There's simply no doubting that Arizona Cardinals head honcho Bruce Arians is one hell of a football coach.
You'd have to be to helm a team to the NFL playoffs despite fielding an offense led by the back-up to your back-up at the game's most important position and a defense crippled by a handful of devastating injuries.
With Ryan Lindley, the understudy to Drew Stanton, the understudy to starter Carson Palmer, under center, the Cardinals offense was finally exposed and the defense and special teams succumbed to the crush of the record breaking-ly inept offensive output - 78 total yards, the lowest in a postseason game in NFL history.
According to team owner Michael Bidwill, Arians' magic touch that kept the team playing - and winning - in the latter stages of this season despite the mounting injuries could mean that the next big step for the Cardinals this offseason is for the team to sign him to a, no doubt, lengthy and lucrative contract extension.
"I want to reward the people that do a great job," Bidwill said on an episode of the "Big Red Rage," according to the team's website. "Sometime after the Super Bowl we'll sit down and talk extensions for both Steve and Bruce."
In two seasons at the helm of the Cardinals, Arians has amassed a 21-11 record and one playoff berth. Despite the catastrophic injuries he was forced to deal with this season - namely the ACL tear for Palmer - the team finished with an 11-5 record and made it to the postseason.
More importantly, he has the team looking like serious contenders despite playing in one of the NFL's most difficult divisions.
With Palmer hoping to return by minicamp and Bidwill looking to lock up Arians and GM Steve Keim for the foreseeable future, the outlook for the NFL's desert-dwelling team is bright.
