10 greatest Cardinals teams of all time

10. 1925 Chicago Cardinals

Who knows if this even counts as a greatest team? Football wasn’t the same back in those days. Tougher? Maybe. Helmets weren’t even mandatory. And the ones they got were made of leather. You get the idea.

Still, the team went 11-2-1 in the regular season. But the title came with controversy. There was a dispute about the type of team the Cardinals played in one game. But still, the NFL recognizes them as champions. So we’ll give them No. 10 just to be nice.

9. 1948 Chicago Cardinals

After an 11-1 regular season, the Cardinals battled the Eagles in the NFL Championship. As was the case many times in those days, scoring came at a premium — especially in a snowstorm. Neither team managed anything until the fourth quarter.

Steve Van Buren’s 5-yard run turned out to be the difference. He finished with 98 yards on 26 attempts.

8. 1947 Chicago Cardinals

Battling their way through a 9-3 regular season, capped by beating the crosstown rival Bears for the second time, the Cardinals earned a shot at the Eagles for the NFL Championship.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the Eagles rallied to within 21-14 in the third quarter. However, the Cardinals got a 70-yard scoring run from Elmer Angsman and eventually earned a 28-21 decision. Thanks in a big way to that run, Angsman finished with 159 yards on 10 carries and two scores.

7. 2014 Arizona Cardinals

This gives an idea of how thin the Cardinals’ history is. Off to 6-0 start, the Cardinals appeared to be headed for a great season. However, Carson Palmer was lost for the season with an injury. His backup, Drew Stanton, went down after eight games. That put third-stringer Ryan Lindley in the mix, and he got the starting call in the playoffs. It was one of only six starts in his three-year NFL career.

Cam Newton and the Panthers beat the Cardinals, 27-16, in the Wild Card round. Lindley passed for only 82 yards with a pick. He did manage a TD pass, and the Cardinals actually led, 14-13, at halftime.

6. 1998 Arizona Cardinals

This team stole a playoff berth by winning its last three games of the regular season to finish 9-7. All of those games were close, with a combined margin of victory of only eight points.

To the Cardinals’ credit, they surprised the Cowboys, 20-7, in the Wild Card round. But they got dusted by Randall Cunningham, Randy Moss, and the Vikings, 41-21 in the divisional round.

Jake Plummer threw for 242 yards for the Cardinals, but didn’t have a TD pass and got picked twice.

5. 1974 St. Louis Cardinals

Things looked good for the Cardinals as they won their first seven games of the season. However, things turned south with four losses in six games.

The Cardinals rallied to beat the Giants in Week 14 and finish with a 10-4 mark. That was good enough for a playoff berth. However, the Vikings scored 16 third-quarter points to break a halftime tie and earned a 30-14 victory.

Quarterback Jim Hart — who led the NFL with 388 passing attempts in the regular season — completed only 18 of 40 attempts against the Vikings for 169 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

4. 2009 Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals put together a solid 10-6 record despite closing with a 33-7 beatdown against the Packers. They met the Packers again in the Wild Card round, this time with Kurt Warner and other starters playing the full game.

Despite an 11-yard TD pass from Aaron Rodgers to Spencer Havner with 1:52, the Cardinals won in overtime on Karlos Dansby’s 17-yard fumble return. Warner and Rodgers staged a shootout, combining for 802 yards passing with nine touchdown tosses and only one pick.

However, the Cardinals had nothing in the tank for the Saints in the divisional round. The Saints blew them out in a 45-14 decision.

3. 1975 St. Louis Cardinals

A second straight divisional crown went to the Cardinals, but once again, they couldn’t hold up in the playoffs. They finished with a record of 11-3, with seven of those victories decided in the final minute of play.

That set up a divisional-round battle against the Rams. And this one got over in a hurry. The Rams jumped out to a 21-0 lead, thanks in a big way to two pick-sixes. Jack Youngblood and Bill Simpson authored the defensive scores, and the Cardinals couldn’t recover. The Rams also added a fourth-quarter fumble return touchdown.

Hart’s stat line showed 291 yards and a touchdown pass. But his three picks turned out to be the difference.

2. 2015 Arizona Cardinals

Palmer stayed healthy, and the Cardinals worked their way to a 13-3 finish. In the playoffs, they knocked off the Packers in overtime.

Rodgers tied the game with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Janis on the final play of regulation. However, overtime lasted only three plays. Palmer hit Fitzgerald for a 75-yard strike on the first play. That gave the Cards a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line. Palmer finished it off, hitting Fitzgerald from five yards out.

Things didn’t go so well in the NFC Championship game. Newton passed for 355 yards with a pair of scores, and rushed for 47 yards with two more touchdowns in a 49-15 rout.

1. 2008 Arizona Cardinals

This was the one that got away. Despite collapsing down the stretch and losing four of their last six games, the Cardinals earned a playoff berth with a Week 17 win over the Seahawks.

Then the fun began. They tripped the Falcons, 30-24, in the Wild Card round. The Cardinals followed up with a 33-13 beatdown of the Panthers in the divisional round. That put them in the NFC Championship game against the Eagles.

It seemed like things were in hand as the Cardinals led 24-6 at halftime. But the Eagles rallied behind Donovan McNabb, and his 62-yard scoring strike to DeSean Jackson gave them a 25-24 lead with 10:45 left in the fourth quarter.

A long drive by the Cardinals included a fourth-down conversion near midfield. Kurt Warner’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Tim Hightower gave the Cards a 32-25 lead. And it stood up.

So, the Cardinals headed to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history. Pittsburgh led 20-7 heading into the fourth quarter, but Warner threw a dramatic short pass to Fitzgerald, who turned it into a 64-yard score with 2:37 to go.

But they left too much time on the clock for Ben Roethlisberger. And his 6-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone gave the Steelers a 27-23 lead. Warner guided the Cardinals to the Steelers’ 44-yard line with 15 seconds left. But a sack and Warner’s fumble ended the suspense.

Fitzgerald finished with seven catches for 127 yards and two scores while Warner passed for 377 yards and three touchdowns with an interception.