The Arizona Cardinals are coming off their best season in years and also one of the most surreal quarterback situations in league history. Their strong regular season went to waste when they entered the playoffs with a benchwarmer at QB who couldn’t take them anywhere. But with Carson Palmer back in the fold, and Larry Fitzgerald still in the building, head coach Bruce Arians must figure out how to keep such a situation from happening again so the Cards can become true contenders.

Even if the consecutive injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton can be written off as unlikely happenstance, the reality is that Stanton wasn’t entirely getting it done before he went down. And with Palmer now in his mid-thirties and coming off a severe injury, the team may need to look at investing in the future at the position, in the form of a mid round draft pick. But backup QB issues aside, the Cardinals have a strong roster and are in a prime position to compete. Decisions must be made on Larry Fitzgerald in terms of contract restructuring so he can remain a part of the team even as his role in the offense continues to become more secondary.

The fact that the Arizona Cardinals are stuck in the same division as regular contenders Seattle and San Francisco doesn’t help things. But the Cards showed last season that they could work around that simply by winning the games they needed to win. They just have to hope Carson Palmer stays in one piece in 2015.