Cardinals need to step to the plate and silence the critics

Two awful performances in back-to-back weeks by the Arizona Cardinals have NFL analysts insisting that the team is a fraud.

When it comes to the Arizona Cardinals, NFL analysts tend to expect the worst when things begin to go wrong for the organization.

It’s not surprising, therefore, that many of the league’s experts are throwing the Cards under the bus following the squad’s embarrassing Week 15 loss to the Detroit Lions.

On one hand, the pessimism is warranted. Last season, Arizona needed just one victory during the final two weeks to secure their first playoff berth since the 2015 campaign. Instead, head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s gang lost both matchups (versus backup quarterbacks no less) and were eliminated from the 2020 postseason.

The franchise’s critics (with ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky and Keyshawn Johnson leading the charge) are expecting another letdown from the Cardinals in the upcoming weeks. Can Kingsbury and company avoid another crash and burn ending to the 2021 schedule?

Arizona Cardinals are becoming known only for their late-season struggles

Many of the Redbirds’ detractors have completely forgotten about how well they have played over the past few months. There was an opening-day demolition of the Tennessee Titans, followed by a blowout of the Los Angeles Rams just three weeks later. And that was just the beginning.

In week 6, the Cards thoroughly dominated the Cleveland Browns with Kingsbury stuck at home with the coronavirus. The club also defeated division rivals like the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks convincingly with starting signal-caller Kyler Murray watching from the sidelines.

It appears that all of that impressive play has been disregarded, now that Arizona is on a two-game losing skid. While it seems a bit unfair, Kingsbury and his players have only themselves to blame. Only winning will silence the doubters, and the Cardinals have three more regular-season matchups to prove themselves before the playoffs get underway.

“Big Red’ will host the Indianapolis Colts on Christmas Night, followed by a meeting with the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on January 2. The Cards will close out the year at home against the Seattle Seahawks on January 9.

General manager Steve Keim has built one heck of a team in 2021. Nevertheless, the cynics would love nothing more than to see the Cardinals fail. The time has come for Arizona to get back to the formula that earned them 10 victories and put all of the naysayers to rest.