Cardinals should not be concerned about getting demolished by Carolina

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about why the Arizona Cardinals should still be regarded as one of the NFL’s top teams after their loss to the Carolina Panthers.

When the Arizona Cardinals look back at their 2021 season, their embarrassing Week 10 loss to the Carolina Panthers will just wind up being a minor blip in all of their successes. At least, this is how the Cardinals should be hoping to feel in a few months when they reflect on their accomplishments during the 2021 campaign.

Arizona and Carolina kicked off at 2:05 p.m. MST, and before anyone could leave their seat to go refill their popcorn, the Cardinals were trailing by 14 points in the first quarter.

The Panthers ended up scoring 23-straight points before Arizona was finally able to get on the scoreboard in the third quarter with a field goal. Carolina went on to win the contest by a final score of 34-10, and despite the fact that the Cardinals just suffered a loss by more than 20 points, their level of concern should still be very close to the floor.

Arizona Cardinals can easily get back on track after loss to Carolina Panthers

Heading into Sunday’s game, Arizona was favored to defeat the Panthers by at least eight points. Obviously, that did not happen, but the Cardinals still have plenty to be confident about during the second half of the season.

First off, Arizona was without Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins on Sunday. These two are easily the Cardinals’ most important players on offense, and if they were on the field, Arizona’s matchup with Carolina definitely turns out much differently.

Secondly, the remaining opponents Arizona has on their 2021 schedule have a combined winning percentage (.435) that is lower than any of the other top-five teams in the NFC after the first 10 weeks of the year according to Alex Clancy of the “Locked On Cardinals” podcast.

Murray and Hopkins could be back sooner than later and the Cardinals’ quest to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season seems to be easier than the other teams in contention for the spot.

Optimism for the 2021 Cardinals should still be very high.