Why is it that the Arizona Cardinals — just six months removed from a glorious magic carpet ride to the Super Bowl in Tampa that couldn’t have been more captivating — suddenly seem so under the radar, at least on a national scale?

Great case in point:

Among the 43 gridiron experts whose division-by-division predictions will be one of the featured attractions in Pro Football Weekly’s annual Kickoff Issue (the print edition goes to press Aug. 31), only one picked the Cardinals to make a return trip to the Super Bowl.

Don’t the Cardinals deserve a bit more respect than that?

Or is the Super Bowl Hangover Syndrome just too big a cross to bear?

Ah, the Super Bowl hangover. It’s probably not as bad as the one I had at my family reunion a few weeks back, but we’re talking some nasty — and very hard to ignore — numbers, friends.

Consider that eight of the last 10 Super Bowl losers prior to last season failed to make the playoffs the following year.

And the average record of those teams one year later?

Try 7-9 on for size.

But don’t the Cardinals still have a lot going for them?

The WR trio of Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston is as good as it gets in the NFL heading into the ’09 season, although Breaston has been bothered by a bum knee lately.

Their quarterback, Kurt Warner, remains perfectly suited for the team’s up-tempo, pass-oriented offense. Yes, his surgically repaired hip has acted up on occasion this preseason, but he maintains it’s nothing to worry about. With the targets he has at his disposal, Warner figures to remain one of the league’s classier acts.

Their coach, Ken Whisenhunt, seems to really knows what he’s doing, which, when you consider the rather infamous history of Cardinals head coaches through the years, is really saying something. Unlike his divisional counterparts Mike Singletary of the Niners and Steve Spagnuolo of the Rams, Whisenhunt kept the hitting to a minimum in training camp, focusing more on self-preservation than making a smashmouth statement and increasing the likelihood of injuries to key players. Pretty wise move, I’d say, looking at the Niners’ and Rams’ current injury lists compared to that of the Cardinals. 

Their defense has some very talented players … from oldie-but-goodie Pro Bowl SS Adrian Wilson, the team’s longest-tenured player … to franchise ILB Karlos Dansby, who is looking to hit the free-agent jackpot next offseason … to second-year pro Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who has quickly shown that he just might have what it takes to become a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback for the next decade.

And yet, heading into the preseason, this grizzled NFC West observer couldn’t help but feel the tide turning in the Seahawks’ favor. While the Cardinals did a lot more subtracting than adding — ex-Steelers CB Bryant McFadden was the only offseason addition of note — the Seahawks seemed to get bigger and better in a real hurry, adding high-profile WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh to their offense and DT Colin Cole, DE Cory Redding and CB Ken Lucas to their defense, in addition to drafting the player widely considered to be the best defender available from the college ranks, Wake Forest’s Aaron Curry.

But a bad vibe has returned to Seattle, where the same injury bug that ruined the Seahawks’ season last year has wasted no time claiming key players such as Pro Bowl OLT Walter Jones, CB Marcus Trufant and C Chris Spencer.

And what’s with all the mysterious moving parts in the Seahawks’ ground game, with the team still not officially signing off on the addition of ex-Cardinal Edgerrin James as of this writing, more than 24 hours after it was first reported in cyberspace?

Yeah, something fishy is going on in the Pacific Northwest, and that’s why I have switched gears back to the Cardinals to rule the roost in the NFC West — which would have to be considered a rather noteworthy accomplishment when you take into account the recent sorry history of Super Bowl losers,

But as far as a second straight trip to the Super Bowl is concerned, I can’t help but see at least four other teams from the other three, much stronger NFC divisions — the Giants and Cowboys in the NFC East, the Falcons in the NFC South and the Vikings in the NFC North — standing in the Cardinals’ way.

Kickoff is coming! Be sure to buy copies of the Pro Football Weekly/Yahoo! Sports 2009 NFL preview magazine, as well as the Pro Football Weekly/Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football Guide 2009, both of which are now available at bookstores, newsstands and retail outlets where magazines are sold. Or order your copies online at PFWStore.com.