Em Sit Em: Start/Sit Picks, Player Projections, and Lineup Advice

October 18, 2011 By 70 Comments
fantasy-football-week-7-start-em-sit-em-ben-roethlisberger

Well, that was fast.

As soon as I opened up my big mouth and proclaimed that 2011 was going to be the most prolific fantasy year ever, scoring around the league plummets.  No worries.

At least I had a great week on the predictions front, as I was right on nearly 80% of my picks.

As always, here is a quick look back at last week before we move on to week 7.
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Filed Under: Start/Sit Tagged With: Adrian Peterson, ben roethlisberger, blaine gabbert, brandon lloyd, calvin johnson, Cam Newton, devin hester, Drew Brees, Dustin Keller, Dwayne Bowe, fantasy football projections, fantasy football start em sit em, fantasy football week 7, fantasy football week 7 start em sit em picks, fred davis, Greg Jennings, Greg Olsen, jay cutler, jimmy graham, Jonathan Stewart, kevin kolb, larry fitzgerald, Mark Sanchez, matt hasselbeck, matthew stafford, michael turner, mike thomas, mike wallace, philip rivers, Pierre Garcon, Rashard Mendenhall, ray rice, ryan torain, santonio holmes, tony gonzalez, tony romo, vincent jackson, willis mcgahee

Fantasy Football Week 3 Start Em, Sit Em Advice, Player Projections, and Lineup Q&A

September 24, 2011 By 174 Comments
fantasy-football-week-3-start-em-sit-em-projections-jahvid-best

Week Three is here, and hopefully you aren’t 0-2. Don’t worry, it’s still not panic time…but it very well could be time to shake some things up. As always, let’s recap last week’s predictions before looking ahead.

Because we at MSF try our best to get you our Start Em, Sit Em picks before everyone else, we have to take a few chances. One of the downsides to coming out with these picks on Tuesday is that we won’t know all of the injury updates that come out later in the week. We answer your questions and update our predictions accordingly as more information comes out.

However, a few predictions didn’t pan out this week because of injuries (either during the game, or because guys with nagging injuries didn’t end up suiting up on Sunday)…so out of fairness to me, we are going to throw out Michael Vick, Felix Jones, and Dez Bryant.

So besides those guys who caught the injury bug, I went 29 out of 46 overall…a little under 65%. I improved from week one…and that’s exactly what you should try to do from week to week in fantasy.

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Filed Under: Start/Sit Tagged With: aaron rodgers, Adrian Peterson, aj green, Ben Watson, Brandon Marshall, Brent Celek, Cam Newton, Dallas Clark, darren mcfadden, delone carter, denarius moore, Donovan McNabb, Dustin Keller, Dwayne Bowe, fred jackson, jahvid best, james starks, jay cutler, jeremy maclin, jermaine gresham, jimmy graham, joseph addai, julio jones, kerry collins, larry fitzgerald, LeSean McCoy, matt cassel, Matt Ryan, matthew stafford, Maurice Jones-Drew, owen daniels, philip rivers, Rashard Mendenhall, ray rice, Reggie Wayne, rex grossman, rob gronkowski, ryan fitzpatrick, Ryan Grant, santana moss, santonio holmes, scott chandler, shonn greene, Steve Smith, todd heap, tom brady, tony gonzalez

Fantasy Football Week 1 Start Em, Sit Em Lineup Advice, Player Projections, and Roster Q&A

September 6, 2011 By 175 Comments
fantasy football week 1 start em sit em lineup advice player projections roster q&a

Week One is finally here. You have done all the research (you know, the usual: waiver wire picks…injury updates…comparing QBs to Michael Jackson songs…), you have gone through your draft, and most importantly, you have started talking smack to everyone in your league.

You only have one job left to do: start the right guys.

Nothing could be worse than having an awesome team…on your bench.

Each and every one of us has a fantasy sob story or two, and it’s almost a guarantee that one of them revolves around sitting the wrong guy.

So who are you going to start this week?

