7-3 Cards looking to avoid '08 letdown

The Arizona Cardinals were flying high a year ago, 7-3 and running away in the NFC West. What followed was four losses in five games, three by at least 21 points.

Well, here they are again, 7-3 with a three-game lead in their division. Memories of that letdown were fresh as the Cardinals prepared for Sunday’s game at Tennessee.

The next few weeks will show whether this group has matured enough to know how to handle success.

“It’s on us not to repeat the past,” wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said, “and it starts this Sunday.”

A major difference is the team’s assessment of its own play. A year ago, the long-suffering Cardinals were riding a run of success unprecedented since the franchise moved from St. Louis two decades earlier. This year, 7-3 is in some ways disappointing.

“Last year when we got to 7-3, we were like ‘Man, we’re 7-3,’” Fitzgerald said. “This year we feel like we let some games get away from us. We feel like we haven’t played up to our potential at this point.”

Coach Ken Whisenhunt says there is some evidence this is a team better equipped to avoid a letdown.

“Last year when you look back at this time everybody was saying we were 7-3 but we couldn’t run the ball and we couldn’t win on the road,” he said. “This year we’re at 7-3 and we’re running the ball a little better and we’ve won on the road. Does that make us different? Does it mean we’re going to play better down the stretch? I hope so, but it remains to be seen.”

After beating San Francisco for their seventh win last season, Arizona played the New York Giants tough in a 37-29 home loss, then were blown out at Philadelphia on Thanksgiving 48-20.

The Cardinals returned home to beat St. Louis 34-10, clinching the division title with three to play. Then it got real ugly. Arizona lost at home to Minnesota 35-14, then in the snow of New England, was routed by the Patriots 47-7.

That’s why Whisenhunt could empathize when the same thing happened to Tennessee on a trip to New England in the same kind of weather this season.

“It looked eerily familiar to be honest with you,” he said.

But while success was as foreign as an ice cube in the desert a year ago, this year’s Cardinals have seen the heights of the game.

After beating Seattle in the regular season finale to stagger into the playoffs at 9-7, Arizona — as anyone who has read this far knows — earned stunning victories over Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia. The improbable Super Bowl run concluded with a near-miss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Tampa.

That raised expectations exponentially this season, and led to the self-assessment that Arizona really has yet to play to its potential, despite its record.

“I think now we want to see how good can we get every game,” defensive tackle Darnell Dockett said. “We just want to make sure we’re able to get better every game. How good can we be?”

The next couple of games are tough. After resurgent Tennessee, Arizona has a Sunday night home matchup with Minnesota. Then it’s a road game against a 49ers team that beat the Cardinals in the season opener, Arizona’s only loss within the division the past two seasons.

Arizona wraps it up with a trip to Detroit, followed by home games against St. Louis and Green Bay.

“There’s a lot of stuff in front of us. We’ve got a lot to play for. That’s the bottom line,” quarterback Kurt Warner said. “You’ve got to show up every week and nothing’s guaranteed, especially after 10 weeks in the season. You’ve got to understand that. We’ve got some tough football games coming up.”