Kurt Warner 2008 : One Of The Greatest Seasons By an NFL Quarterback

2008 was an extremely rare football season for Arizona Cardinals fans...just about every aspect of their football team was solid.

The Cardinals? Solid? No way!

I know it sounds crazy, but it was quite evident that the Cards were a solid team in '08.

But the Super Bowl?! 

I would like to meet one person (not a Cardinals fan) who picked the good old Cardinals to represent the NFC in Super Bowl XLIII. 

That's what I thought.

The Arizona Cardinals unforgettable 2008 season will forever be remembered as a historic Cinderella run to the Super Bowl. Their "old, out of shape, good-for-nothing" quarterback Kurt Warner had one of the most memorable seasons of not only his 11-year career, and Cardinals franchise history, but in all of NFL history.

Coming into the season, just about every NFL expert picked the Seahawks to win the NFC West title. They ended up with a record of 4-12, and were depleted by injuries all around.

They really did not have a chance at winning the division from the beginning. 

The Rams...well...enough said there. 

They went 2-14, and they probably have a while before they are even considered a threat to anyone.

The 49ers were actually a surprise toward the end of the season, finishing the season 7-9, but they ended up falling short of the Cards by two games.

So the all mighty Cardinals were the winners of the NFC West title, earning a playoff berth for the first time since 1999, and the number four seed in the NFC.

Mr. Warner was quite the quarterback for this Cardinals team. It didn't hurt that he had a couple of guys named Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin catching his passes either.

Let me throw some stats at you: 

Warner had a 67.1 completion percentage, the best he had since 2000 and 2001, and was second in the NFL behind Chad Pennington by a mere .3 percentage points. 

He was third in the league in TD's with 30, behind only Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees.

He had 4,583 yards, ranking second behind Brees again, and his rating was an astonishing 96.9, which was good for third in the league.

The guy was a stud to say the least, ranking in the top three in about every major passing category. Oh, and did I mention he was 36 years old when he was doing all this? 

How many 36-year olds can say they did all this in an NFL season?

On top of a remarkable regular season, he also put together just as epic of a performance in the playoffs with the help of Pro-Bowler Larry Fitzgerald (of course).

Together, the two combined for seven of the Cardinals touchdowns in the postseason.  Warner continued his dominance with 1,147 yards passing and 11 TD's, which were all tops in the postseason. 

And might I add that he also had the highest rating at 112.2.

We all know how the Super Bowl ended, with the Cards coming within one play (that's probably what their fans say) of winning it all. 

Nonetheless, it was the best season in Cardinals history.

The point is, Kurt Warner turned in an NFL season that is going to be very hard to repeat. 

Not only did he play outstanding and earn a Pro Bowl selection, he put together amazing statistics and won an NFC championship. 

Warner took a very playoff-inexperienced team not only to the playoffs, but through them to a Super Bowl. 

He was their leader, and made the Cardinals a team to talk about for once.

In my opinion, Kurt Warner's 2008 season ranks as one of the top five seasons an NFL quarterback has ever had.