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Filed Under: Fantasy Football, Start/Sit Tagged With: aaron hernandez, aj green, anquan boldin, Arian Foster, ben roethlisberger, Brandon Marshall, brandon pettigrew, calvin johnson, chad henne, colt mccoy, Dallas Clark, dez bryant, Dwayne Bowe, fantasy football lineup advice, fantasy football player projections, fantasy football roster q&a, fantasy football start em sit em, fantasy football week 1, fred jackson, Greg Jennings, Greg Olsen, jamaal charles, jason witten, jay cutler, jermichael finley, jimmy graham, joe flacco, Johnny Knox, Josh Freeman, Knowshon Moreno, larry fitzgerald, LeGarrette Blount, marcedes lewis, Mario Manningham, Mark Sanchez, Matt Ryan, Matt Schaub, matthew stafford, michael vick, mike thomas, owen daniels, percy harvin, peyton manning, philip rivers, Rashard Mendenhall, ray rice, Reggie Wayne, roddy white, santonio holmes, Tim Hightower, tom brady, tony gonzalez, tony romo, Vernon Davis, zach miller

Fantasy Football Draft Strategy Advice: Breaking the Foundation – Why You May Want to Wait to Draft Your RBs

September 4, 2011 By 3 Comments
fantasy-football-draft-strategy-advice-running-backs-wide-receivers

[Editor's note: Attention all fantasy football players...FanDuel is hosting a Week 1 Freeroll challenge for MSF readers. Buyin is $0 and the prizepool is $250. Click here for more information or here to signup!]

Over many years of playing fantasy football, I have realized a few things:

  1. Leagues are won by the individuals who pay attention and make sound roster moves.
  2. The best drafters find value and win in the middle rounds.
  3. I am never lucky enough to have a high round draft pick. The highest pick I’ve had in the past three years is 5th, and that was in an eight team league. Outside of that, the highest I have had is ninth.

And I’m okay with these things. In fact, if I can’t get one of the top three guys most years, I would prefer to have the backend of the draft and bookend my picks. This does a few things: it makes my decision a little easier by allowing me to grab two guys I want, and it allows me to see how the draft is unfolding and know when I need to start jumping on players I want.

This year you have AP, Foster, Jamaal Charles, CJ2K and Ray Rice as the guys I look at as super elite running backs. In PPR formats, I would put McCoy there as well. If you aren’t going to get one of those guys, what do you do?

First off, you have to have a plan and know your players.

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Filed Under: Fantasy Football Tagged With: andre johnson, fantasy football draft strategy advice, larry fitzgerald

Photo Story: No Laughing Matter – The Inappropriate Giggling of Derek Anderson

November 30, 2010 By 1 Comment
derek-anderson-laughing

Last night, the Arizona Cardinals were throttled by the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. Yes, the same San Francisco 49ers who were themselves throttled at home by the Tampa Bay Bucs one week prior. Arizona lost because it’s defense was lethargic, it could not run the ball, and its quarterback was both indecisive and inaccurate.

Making matters worse, said quarterback – the infamous Derek Anderson – was caught by MNF cameras late in the game smiling/laughing (depending on your interpretation). Anderson was asked about it during his post game press conference and had his Denny Green/Jim Mora/Herm Edwards moment that will go down in press conference infamy.

As the dust settled today, Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt announced that Anderson would remain his starting quarterback. He also attempted to hold a serious discussion with Anderson about his inappropriate and untimely giggling. What follows is a photo diary that captures the noteworthy moments of this critical conversation between player and coach.

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Filed Under: Funny, NFL, Photo Story Tagged With: arizona cardinals, derek anderson, football, Funny, ken whisenhunt, kurt warner, larry fitzgerald, NFL, Photo Story

NFL picks for November 29th

November 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Record on the NFL so far this year is 19-15, a 56 percent winning percentage. As for the NFL this is an important week in terms of determining the wild card and divisional winners for the playoff push.

