Cardinals owner fuming over seeing rivals in NFC Championship Game

The Arizona Cardinals are particularly fuming over their early playoff exit, not to mention what transpired afterward.

After a 7-0 start to the season, the Cardinals faded down the stretch and lost their playoff opener to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC wild-card round. To make matters worse, the Rams went on to the NFC Championship to face the San Francisco 49ers. That means the Cardinals are at home watching two division rivals compete for the right to play in the Super Bowl.

To say that has gone down poorly would be an understatement, as evidenced by Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill’s reaction to that.

“Anytime you see your direct competitors in the playoffs, it should bother any football fan, and it certainly bothers this one,” Bidwill said, via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic.

The Cardinals know they’re capable of beating both NFC finalists. They swept the 49ers and split their two regular-season meeting with the Rams. That makes the way the NFC playoff picture has unfolded even harder to swallow for Arizona.

There have been reports that the late season tailspin and early playoff exit have really ramped up tensions within the Cardinals organization. Bidwill might not have anything to say about that, but it’s quite obvious he’s not happy.