Antrel Rolle: Cardinals Aren't Great, but 'We're Beyond Average'

TAMPA, Fla. – As great as they've looked in the month of January, it would be awfully difficult to call the Arizona Cardinals a great team. They did, after all, finish the regular season 9-7 and lose games in December by scores of 47-7 and 35-14.

So it's not a big surprise that Cardinals defensive back Antrel Rolle would decline to call his team great, as he did in talking to reporters today. But it is interesting that he chose to use the words "beyond average" when describing his team.

"A great team? No, I wouldn't say we're a great team," Rolle said today. "I don't think any NFL team is a great team. You have good teams, and you have some beyond average teams. I definitely think right now at this point we're a beyond average team. A great team is someone that plays consistent week in and week out, A good team doesn't necessarily have to win each and every game but you know once you play them you know exactly what kind of game plan you're going to get week in and week out. We've had times where we haven't played so successful, we haven't played all-around Cardinals united football, so I wouldn't say we're a great team."

You don't often hear that candid an assessment of a team from one of the players, but it's true: Playing in a weak division, so far all the Cardinals have had to be is beyond average, and that's been good enough. And even though that's all they were throughout 2008, if the Cardinals win on Sunday, a lot of people will be calling them great.