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Filed Under: NFL Tagged With: Carolina, Falcons, Jake Delhome, jets, Josh Freeman, larry fitzgerald, Tampa Bay

List of Super Bowl MVP Winners by Year and a Super Bowl 43 MVP Prediction

January 26, 2009 By 2 Comments
ben-roethlisberger

List of Super Bowl MVP Winners by YearAs part of our week-long project to educate you on Super Bowl history and get you ready for Super Bowl 43 this weekend, yesterday we offered up the Super Bowl winners and losers by year, as well as the list of teams who have won and lost the most Super Bowls.

Today, we are breaking down the history of the Super Bowl MVP award, as well as offering up a prediction as to who will be the MVP of Super Bowl 43.




Before we get into any predictions, let’s get a historical perspective by looking at the Super Bowl MVP winners by year, as presented to you in the table below:

List of Super Bowl MVP by Year

SB# Year Player Team Opponent Score
Super Bowl 1 1967 QB - Bart Starr Packers Chiefs 35-10
Super Bowl 2 1968 QB - Bart Starr Packers Raiders 33-14
Super Bowl 3 1969 QB - Joe Namath Jets Colts 16-7
Super Bowl 4 1970 QB - Len Dawson Chiefs Vikings 23-7
Super Bowl 5 1971 LB - Chuck Howley Cowboys Colts 13-16*
Super Bowl 6 1972 QB - Roger Staubach Cowboys Dolphins 24-3
Super Bowl 7 1973 S - Jake Scott Dolphins Redskins 14-7
Super Bowl 8 1974 RB - Larry Csonka Dolphins Vikings 24-7
Super Bowl 9 1975 RB - Franco Harris Steelers Vikings 16-6
Super Bowl 10 1976 WR - Lynn Swann Steelers Cowboys 21-17
Super Bowl 11 1977 WR - Fred Biletnikoff Raiders Vikings 32-14
Super Bowl 12 1978 DE - Harvey Martin, DT - Randy White Cowboys Broncos 27-10
Super Bowl 13 1979 QB - Terry Bradshaw Steelers Cowboys 35-31
Super Bowl 14 1980 QB - Terry Bradshaw Steelers Rams 31-19
Super Bowl 15 1981 QB - Jim Plunkett Raiders Eagles 27-10
Super Bowl 16 1982 QB - Joe Montana 49ers Bengals 26-21
Super Bowl 17 1983 RB - John Riggins Redskins Dolphins 27-17
Super Bowl 18 1984 RB - Marcus Allen Raiders Redskins 38-9
Super Bowl 19 1985 QB - Joe Montana 49ers Dolphins 38-16
Super Bowl 20 1986 DE - Richard Dent Bears Patriots 46-10
Super Bowl 21 1987 QB - Phil Simms Giants Broncos 39-20
Super Bowl 22 1988 QB - Doug Williams Redskins Broncos 42-10
Super Bowl 23 1989 WR - Jerry Rice 49ers Bengals 20-16
Super Bowl 24 1990 QB - Joe Montana 49ers Broncos 55-10
Super Bowl 25 1991 RB - Ottis Anderson Giants Bills 20-19
Super Bowl 26 1992 QB - Mark Rypien Redskins Bills 37-24
Super Bowl 27 1993 QB - Troy Aikman Cowboys Bills 52-17
Super Bowl 28 1994 RB - Emmitt Smith Cowboys Bills 30-13
Super Bowl 29 1995 QB - Steve Young 49ers Chargers 49-26
Super Bowl 30 1996 CB - Larry Brown Cowboys Steelers 27-17
Super Bowl 31 1997 KR/PR - Desmond Howard Packers Patriots 25-21
Super Bowl 32 1998 RB - Terrell Davis Broncos Packers 31-24
Super Bowl 33 1999 QB - John Elway Broncos Falcons 34-19
Super Bowl 34 2000 QB - Kurt Warner Rams Titans 23-16
Super Bowl 35 2001 LB - Ray Lewis Ravens Giants 34-7
Super Bowl 36 2002 QB - Tom Brady Patriots Rams 20-17
Super Bowl 37 2003 S - Dexter Jackson Buccaneers Raiders 48-21
Super Bowl 38 2004 QB - Tom Brady Patriots Panthers 32-29
Super Bowl 39 2005 WR - Deion Branch Patriots Eagles 24-21
Super Bowl 40 2006 WR - Hines Ward Steelers Seahawks 21-10
Super Bowl 41 2007 QB - Peyton Manning Colts Bears 29-17
Super Bowl 42 2008 QB - Eli Manning Giants Patriots 17-14
Super Bowl 43 2009 WR - Santonio Holmes Steelers Cardinals 27-23
Super Bowl 44 2010 QB - Drew Brees Saints Colts 31-17

