Look, I found somebody who actually follows the Arizona Cardinals! John is a former/displaced co-worker, former DC Metro resident residing in Phoenix as of a week ago, but he lived in Arizona for a few years circa 2005 before coming home. He is a fan of about 67 different teams and has been a season ticket holder of the Redskins, Capitals, Nationals, Arizona Cardinals and Maryland Terps football team.

WFY: Last week, the Cardinals secondary gave up over 400 yards to a rookie quarterback making his “first professional start,” Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers — that’s good, right?

John: It’s good for the Panthers and Cam Newton. The Cardinals lost Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from their secondary this offseason and Antrel Rolle a couple seasons ago. They didn’t do much to address it until drafting Patrick Peterson this year. A rookie isn’t going to make a difference in this secondary. It will be a long year unless their pass rush dominates. They had 4 sacks last week, but I think that’s more a result of Newton not making quick decisions and scrambling.

WFY: Everybody knows about Larry Fitzgerald, who else do the Cardinals have that the Redskins should be concerned about?

Umm… Early Doucet? (Editor’s note: Um, East Coast Bias — I don’t know stuff about I’m not sold on Beanie Wells, but he had a nice game last week against Carolina. In all seriousness, I think the guy to watch out for is LaRod Stephens-Howling. He can burn you on kickoff returns and is a nice change of pace back when Beanie needs a rest. The Cardinals seem to have a rich history of hyphenated last names.

WFY: Where do the Cardinals fit in the Arizona sports landscape?

I think you’d get different answers on this one depending who you talk to. The Suns absolutely owned this town 5 years ago, but they has fallen off. I really feel like the Cardinals are #1 right now. The Diamondbacks are going to win their division and can’t sell out. In all fairness, their field is huge. They’ll sell out in the playoffs and be the #1 focus as long as they’re in… which will be 4 games. I’m not sure half the population realizes a hockey team exists here. If you want to go outside of professional sports, I’d say that ASU football would fit in at #2 or #3.

WFY: How is the gameday experience at University of Phoenix Stadium? How does it compare with FedEx Field?

It’s fantastic. It’s even more fantastic when you’re used to going to games at FedEx Field. I tell people every chance I get how lucky they are to have such a great NFL gameday experience in this city. Parking isn’t expensive and you can even park free if you don’t mind walking a bit. There are many bars and restaurants within short walking distance where you can watch the early games. The stadium itself is great too. Concession and bathroom lines don’t get too long and all the seats are great. There are also nice views of the desert out the huge windows they have in the east endzone. It’s even better when the roof is open. Traffic? Please. It’s so easy to get in and out of this stadium.

I won’t go on a rant about FedEx Field because it’s been done many times and it’s exhausting to even think about it.

WFY: Is there one team the Cardinals and their fan base get fired up to play annually?

Annually? No. Rivalries do not exist with the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams. The teams that seem to be the biggest draw in this city are the Cowboys, Broncos and Bears. Cowboys and Broncos due to proximity and Bears because it seems like this town is completely inhabited my Midwesterners. I was at the “They are who we thought they were!” game. That was one of the greatest spectacles I’ve ever witnessed in person. The fact that 50% of the crowd were Bears fans made it that much better.

WFY: Do you see a correlation between the Cardinals recent success and their decision to make the Cardinal logo meaner looking? What do you think about the uniforms overall?

I remember when Atlanta went to a more aggressive Falcon when they got Michael Vick. An aggressive Falcon makes sense. An aggressive Cardinal? The uniforms are fine. I’ve always like their helmet for some reason. The rest of it is just OK.

Their recent success can be attributed to Ken Whisenhunt. He brought a new attitude to the team and he’s a very good head coach. It helped that they had Kurt Warner at QB too. The success hasn’t been there post-Warner, so we’ll see what happens from here on out.

WFY: Is there a beloved “voice of the Cardinals” like there is for many teams?

Not a play-by-play guy, but Ron Wolfley, the color guy, is full of awesome. He’s a former Cardinal that played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Phoenix Cardinals. You still see some Phoenix Cardinals stuff around town, mostly in bars. Wolfley is very poor man’s John Madden at best, but will keep you entertained the entire game. I laugh every time I listen to a game on the radio, which is typically when I’m leaving a game early.

WFY: Have you ever seen a cardinal in Arizona?

I have not, but Wikipedia says they exist. If you can’t trust Wikipedia, who can you trust? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_of_Arizona

WFY: What is your prediction for Sunday’s game?

Well, this is the Redskins biggest rival from the old NFC East, right? I long for the days of Neil Lomax and Jay Schroeder matching each other touchdown for touchdown. I’m kidding, of course, but I do remember some really competitive games between these two teams at FedEx Field before the Cardinals left the division. In fact, I think the Cardinals were the Redskins’ first opponent at FedEx Field. I’m almost certain that Michael Westbrook caught a touchdown pass with very little time left to win a close game. I’d have to look it up to see if I’m right.

John: The Cardinals have a very tough time traveling east. They’re also a bad road team in general. I didn’t like their chances in this one before the poor showing against Carolina, and I certainly don’t like them now. The Redskins looked much improved against the Giants last week. The Giants have been the team in the NFC East that the Skins haven’t been able to solve lately, so I think that win does a lot for their confidence.

I’ve always said don’t read too much into week 1 of the NFL season, but I just don’t see this game being close. I think the Skins will be able to pass the ball just as Carolina did last week. On defense, the Redskins can double Fitzgerald and make Kolb try to win the game throwing to his other targets. I can’t see Beanie Wells being very effective in this one. I see the Skins cruising 24-10.

WFY: This has Redskins letdown written all over it. Think of last year’s game against the Houston Texans — I expect the Redskins to lose 27-24.