FanHouse Dominiquerodgers Cromartie

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

After what seemed like about 15 straight seasons heading into the year as the trendy "sleeper" pick of the NFL, the Arizona Cardinals finally realized their potential, winning a home playoff game for the first time in the life of many football fans (myself included) and heading to the first-ever Super Bowl. Now, all of a sudden, expectations are at an all-time high. Can the team thrive, or will they disappoint?

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Defending NFC champions. A few inches either way, and we could say the Super Bowl champions. Soak that up. The Arizona Cardinals almost took home a title. It was like a bizarro world Super Bowl -- if you only looked at the NFC side, that is. Regardless, the Cardinals did it with a prolific passing attack, and you know we love that in fantasy football.

They've lost their offensive coordinator and replaced Edgerrin James' aging legs with some fresh ones. Other than that, they look pretty similar in fantasy land. And that's a good thing.

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Franchise tags and salary-cap concerns play a very important role in real-world wheelings and dealings, but what if the biggest-named free agents were matched with the teams that gave them the best chance to make a Super Bowl run? What would that list look like? Glad you asked.

Yes, this is a strictly fictional account, one that requires you to suspend reality for the next few minutes. But, hey, it's the NFL offseason, which means that there won't be any meaningful football for another seven months. What else do you have to do?

Steelers No. 1 receiver Hines Ward gutted his way through the entire game, but with a strained MCL, he was not much more than a gimpy decoy. Pittsburgh No. 3 receiver Nate Washington hurt his shoulder on his only catch of the game with 1:33 to play, which meant he was running routes with not much more than one arm.

So when Ben Roethlisberger hopped into the huddle with 48 seconds to play, he really had one option among his top three receivers -- Santonio Holmes. On both of the Steelers' two goal-line plays in the final seconds, everything was set up to get Holmes open.

There aren't a lot of underappreciated Pittsburgh Steelers. As a team that spent most of the season on prime time or in national 4:15 p.m. games, any Steeler who stood out was seen all around the country.

But if there is one Steeler who could be considered a sleeper, it's tight end Heath Miller. Miller is one of the keys to the Steelers offense, but because most of his work is done blocking defensive ends and linebackers for the Steelers running game, he doesn't put up the numbers to be noticed.

You know about Hines Ward and Kurt Warner, but this week we'll also try to spotlight some non household names who could play crucial parts in Sunday's Super Bowl.

Who: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

What Does He Do: Cardinals starting cornerback.

How Did He Get Here: Rodgers-Cromartie was seen as somewhat of a risk coming out of college because he played at tiny Tennessee State. But after he put together an outstanding performance at the Senior Bowl, and an even more impressive combine showing (4.33 40-yard dash), he quickly climbed the draft boards. Arizona selected him with the 16th pick in the first round. He was the second cornerback taken behind only Leodis McKelvin. Rodgers-Cromartie was the team's nickel back when the season began, but he had earned a starting role before September ended. By the playoffs he was getting the team's toughest assignments, including covering DeSean Jackson all over the field in the NFC Championship game.

Well, that didn't take long -- after contemplating that the Eagles might be en route to storming back on the Arizona Cardinals ... they did just that.
On a second-and-10, Donovan McNabb went deep to rookie DeSean Jackson, who had a half step on Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. That half-step was just enough for McNabb to squeeze the ball in and, after tipping the ball to himself, Jackson juggled it a few times and waltzed into the end zone on a 62-yard touchdown pass, putting the Eagles ahead for the first time all game, 25-24.

There was little reason to think -- at least as soon as 15 real time minutes ago -- that the Philadelphia Eagles had any chance of beating the Arizona Cardinals and advancing to the Super Bowl. Adrian Wilson was sacking Donovan McNabb frequently, Antrel Rolle and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were smothering the Guls' receivers (whom are average at best anyway, DeSean Jackson's youth aside).

Then, all of a sudden, McNabb hit Kevin Curtis on a laser-rocket-arm 50 yard completion on third and 19 that set up the Eagles up in the Arizona red zone, a rare occurance today indeed. Four plays later, D-Nasty found Brent Celek in the back of the end zone and the Eagles were suddenly within nine points.