The Arizona Cardinals came up well short on Sunday in their bid to secure a spot at Levi's Stadium for Super Bowl 50. I thought they had gotten back in the game when they cut the Carolina Panthers lead to 17-7 late in the second quarter, but giving up a touchdown near the end of the half, followed by a Carson Palmer endzone interception was brutal. They gave up 17 unanswered points after cutting the lead to 10, and could never quite get back into it.
A year ago, Bruce Arians accepted the NFL Coach of the Year Award, and in discussing the award, he made a strong guarantee. Arians firmly guaranteed his Cardinals would be playing at Levi's Stadium in Super Bowl 50:
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I'll give Arizona credit, they came really close to making it to Levi's Stadium. Getting to the conference championship game is no small task. Getting beaten fairly badly is going to sting, but it was still an impressive season for Arizona. I don't know what to make of them exactly moving forward. Carson Palmer had a huge year, but struggled big time in the playoffs. I have to think they look for a quarterback in the draft to develop for after Palmer.
But for this year, they will not be dressing in the San Francisco 49ers locker room.