2019 Cardinals awards

Who get the superlatives for the Cardinals this year?

The Arizona Cardinals’ season is over. Some players will get league awards. But it is time to recognize the players who were the best. So let us see who gets the awards for the Cardinals.

MVP: Kyler Murray

This is an obvious award. Murray was given the reins of the team and he exceeded expectations. He was the team’s leader. He led them to wins. He was their best offensive player and most important player overall.

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Chandler Jones is NFC Defensive Player of the Month

He has won two player of the week awards and now a player of the month. Is Defensive Player of the Year next?

The NFL has honored Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones again. Twice he has been named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He can add a player of the month award to his growing 2019 resume. He was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for his play in the month of December.

Jones totaled an NFL-high six sacks, 18 tackles, three forced fumbles, four tackles for loss and nine quarterback hits over the final four weeks of the 2019 season. His three games with at least one sack tied for the NFL lead in Weeks 14-17.

His December included four sacks in Week 16, which earned him his second player of the week honors.

It is Jones’ second player of the month honors of his career. He also won it in for December 2017. It is the third time in his career he has won it. The other was in November 2013 when he played for the New England Patriots. The Cardinals had two players of the month this season. Jones earned it for December and kicker Zane Gonzalez was honored for special teams for the month of October.

Jones finished the 2019 season second in the NFL with 19.0 sacks, tied for the NFL lead with eight forced fumbles and as the league leader with seven strip-sacks. His 19 sacks set a franchise record and, with 60 in his career with the Cardinals, he is second place all-time, needing only seven to break the franchise record for sacks in a career.

Now with two player of the week awards and a player of the month, all that is left is for him to be honored as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 254

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Ep. 253:

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Chandler Jones could need surgery on thumb

It isn’t anything serious but it bothered him the final two weeks of the season.

The Arizona Cardinals ended the season pretty healthy overall. They had several players finish the season on injured reserve but coming out of Week 17, there did not appear to be any new injuries.

However, one player might need offseason surgery, according to head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Kingsbury said linebacker Chandler Jones could need surgery for the thumb injury he sustained in December.

“The only one, Chandler has that thumb that may have some work done, but nothing too serious,” he told reporters on Monday. He said there is ligament damage.

If he does have surgery, it likely means he will have to pull out of the Pro Bowl. Kingsbury didn’t give any sort of timetable but made it sounds like Jones would be ready to go when the offseason program begins in the spring.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 254

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Ep. 253:

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Studs and duds in Cardinals’ 31-24 loss to the Rams

Check out who impressed and who didn’t quite go as well as hoped.

The Arizona Cardinals lost to the Los Angeles Rams in their season finale, snapping their modest two-game winning streak. It extended their losing streak to the Rams to six games, although they played much better overall than in the previous five.

Who were the players to stand out and the players to disappoint in the loss?

Stud: TE Dan Arnold

Arnold had a big game, making fans think that maybe he is a good answer at tight end. He had four catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. He looks promising, at least.

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Chandler Jones misses out on sack record, 20-sack milestone, sack title

The Rams made sure he didn’t get any sacks by double- and triple-teaming him the entire game in Week 17.

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Chandler Jones had a chance to make history on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. He entered the game with the league lead in sacks with 19. He had a chance to get to 20 sacks, something that has only every happened 12 times before, and an outside shot at the all-time season sack record.

The Rams had a different idea.

They consistently double- and tripled-teamed Jones or used running backs and tight ends to chip him, forcing other players to have to make plays.

The result?

Jones was held without a sack. In the last four games, the Rams have held him to only half a sack.

Jones still made an impact with a pair of tipped passes, a QB hit, two tackles and one for loss.

But he missed out on every notable achievement.

He did not get the sack record. He didn’t get to 20 sacks. And because Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaq Barrett had three sacks in Week 17, Jones doesn’t even get the 2019 sack title. Barrett finished with 19.5 sacks, giving him the league lead, with Jones finishing second.

Jones still tied for the league lead with eight forced fumbles and set the team season sack record, breaking the previous record of 17 he set in 2017.

He still had a fantastic season and is deserving of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honors, but because the Rams paid so much attention to him, he missed out on an even more special season.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Sub scribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.

Ep. 253:

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Ep. 252:

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5 big questions for the Cardinals entering Week 17

Among them are whether Kyler Murray will play and whether it is Larry Fitzgerald’s final NFL game.

The Arizona Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon to complete their 2019 season. While they seek their third win in a row and sixth on the season, the result probably won’t mean much in the big picture.

However, there are some questions for this final week of the season for the Cardinals.

Will Kyler Murray play?

