Arizona Cardinals Must Make a Statement in Week Five

The Arizona Cardinals must make a statement in their week five matchup against the New York Jets.

The pasts two weeks have been a living nightmare for the Arizona Cardinals. After scoring an upset in week one and handling the Washington Football team in week two, the Cardinals have since fallen back to Earth since late September.

Last week, the league’s best third-down defense allowed the Carolina Panthers to convert 7 of 11 third downs. 8 of 11 if you include the third and nineteen that turned into fourth and short, which the Panthers ultimately converted.

Here they sit at crossroads against the Jets, who rank 32nd in just about every power ranking index. The Cardinals are facing perhaps the weakest Jets team to date. A Jets team who will start Joe Flacco at quarterback. Flacco, by the way, is 2-9 in his last 11 starts.

The Cardinals are facing a defense who traded star safety Jamal Adams and lost C.J. Mosley because of a COVID-19 opt-out. The Jets defense also allowed 37 points to Brett Rypien and a Denver Broncos offense missing Courtland Sutton and Phillip Lindsay.

Over the past two weeks, the Cardinals had a chance to make a statement against lesser competition. They had a chance to prove they were good enough to beat teams they overpowered on paper.

The Cardinals defense can make a statement by telling us they’re the same unit we saw in weeks one and two. Where it seemed like just about everyone joined in on the sack party. They can prove they’re the defense from the first three weeks of the season who led the league in third-down stops. And not the confused unit we saw last week.

As for Kyler Murray and the offense, they can prove they’re the explosive offense who showed flashes in week two. Especially against a Jets defense that has allowed 27 or more points per game in the season’s first four weeks and 104 points over the past three weeks.

While the previous two games were more than winnable, losing is not an option for the Cardinals in week five. Winning ugly isn’t even an option.

Not when you’re playing a team down to an aging backup quarterback and running back. A team who lost its two best players for differing reasons before the season began. The Cardinals cannot let this opportunity to make a statement slip away.