Last season, the Houston Texans saw themselves vault from a 3-13-1 team the year prior to a division champion out of the NFC South. They even won a Wild Card Round game against the Cleveland Browns.
Houston proved that one season can change the entire trajectory of a franchise, and in turn, they were the NFL's biggest surprise team of the year.
Who could that team be this season?
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The Arizona Cardinals, a team that finished 4-13 in 2023, could be among those teams that turns the tides this season.
Unlike last year, quarterback Kyler Murray was healthy at the start of the season, and he is equipped with young, explosive weapons on offense, including first-round pick Marvin Harrison Jr. The front office also revamped many defensive positions to bolster the depth chart for a tough schedule that always comes in the NFC West.
Cardinals veteran lineman Kelvin Beachum is entering Year 13 in the NFL, his fifth with Arizona, and he knows his teammates have what it takes to become a playoff team this season.
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However, Beachum is not necessarily one who has the goal of being the surprise team, considering it means the view before the start of the year is the Cardinals are not expected to make the playoffs.
However, he does know the questions the team must answer to fulfill their goal of getting into the postseason to vie for the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
"There’s so many different factors that go into being a playoff team," Beachum said while explaining the impact he's been making with World Vision, a humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization. "Being healthy, limiting turnovers – there’s so many factors that go into it. But I would say more than anything, we’ve put ourselves, I feel from a roster standpoint and being able to better understand the offense, in a better position than we did last year.
"Now, the question is, can we execute? Can we execute under pressure and in those situational moments of the game where it really matters? Can we eliminate those self-inflicted wounds?"
The last question is one that Beachum focused on the most, as unforced errors will beat up any team, no matter the sport.
Now, the Cardinals only had a minus-1 turnover differential last season, giving up the ball 18 times (12 interceptions, six fumbles lost) to 17 takeaways (11 interceptions, six fumbles recovered). However, self-inflicted wounds could be anything from a bad block that forces the quarterback to throw the ball away, to a dropped pass, to broken coverage on defense and more.
"We had a lot of those last year," Beachum said of the unforced errors. "How do you limit those to put yourself in a position to win the game in one of the most critical moments in the game?
"The thing is, in the NFL, any given Sunday is truly any given Sunday. Anybody can show up and find a way to win. Some days you get the bear, some days the bear gets you. The thing is, you got to find a way to win more games than you’re losing – it’s as simple as that."
Of course, it is all easier said than done to become a playoff contender in the NFL, especially when Arizona has to face the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks twice a season, let alone the rest of their opponents.
However, Beachum sees a more comfortable Murray under center, someone who is mastering the offense in his second year in a new system. He sees the work that has being done on both sides of the ball at training camp, understanding the team has the right pieces in place with a head coach in Jonathan Gannon they trust to lead them on gamedays.
Additionally, just as any new season brings, hope is restored with the record at 0-0 with Week 1 on the horizon. Taking down the schedule week by week and clicking on all cylinders to collect wins is the only thing on Beachum and the rest of his teammates' minds.
"We have to put ourselves in a position to, one, take care of home first," he said. "You gotta win your home games. You gotta steal a couple on the road, you gotta steal a couple division games on the road, and put yourself in a position to make some noise in the playoffs."
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