* – Chuck Howley, the 1971 winner, is the only Super Bowl MVP from a losing team. The Cowboys were defeated by the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V.

* – The Cowboys are also the only team to have Co-MVPS, when Harvey Martin and Randy White split the award in 1978.

* – The Super Bowl MVP breakdown by team goes as follows:

  • Dallas Cowboys – 7
  • Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers – 5
  • Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Oakland/LA Raiders, Washington Redskins – 3
  • Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins – 2
  • Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1

* – The Super Bowl MVP breakdown by position goes as follows:

  • Quarterback – 22
  • Running Back – 7
  • Wide Receiver – 5
  • Defensive End, Linebackers, Safety – 2
  • Cornerback, Defensive Tackle, KR/PR – 1

Based on history, there are a few things that we can reasonably anticipate about who will be the MVP in Super Bowl 43:

  • There is better than a 50% chance that the Super Bowl 43 MVP will be the QB from the winning team.
  • There is a better than 95% chance that the Super Bowl 43 MVP will be a player from the winning team.
  • There is better than a 75% chance that the Super Bowl 43 MVP will be a “skill position” player from the winning team.
  • If the MVP does come from the defensive side of the ball, he is usually one of the stars of a historically great defense.List of Super Bowl MVP Winners by Year | Super Bowl 43 MVP Prediction - Ben Roethlisberger

With that being said, if I was forced to bet on whO the Super Bowl 43 MVP will be, my money would be on Ben Roethlisberger. I think that the Steelers are going to win the game, and after Big Ben’s putrid performance in Super Bowl 40, I think he will play well Sunday. Plus, while Arizona’s defense has been solid, they are not great by any stretch of the imagination. Roethlisberger should have a chance to put up pretty good numbers.

However, I would not be surprised to see either James Harrison or Troy Polamalu come away with the trophy. Kurt Warner, while he has been spectacular for most of his career and for most of this season, can be prone to turnovers. Additionally, the Steelers do have a historically great defense. Defensive players from the ’85 Bears and ’01 Ravens won the MVP trophy, and I could see one of the Steelers players getting the award too. Polamalu and Harrison would actually be my #2 and #3 choices for Super Bowl 43 MVP.

Assuming that the Steelers win, and assuming the percentages play out, an offensive player will be the MVP. I know that Hines Ward won the trophy in Super Bowl 40, but Big Ben was just a young pup then. He is absolutely the catalyst of the Steelers offense this year. If he does not play well, Arizona has a chance to win. If he does play well, he will get the requisite numbers to win the award. I don’t see another Steelers offensive player trumping him, unless something fluky happens.

Should the Cardinals somehow with the game, either Kurt Warner or Larry Fitzgerald will come away with the award. I think Fitzgerald would have to just be phenomenal to overcome the whole “storybook” aspect of Warner taking home another MVP trophy. Fitzgerald is certainly capable, but any numbers he gets would also go to Warner. My prediction, if Arizona wins, is that Kurt Warner takes home the trophy.

So, if I was handicapping the race, my Top 5 Players Most Likely to win the Super Bowl 43 MVP list would go something like this:

  1. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers
  2. Kurt Warner, Cardinals
  3. Troy Polamalu, Steelers
  4. James Harrison, Steelers
  5. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals

What do you think?

Who do you think will be the Super Bowl 43 MVP?

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Filed Under: Featured Column, NFL, Uncategorized Tagged With: arizona cardinals, ben roethlisberger, james harrison, kurt warner, larry fitzgerald, NFL, pittsburgh steelers, super bowl, super bowl mvp, troy polamlu