The Cardinals' offense was inconsistent much of the season, certainly compared to the previous season. And in light of 2015 -- when the Cardinals smashed the franchise record for points in a season with 489 -- most seasons were going to suffer in comparison. But as I look through the aftermath of this season (and look at some of the notes stat guru Mike Helm puts together), one of the stats that sticks out is the 418 points the Cardinals finished with for the season.

418.

No, it's not 489, but it's not far off the 427 the 2008 Super Bowl-reaching team collected, a 427 that had been the franchise record before the 2015 squad came along. In fact, the 418 points the Cards scored this season was fourth all-time in team history. And it was mostly the offense that drove it -- special teams did not score this season, and the defense accounted for 22 points (three return TDs, two safeties.)

The total was aided by a flourish of a finish, with 41, 34 and 44 points in the final three games. But even with all their troubles, the Cardinals were held to 20 points or less only five times (and appropriately went 0-4-1 in those games.) That was with what seemed like a rotating door on the offensive line, especially late when the scoring jumped, and with an underachieving wide receiving corps.

As Ron Wolfley likes to say, the ability to score provides hope. The Cardinals have had many years where that hope didn't exist. The current version still allows for that hope.