No one’s giving the Cardinals much of a chance in the NFC West, but defensive end Calais Campbell is convinced they can win the division.
For one big reason.
“I think it’s very likely we can win the division, yes,” Campbell said, via Mike Freeman of CBSSports.com. “I respect every opponent in our division. Every one. But I think of it this way. We were able to hang in a bunch of our division games without a real quarterback.
“I don’t want to disrespect anyone but now we have a real quarterback to go with a good defense. When we play with a lead, we’re hard to beat. This is the first time in years that we have an offense that matches our defense.”
It’s a good thing he didn’t want to disrespect Kevin Kolb, John Skelton, Ryan Lindley and Brian Hoyer, otherwise you might think they weren’t any good.
And while Carson Palmer might not necessarily be an acquisition on par with Denver landing Peyton Manning last offseason, Campbell thinks he’ll make a huge difference.
“I was talking to Carson the other day and he said he’s never really played with a good defense before,” Campbell said. “I told him it’s been a while since I played with a good quarterback.”
No disrespect, of course. All Campbell’s trying-to-be-polite condition needed was a “some of my best friends are Derek Andersons,” and it would have been complete.