Arizona Cardinals and 3 Early-Season NFL Pretenders

The Arizona Cardinals are who we thought they were before the season began, even though this team did start the 2012 campaign by ripping off four straight wins.

Simply put, the Cardinals are playoff pretenders, though certainly not alone in this distinction. 

It's not how you start in the NFL that matters—it's how you finish. These teams all got off to hot starts, but they'll miss the 2012 NFL playoffs due to some glaring defects that opposing teams will exploit without mercy heading into the second half of the season.

Minnesota Vikings

I'm a huge fan of the team Rick Spielman has assembled, and given another year or two, this young group will challenge the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears for the NFC North divisional crown.

This year, though, the Vikings will struggle to finish as strong as they started.

The biggest reason?

Christian Ponder.

While this young quarterback went four weeks without tossing a single interception, he threw two picks in two successive weeks against the Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins—both teams that aren't exactly known for being solid against the pass.

The Vikings have a tough schedule ahead of them, with five divisional games left and road games against such teams as the Seattle Seahawks and Houston Texans.

Predicted finish: 8-8

Philadelphia Eagles

Many Philadelphia Eagles fans will tell you that their team could well be 4-2 or 5-1 after six games, but the honest truth is that this team is lucky it didn't start the season with a record of 2-4 or 1-5.

Michael Vick's inability to hold onto the football has crippled his team, and it's time for a change. Unfortunately for the Eagles, head coach Andy Reid won't pull him until it's too late.

To be fair to Vick, he's not the only player who is having a bad year. The entire offensive line has failed, which has led to 17 sacks and countless quarterback hits.

Furthermore, the Eagles don't have a cakewalk of a schedule coming up. They still have five games left against their divisional rivals (three of which are on the road) and have a road game against the New Orleans Saints (never an easy outing).

Predicted finish: 8-8

New York Jets

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at New York Jets fans rejoicing over their team's mauling of the Indianapolis Colts in Week 6.

I mean, it's cool to cheer your team on, but to think for one second that the team's performance in that game was indicative in any way of how the rest of the season is going to go for the Jets is just pure insanity.

It. Was. The. Colts.

By all means, be happy for your team, but things are going to be a whole lot different the rest of the way. Shonn Greene won't have another game like that for another few years, and teams will be able to go back to attacking the Jets' porous offensive line.

Next up for the Jets is a road test against a pissed off New England Patriots team that got beat on the road in Seattle. The Pats have one of the league's top defenses against the run, and Chandler Jones will have a field day in the Jets backfield.

From there, the Miami Dolphins come to MetLife Stadium in Week 7, then it's two-straight road games against the Seattle Seahawks and St. Louis Rams.

Predicted record: 7-9

Arizona Cardinals

Whether it's Kevin Kolb or John Skelton behind center for the Arizona Cardinals the rest of the way in 2012, this team is going nowhere fast. 

Without an offensive line or running backs, this team is simply too one-dimensional on offense.

The scary part for the quarterbacks is that the passing game is the team's strength, and through six games, the team's porous offensive line has surrendered an NFL-high 28 sacks and too many quarterback hits to count.

Worse still for this team is that the defense has shown vulnerability to getting torched through the air and on the ground.

There are just too many weaknesses for the Cardinals to overcome in 2012.

Still left on the schedule is the entire NFC North, road trips to face the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets and four more games against their own division—the brutally-tough NFC West.

Predicted finish: 8-8

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