Arizona Cardinals: 5 Bold Predictions for 2012

As fans, we all tend to have certain expectations for our teams’ going into a season. Then we have things that we would like to see happen, and finally, the things we would love to happen but are unlikely.

After finishing the 2011 season on a high note, with six wins in their last eight games, a lot of Arizona Cardinals fans have high expectations for the upcoming year.

Featured over the next few slides are five bold predictions for the Arizona Cardinals in the 2012 season.

Arizona Will Have a Top 5 Defense

The final nine games of the 2011 season gave Arizona fans a glimpse of something they have not seen in a long, long time—a good defense.

After a slow start to the year, ranking at the bottom of the league in just about every defensive statistic, the team rebounded in the final nine games and finished in the top 10 in almost every category.

The Cardinals have a young defense that took a while to learn the system that defensive coordinator Ray Horton brought over from Pittsburgh.

With a full offseason to implement new plays and perfect the old ones, along with Greg Toler and Kerry Rhodes returning from injury, the Arizona Cardinals will have a top five defense.  

Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams Will Each Have 800 Rushing Yards

We have all heard the reports of Peyton Manning coming to the desert, but if he does not, Arizona will be looking to run the ball a lot in order to take pressure off of either John Skelton or Kevin Kolb.

Beanie Wells hit 1,000 yards last season, playing in only 14 games on an injured knee while rookie Ryan Williams went down in preseason.  

With a full offseason to work with strength and conditioning coach John Lott—who is one of the best in the business—both players will come into 2012 stronger than ever.

Greg Toler Will Have 5 Interceptions

After trading Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to Philadelphia for Kevin Kolb, it was likely that Toler would go into the year as the No. 1 corner.

Rookie Patrick Peterson would end up taking over that role, however, because Toler suffered a torn ACL before the start of the regular season.

While playing in 14 games for Arizona in 2010, Toler had 90 tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Both Patrick Peterson and Richard Marshall played well for the Cardinals in Toler’s absence, and he will likely be fighting for the No. 2 corner position in training camp.

With teams starting to throw away from Patrick Peterson at the end of the year, Toler will have his chances to make plays. And by the end of 2012, he will be among the league’s best in the interceptions category.  

Sam Acho Will Have at Least 12 Sacks

Rookie linebacker Sam Acho did not get to play much early on, as he backed up Joey Porter while learning the playbook.

Porter went down with an injury in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Acho took over as the starter in Week 8.

While starting in 10 games for Arizona, Acho had 40 tackles, seven sacks and forced four fumbles.

He has a full offseason to get comfortable with the defense and get stronger. With those numbers, one can only imagine what he is capable of if he plays a full season.

Arizona Will Win the NFC West

The NFC West has been labeled as the weakest division in the NFL for a while now. However, with San Francisco, Arizona and Seattle all rapidly improving, that theory will likely be put to bed soon, if it has not been already.

With the 49ers finishing 13-3 in 2011, we all saw what having a good defense can do for a team.

Not only will the Cardinals have a solid defense next year, but they will also have one of the better running back duos in the league while still having the best receiver in the game.

If Arizona is able to land a healthy Peyton Manning, then they will make a Super Bowl run, if not, then they will just win the NFC West.