Arizona Cardinals: Week 4 Power Ranking Roundup
By Erich Becker
If you had a great week in fantasy, no doubt the Cardinals defense and Carson Palmer helped
The team did a lot on the field Sunday to solidify their hold on the NFC West (for now). With the Seahawks also winning, the rest of the division sits at 1-2, two games back of the Cardinals (49ers are three games back with the tie-breaker head-to-head). The 47-7 drubbing comes only a week after a 48-point light-up of the woeful Bears who went into Seattle and put up a goose egg. There’s a lot to like right now with all three facets of the Arizona Cardinals game, but what says the experts at large?
In our own Power Ranking, the Cardinals remain at number three, Green Bay and New England are too good to overcome. Truth be told, I had the Cardinals at two prior to last night’s game, but moved them down and Green Bay up to two after the game. Aaron Rodgers was magnificent, but so was Carson Palmer.
Fansided’s own Power Rankings has the Cardinals sitting firmly at number two:
"There may be no more balanced team – offense, defense, special teams – in the league than the Arizona Cardinals."
Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk has the Cardinals at number four, up one spot, and nothing to say about the non-desert looking field this time:
"Arizona’s defensive backs have become Colin Kaepernick’s favorite receivers."
Pete Prisco at CBSSports.com has the Cardinals at three, up one spot:
"They are playing as well as any team in the league right now. The defense dominated against the 49ers with two picks for scores."
Elliot Harrison at NFL.com has the Cardinals firmly entrenched at number three for another week:
"These guys are for real."
The ESPN thinktank has the Cardinals leapfrogging the Green Bay Packers to take over number two:
"The Cardinals have scored 126 points in their first three games. That’s tied for the fourth-most points in NFL history through three games."
Frank Schwab continues to be a cranky mess, but gives the Cardinals some props at number five:
"They’re still a hard team to totally figure out, because they’re like the Big 12 team that plays an FCS team and the two worst FBS opponents it can find and blows them all out to start the season. That’s not the Cardinals’ fault, but when you’ve beaten the Bears, Saints and 49ers it’s tough to gauge how good you are."
There isn’t a ranking out there that has the Arizona Cardinals out of the top 10, let alone the top five. Beating up on your opponents is great, but dominating them gets you in a conversation, even when they’re bad teams, even bad teams have professional players, and, as a wise man once said, “you play to win the game.” Thanks Herm.