Ep. 843 - Let’s start with the most important question: How is everyone’s German? That’s right. German. There is a chance, based on an announcement from the league earlier on Wednesday, that the Cardinals play a regular season game in Berlin. Again, a chance. Craig Grialou and Paul Calvisi are both big fans of a potential trip to Germany. They discuss why the Cardinals would be an attractive option. They then dive into the offseason, one that will be full of questions. They pick out some of the biggest questions they have that they hope GM Monti Ossenfort provides an answer; from the interior of the offensive line, the wide receiver room, and, of course, the pass rush. Also, they look ahead to this weekend’s Divisional Round of the playoffs.

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Ep. 842 - It’s award season, and well, we didn’t want to feel left out. It’s time for the 2024 Cardinals Awards, as voted by our 13-person panel. Craig Grialou is joined by both Dani Sureck and Zach Gershman to break down the results. Some winners are more obvious than others; Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, while not unanimous, did produce the most clear-cut choices. Other winners faced tougher competition, most notably Newcomer of the Year, Beyond the Box Score Player of the Year and Player of the Year. And as far as Most Valuable Cardinal? All three - Craig, Dani, and Zach - agree it’s James Conner. Do you agree? Do you disagree? All results have been posted on azcardinals.com.

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Ep. 841 - It’s been three days since the regular season ended. So, yeah, the offseason has arrived. And after a brief conversation about Dani Sureck’s cryptic post on social media Wednesday afternoon (really, a tease to some exciting new content), she and Craig Grialou discuss, what else, their biggest takeaways from 2024. More specifically, however, what did they learn from 2024; be it about a player, a position group or maybe something completely different. Plus, even though the Cardinals aren’t participating in postseason football, Craig and Dani look ahead to the six playoff games scheduled for Wild Card Weekend. Is it the best two days - two-plus days - on the NFL calendar?

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Ep. 840 - Beat a division foe. Sweep the season series. Send the fans home happy. That’s what the Cardinals accomplished in Week 18. And no, the goal of making the playoffs was not reached, but a 47-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers is a decent consolation prize. Craig Grialou and Paul Calvisi discuss what happened on Sunday; from Kyler Murray’s four touchdown passes, the improved play of Marvin Harrison Jr., the career-year by Trey McBride to a defense that fought - literally in fact - and forced three takeaways. They guys also begin to look ahead to the offseason, what potential moves might be made; Kelvin Beachum’s future with the team; and react to Drew Petzing reportedly being a candidate for the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears.

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Ep. 839 - It is the last Football Friday of the 2024 season. So, how do you want to go out? How do you want to be remembered? With a win, of course. The Cardinals will look to do just that on Sunday. They host the San Francisco 49ers in the regular-season finale. Craig Grialou and Zach Gershman discuss why a win in Week 18 matters to the coaches and to the players, and why it should matter to the fans. Plus, as the guys have done all season, they head into enemy territory. Lindsey Pallares, team reporter for 49ers.com, joins the show. The 49ers are coming off a short week; they’re banged up; and they’ll be quarterbacked by a familiar face, Joshua Dobbs, who was QB1 for eight games just last season as the Cardinals waited for the return of a healthy Kyler Murray.

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Ep. 838 - On this first day of 2025, the focus remains on 2024, at least in terms of the football season. Yes, the calendar has flipped to the *new* year, but there remains one more game to be played before the *new* season can be discussed. With that said, however, Craig Grialou and Dani Sureck talk about what they’d like to see in the regular-season finale that may carryover to next season, i.e., the chemistry between Kyler Murray and his wide receivers (namely Marvin Harrison Jr.). Also, Craig and Dani react to the breaking news that James Conner will not play against the San Francisco 49ers, and what that may mean for Michael Carter and the rest of the running back room. Plus, will the Cardinals see a familiar face as QB1 for the Niners? Will it be Joshua Dobbs against his former team?

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Ep. 837 - Heart-breaking. There’s no other way to describe it. The win was there until it wasn’t. And that’s been the story of the Arizona Cardinals’ season more times than not in 2024. Craig Grialou and Paul Calvisi, aka Paulie Play-By-Play, look back at the 13-9 loss on Saturday night in Los Angeles. For much of the game, the offense looked good; in fact, the numbers said as much. Defensively, the same thing. The Cardinals played well enough to win, but the only thing that matters in sports is did you score more points than your opponent. The Cardinals did not. The guys discuss everything. Plus, Paul hands out his weekly Angry Bird Award; and this week, it goes to a player who stepped up his game in the absence of his teammate.

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Ep. 836 - So, the stakes are not as high as we all had hoped, but there is still plenty on the line coming up on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Craig Grialou and Zach Gershman look ahead to the Week 17 matchup against the Rams, an opponent the Cardinals have not seen since early September. A lot has changed since then, which is discussed when Jourdan Rodrigue joins the show, as she did ahead of Week 2. Rodrigue covers the Rams for The Athletic. Before that conversation, though, Craig and Zach have a conversation about where the Cardinals are at, coming off the loss at Carolina that eliminated them from playoff contention; what can still be accomplished over the final two games; plus, who is and who isn’t available to play this weekend.

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Ep. 835 - And that’s the sad reality, unfortunately. Losing at Carolina plus the Rams winning at the New York Jets equaled playoff elimination for the Cardinals. So, what happened? How did the Cardinals fall to a three-win team (at the time) in a got-to-have-it game? Craig Grialou and Paul Calvisi discuss the 36-30 defeat to the Panthers in overtime. Yes, injuries were a factor; too many penalties, especially at the start of the game; the run defense was not great. The Cardinals dug themselves a 17-point hole halfway through the second quarter before digging themselves out thanks to James Conner (before he got hurt; Conner, by the way, earned Paul’s Angry Bird Award) and the right leg of Chad Ryland. And now, with two games left, the Cardinals are forced to play the role of spoiler.

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Ep. 834 - The Cardinals took care of business last week, beating a three-win opponent. They face another three-win opponent this week. Craig Grialou and Zach Gershman, before he heads to the airport to join the team on its flight to Carolina, discuss the game against the Panthers coming up on Sunday. What are the key matchups? What must the Cardinals do in order to win to help keep their playoff hopes alive? (Spoiler alert: run the football.) Also, they are joined by Darin Gantt, senior writer for panthers-dot-com, as they head into enemy territory ahead of Week 16. Before any of those conversations, however, Craig and Zach react to the injury report: two starters and two key backups will not play in the game.

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