Arizona Cardinals losing to teams they’re supposed to beat
By Jim Koch
Over the past two weeks, the Arizona Cardinals have failed to post victories over squads that they were expected to defeat
There’s a different vibe around the Arizona Cardinals this year. The club that won just five times in 2019 was expected to fare much better this season. In fact, the Cards have been favored by the Las Vegas bookmakers in three of the four contests that they’ve competed in so far this fall.
In week two, the Cardinals did what they were supposed to do when they recorded a 30-15 triumph over the Washington football team. The seven-point favorites led 20-0 at halftime, and did enough over the contest’s final 30 minutes to secure the victory. In the two matchups that followed, however, Arizona failed to live up to the expectations that have been placed upon the squad.
A little over a week ago, the Cards played host to a Detroit Lions group that had not emerged victorious in their last 11 regular-season attempts. But instead of taking advantage of an inferior opponent, head coach Kliff Kingsbury‘s crew proceeded to play down to the competition. The fact that they were 5.5-point favorites was rendered meaningless, as the Cardinals ended up falling to Detroit by a score of 26-23.
This past Sunday, Arizona was favored by three points on the road against the Carolina Panthers. Oddsmakers were of the belief that the Redbirds would come out on top, even though they’d be traveling across the country to meet the Panthers. The Cards never had the lead throughout the entire afternoon, and were beaten 31-21 by a mediocre Carolina club.
On paper at least, the Cardinals should’ve been able to handle both the Lions and the Panthers. Doing so would’ve had the franchise sitting pretty at 4-0, with an extremely beatable New York Jets group coming up next. Instead, Arizona is 2-2, and the question marks about how good the team really is are starting to emerge.
There’s very little room for error in the NFL’s toughest division, the NFC West. No “gimme” matchups exist for the Cards, when they’re forced to face the likes of the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers two times apiece. The Cardinals must stop losing to teams that aren’t on their level, or they can start kissing their 2020 playoff hopes goodbye.