Arizona Cardinals could compete for a Wild Card berth

After an uninspiring beginning to the season, the Arizona Cardinals have now transformed themselves into a playoff contender

Just a couple of weeks ago, it appeared that the Arizona Cardinals were well on their way to another dismal season. The club had gone winless in September, and were coming off of blowout defeats to the Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks. Kliff Kingsbury continued to put on a positive face, but the pessimists were managing to drown out the head coach’s optimism.

Two consecutive victories have inserted some life into the once floundering Cardinals. On October 6th, the squad went on the road and earned a 26-23 triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals. The success continued this past weekend, when Arizona came home and recorded a scintillating 34-33 win against the Atlanta Falcons.

Admittedly, the Cards defeated a pair of downtrodden teams. Andy Dalton and the Bengals have failed to emerge victorious in six weeks. Matt Ryan and his Atlanta teammates have won just once in the same amount of time.

Even so, there’s excitement building down at Cards headquarters. Kingsbury is proving that his “Air Raid” system can generate points in the NFL. Rookie quarterback Kyler Murray was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his impressive outing versus the Falcons.

Suddenly, the Cardinals are just one victory away from a .500 record. Next up for Kingsbury’s group is a road matchup with a mediocre New York Giants club. The return of stud running back Saquon Barkley presents a problem, but there’s still a decent chance that Arizona will continue their winning streak on Sunday.

The Cards, like the Giants, will also be getting a fantastic player back this coming weekend. Cornerback Patrick Peterson‘s return promises to help Vance Joseph‘s defense immensely. That factor combined with an offense that has found it’s way could result in the first playoff appearance for Arizona since the 2015 campaign.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the NFC West may be the best division in football. Both the San Francisco 49ers and Seahawks have won five times. The Los Angeles Rams are just a half game better than the Cards, but they still possess one of the most dangerous scoring attacks in the league.

Nevertheless, a Wild Card berth is certainly a possibility for the team from the desert. There’s alot that has to go right for that to happen, but stranger things have occurred. No matter what transpires, the 2019 version of the Cardinals is much more interesting than the product that took to the field just one year ago.