He left the game last week in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and was limited all week in practice. He is questionable for the game. It feels like Brett Hundley will get the start. Does that mean Murray’s fantastic rookie season is complete or will he get another shot to add to it?

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Potential Cardinals milestones in Week 17 vs. Rams

Chandler Jones, Larry Fitzgerald and others can reach notable achievements against the Rams.

The Arizona Cardinals will wrap up their 2019 season Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams. They hope to extend their winning streak to three games, giving them their first three-game winning streak to end a season since 1998 when then earned a playoff berth.

A win would give them six on the season, doubling their 2018 total and would give them a 6-6 record in their final 12 games.

There are some milestones for the players in play in Week 17 as well.

Chandler Jones

Jones is coming off a four-sack performance in Week 16 that earned him Defensive Player of the Week honors. With one sack, he will be only the 13th 20-sack season for a player. With two sacks, he will move into the top five of the NFL’s all-time single-season sack list.

With another four-sack performance, he will set the NFL record for sacks. The current record was set in 2001 by Michael Strahan with 22.5.

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Rams’ 3 biggest concerns vs. Cardinals in Week 17

Chandler Jones poses a major threat to the Rams on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Rams will run out of the tunnel at the Coliseum one last time on Sunday for the season finale against the Cardinals. It’s a game that doesn’t carry any playoff implications with both teams already being eliminated from contention, but it should still be an entertaining matchup.

Here are the three biggest concerns for the Rams in this game, beginning with a dynamic pass rusher on the other side.

Chandler Jones’ hot streak

Jones is on fire right now. He has 10.5 sacks in his last seven games, including a four-sack performance on Sunday against the Seahawks – his second four-sack game of the season. A third game with four sacks would put him over Michael Strahan’s single-season record of 22.5, and the Rams will do what they can to prevent that from happening.

Jones will match up with Andrew Whitworth more often than not, which is good news for the Rams. Whitworth hasn’t been perfect, but he limited Jones to just 0.5 sacks in Week 13. Jones is a game-wrecker the way Aaron Donald is, so of course there are concerns about stopping him.

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Rams vs. Cardinals Week 17 ultimate preview

The Cardinals and Rams clash in the NFL’s regular season finale. Kyler Murray is in doubt to play and Chandler Jones has the chance to make history.

Another season nears its conclusion without a postseason spot for the Cardinals, yet something feels much different this time around. There is much more hope for the future surrounding this team as opposed to the others who failed to reach the playoffs.

Leading the Cardinals in Week 17 will be Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate Kyler Murray (if his hamstring holds up) and Defensive Player of the Year candidate Chandler Jones.

If the large sum of cap space and draft capital are used correctly this offseason, the Cardinals may very well be in the playoff conversation in 2020. But that’s a conversation for another day. In the meantime, the Cards have one more game to close out a frustrating, yet promising 2019 campaign.

Time for our Week 17 preview between the Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. Read on. . .

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Why Chandler Jones deserves to be NFL Defensive Player of the Year

A look at the resume and the other competition from around the league.

The 2019 NFL season is almost drawing to a close which means that it will soon be time for players to be recognized with the annual NFL honors.

The Arizona Cardinals will look to have one of their players receive one of those honors when the award for NFL Defensive Player of the Year is given out. That player is none other than Arizona Cardinals All-Pro linebacker Chandler Jones.

Jones has been a force in the league since the New England Patriots was drafted him with the No. 21 pick from of Syracuse University in 2012. Jones spent the first four seasons with the Patriots before being traded to the Cardinals in 2016 where he would go on to manage double-digit sacks each season with the Cardinals and would become a force on the Cardinals’ front seven.

Chandler Jones currently leads the league in sacks with 19.0 and has a great chance to break Michael Strahan’s single-season of 22.0. Let’s take a deeper look into why Jones should easily be the NFL’s Defensive of the Year.

The Resume

Chandler Jones has been a force to be reckoned with this year but has not received the national recognition that he has deserved.

As stated earlier, Jones leads the NFL in sacks with 19.0. That total is almost three sacks more than the next defender which is Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shaquill Barrett who sits at 16.5 sacks on the year. Jones has a realistic shot to obtain the single-season sack record of 22.5 if he gets four sacks in a game against the Los Angeles Rams in the season finale. Jones has reached the four-sack mark twice this year in games against the New York Giants in Week 7 and their Week 16 meeting against the Seattle Seahawks. The star edge-rusher only ended up with 0.5 sacks in their previous Week 12 matchup against Los Angeles but still got to Rams quarterback Jared Goff twice overall.

Chandler Jones also leads the league in forced fumbles with eight. This means that he causes a fumble on almost every two sacks. His combination of finesse and bone-crushing hits have been pivotal in winning the turnover battle.

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