Arizona Cardinals nesting in the top 3 in Power Rankings

The Arizona Cardinals rise in most Power Rankings and settle in just below the undefeated Carolina Panthers.

The Arizona Cardinals dominated in St. Louis over the weekend and their performance, lost in the shuffle of an exciting day for football, was another week, another win (six straight) and the Cardinals just keep on rolling on. While everyone is talking about the Seahawks rising like the phoenix, or New England dropping two straight or Brock Osweiler supplanting Peyton Manning in Denver, the Cardinals just roll on.

Much like the Super Bowl season of 2008, and I’m by no means comparing or inferring that the Cardinals are going to end up in Santa Clara in February, but that 9-7 team flew under the radar, as “the worst playoff team in history” mainly because they only won three games outside their division. That team made the big game, this one could too.

Up next, on a short week is a welcoming of the Minnesota Vikings who got absolutely pounded by the Seattle Seahawks at home on Sunday. The short week will play into the favor of the Cardinals only a little bit being at home, and the Vikings have some key injuries that might be healed by Sunday, but Thursday is a whole different animal.

In most Power Rankings the Cardinals remain in the top five, but after a ridiculous week, the team has made a push in a few polls, including ours, to take over the number two spot just behind the undefeated Carolina Panthers.

At NFL.com, Elliot Harrison has the Cardinals at number two, up from number three last week:

"Arizona rolls on, playing Cardinal football in St. Louis while the Rams played, well, Rams football. The only issue for Bruce Arians’ club is maintaining the health of a running back who doesn’t fumble. That man might be Kerwynn Williams. Just ask him. You’re welcome."

Mike Florio, at ProFootballTalk, is a bit more pragmatic with the Cardinals leaving number five for number four:

"With another set of back-to-back prime-time games coming up, America may be on the verge of having a new Team."

In case you didn’t hear, the Cardinals will play Thursday Night in Glendale and then head east to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles in the recently flexed Sunday Night Football matchup.

Frank Schwab at Shutdown Corner on Yahoo! has the red birds moving up from three to two as well:

"Chris Johnson’s injury might end up helping the offense. Rookie David Johnson’s legs look a lot fresher."

Pete Prisco participates in our group thinking session from CBSSports.com in the Cardinals moving up from three to two as well, he also has some kind words about the offense

"They are the highest scoring team in the league. It’s hard to imagine that offense being stopped."

FOXSports.com has the same like-minded results, up one from three to two:

"Carson Palmer might have a difficult time beating out Newton for MVP, but with his fifth 350-plus-yard passing game in Week 13, he is now on pace for 4,924 yards and 39 touchdown passes."

Finally, the monolithic ESPN has woken up a bit and moved the Cardinals up two spots from number four to number two in this weeks’ rankings:

"Don’t sleep on the Cardinals. They’ve scored the most points this season, allowed the fourth-fewest points and have won 23 of Carson Palmer’s past 27 starts."

The Cardinals just keep rolling on, rolling over other teams, doing what they need to do, handling their business in a way that would make their coach smile (and yell obscenities, but that’s just BA). Four games to go, how high can this team go?