Which matchups should favor the Arizona Cardinals the most during the remainder of the 2021 season?
The Arizona Cardinals sit at 9-2 with six games to go. And best yet, the Cardinals can realistically close out the season at 15-2. Not that this will happen. But with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and Seattle Seahawks struggling, the Cardinals could take advantage of the easy schedule. Assuming they stop playing to their competition.
The Los Angeles Rams will pose a challenge, despite the Cardinals making quick work of them in Week 4. They also play the Dallas Cowboys, who have been hampered by injuries, sit at 7-4.
The Indianapolis Colts seem as though they’re getting better as the season wears on following an 0-3 start. But even with a strong running game the Colts own, Arizona has a defense capable of at least keeping the likes of Jonathan Taylor out of the end zone.
It’s easy to say the Cardinals’ three most favorable matchups come against the Lions, Bears, and Seahawks. But the Cardinals have not beaten the Lions recently. One can never count out Russell Wilson. And the Bears are all but playing to save Matt Nagy’s job. Which teams do the Cardinals match up the most favorably against?
Los Angeles Rams in Week 14
The Rams are that team in the NFL no one wants to be. They beat teams they should beat easily. But they struggle against the league’s better teams. Sure, they beat the Buccaneers and the Colts.
Guess the combined record of the other five teams they beat? 12-39-1. Add the Colts and the Buccaneers to the party, and you get 25-47-1, which equals a winning percentage of .347. The Rams look good on paper, but in actuality, they’re the product of an above-average team who can pick on teams with lesser talent.
What’s the combined record of the teams that beat them? 22-10, with those teams being the Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, and San Francisco 49ers. If you’re keeping score, the Cardinals swept the Niners and blew out the Titans. Oh, and the Rams played a Titans team missing Derrick Henry.
Not that the Rams can’t shock the Cardinals. But the numbers show this game greatly favors the Cardinals. The Rams are a playoff team. But they’re nowhere near a threat, at this point, to upset the Cardinals.
Dallas Cowboys in Week 17
Former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark recently said, “Mike McCarthy is the worst coach on the Cowboys’ roster.” We saw Clark’s statement reinforced on Thanksgiving with McCarthy’s decision-making. Most notably, his decision to kick a 59-yard field goal with a kicker that earlier in the game, missed an extra point. That decision would later haunt the Cowboys in their 36-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Meanwhile, in Glendale, Cardinals’ coach Kliff Kingsbury has all but mastered in-game management. Something he struggled with during the 2020 season. While Kingsbury has proven the critics wrong, McCarthy’s questionable decisions have hampered a Cowboys team already struggling with injuries.
Odds are, the Cowboys will get CeeDee Lamb and Amari Cooper before their Week 17 matchup against the Cardinals at AT&T Stadium. The Cardinals, road warriors in 2021, marched into AT&T Stadium last year and won 38-10. A game in which Kyler Murray completed 9 out of 24 pass attempts.
Coupled with the Cardinals’ explosive offense plus McCarthy’s in-game decision-making and Kingsbury’s vast improvement, the Cardinals have a more favorable matchup against their former NFC East rival than what you will see on paper.
Detroit Lions in Week 15
Since Kliff Kingsbury became the Cardinals’ head coach, the Lions have a combined record of 8-33-2. Kingsbury’s record against the Lions? 0-1-1. So why are the Lions listed as a favorable matchup?
There has not been a team in recent memory that has found more ways to lose football games. Or, to not win football games, citing the tie against the Steelers. The Lions had a late lead in their Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Chicago Bears. They lost on a last-second field goal.
The Lions have lost three games in 2021 on last-second field goals. They also missed an extra point during their tie against the Steelers that would have made the game 17-10. Which would have forced the Steelers to at least kick an extra field goal (they scored twice on field goals in the third and fourth quarter) or score a touchdown to win.
Sure, the Cardinals play down to their competition. And they’re especially vulnerable against the Lions. The Lions could easily be 4-7. But it appears the Curse of Bobby Lane is alive even if it’s been over 60 years since his infamous trade.
Want more fun? The Cardinals play the Lions on what would have been Layne’s 95th birthday.