Cesmat-Back to School, Back to Football…

Arizona Sports News online

Arizona Cardinals free safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) picks off a pass intended for San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis (85) in the 2nd quarter of their NFL Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015 in Glendale, Ariz.

Summer is over, school starts in my part of the Valley on Monday. It means football season is here!

The Cardinals are supposed to be in the Super Bowl. Todd Graham and Rich Rodriguez are flying below the radar in the Pac-12 South, and the Arizona high school scene has a couple of potential future NFL players.

Putting the hype aside, the Cardinals season figures to be interesting on many fronts. Is this the beginning of the end of the Carson Palmer era in Arizona, or is this the start of a couple of Super Bowl seasons? Chandler_Jones1Chandler Jones is in a contract year following Von Millers mega, mega deal in Denver. He can hit the lottery with a big showing on the field…

Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports Larry Fitzgerald scores the winning touchdown in overtime against the Packers on Saturday, earning the Cardinals a spot in the NFC Championship Game. Cardinals Larry Fitzgerald scores winning touchdown in overtime against Green Bay Packers during the NFC Divisional Playoffs on Jan. 16, 2016 in Glendale, Ariz.I am most interested in seeing the next steps for Larry Fitzgerald. Super Bowl or not, the Fitzgerald story has the deepest roots with the community. In a market filled with NFL fans, not necessarily Cardinal supports, Fitz is loved by all who follow the sport. Cowboy, Packer, Bronco, Seahawk, Patriot and the other 26 teams fan base admire him. I’ve never heard a negative word uttered from a fan about Fitzgerald. Winning a Super Bowl for Fitzgerald would be a good theme to the season…

You have to have a certain level of luck to win big in the NFL. The Cardinals avoided injuries to key people until late in the 2015 season. They are going to have to be lucky…

The NFC West has produced three of the last four NFC Super Bowl teams. It’s no cake walk. I think the LA Rams are going to give teams in the West more than a bit of trouble. Seattle is Seattle. The Cardinals? Let’s see how Carson Palmer looks, no one can be sure…