How the Arizona Cardinals view themselves amid raised expectations

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To find the last time that the Arizona Cardinals carried real expectations — the kind that render a season without playoffs a failure — you have to rewind three years, to the start of the 2022 season.

That was back before Kyler Murray tore his ACL, before the Kliff Kingsbury era imploded, before a new regime was hired. It was before Josh Dobbs and Clayton Tune helped navigate a lost 2023; before the fleeting hope of last November gave way to the reality of December elimination. Three years on the calendar, but a lifetime in the NFL.

That spot, finally, is where the Jonathan Gannon-Monti Ossenfort era has arrived. When the Cardinals began training camp on July 23, they did so surrounded by a tangible belief that this season could be — and perhaps should be — different.

More than anything, those expectations are external. You’ll hear more talk of the playoffs on sports-talk radio and social media websites than inside the Cardinals locker room. When he held his first news conference of training camp, Gannon spoke in his usual platitudes.

“I don't man,” Gannon said. “Process, man. Process today. I'm worried about today.”

But even Gannon acknowledged that this year’s team has an understanding of what it takes to win in the NFL. That’s what happens when a group has been together for three years and when its key players are no longer rookies.

“I don't think they didn't feel that last year or the year before, but it's a heightened sense of awareness,” Gannon said. “We're in Year 3 now and we got what we need.”

It’s not hard to understand what that means.

Year 1 was a wash, with Murray sidelined until November by his knee injury. Year 2 was still a work in progress, with a defense that lacked high-end talent, especially up front.

Year 3 is different. The Cardinals have the league’s 11th-best offense, returning its entire starting lineup. Their overachieving but undermanned defense was infused with three marquee free agents and five draft picks in the first five rounds.

In the locker room, the returning players see that.

“Just win,” Marvin Harrison Jr. said. “That's what it comes down to. This is the time. The time is now.”

Like his head coach, Harrison stopped short of labeling his goals. This wasn’t Murray’s news conference from a month ago, when the quarterback said that his prime looks like “rings.” But there was also no denying that the standard had changed.

“We know what our goals are,” Harrison said. “We didn't accomplish them last year.”

It’s easier to do that because of the culture Ossenfort and Gannon have fostered.

Each year in the NFL, a handful of teams spend their summers mired in controversy. The Cincinnati Bengals have contract disputes with their first-round pick Shemar Stewart and star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. Receiver Terry McLaurin hasn’t shown up to Washington Commanders training camp as he holds out for a contract. Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons is publicly feuding with owner Jerry Jones.

The Cardinals, throughout their history, have been no strangers to that type of drama. During Gannon’s tenure, they’ve avoided it. Just this spring, they extended tight end Trey McBride before his impending free agency could turn into a controversy.

“Monti has done a really good job and (owner Michael Bidwill) has done a really good job to eliminate a lot of those for us,” Gannon said. “And when you can eliminate a lot of those, now you can concentrate on football and getting better.”

That’s the goal for training camp. The goal for the season, whether the Cardinals will admit it or not, is different. It’s to bring the playoffs back to Arizona.