The Arizona Cardinals are getting little respect among NFL experts.
Recently, some predictions for the upcoming 2021 NFL season were shared on NFL.com. 29 experts gave the Arizona Cardinals little respect. While the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams all received votes to either win the NFC West or receive a wildcard berth, the Cardinals were barely noticed.
Not a single expert picked them to win the division, or clinch the first wild-card spot. Only one expert projected them to land the second wild-card spot, and three others said they’d sneak into the playoffs as the third wild-card team. Meanwhile, the Seahawks, 49ers, and Rams were the top three teams slated to land a wild-card spot in the NFC.
Also, Los Angeles received 15 votes to win the NFC West while San Francisco came in second with 12. Seattle rounded out the division with two votes, and as mentioned, Arizona got nothing.
So, the NFL universe wants to sleep on the Cardinals? Hey, it’s easy to sleep on a team that has won just a single championship in the last eight decades and is facing one of the league’s longest playoff droughts. But Arizona stacks up better with the NFC West than most think. The following slides will show you some reasons why.