Arizona Cardinals: 5 questions Cardinals fans want to know about the L.A. Rams

Question #4 that Arizona Cardinals fans want to know: Who do Rams fans take most seriously as a threat to them in the division? The Cardinals or the 49ers?

Stuter: “The LA Rams respect all three NFC West division rivals, and as such approach any game against an NFC rival with meticulous care and preparation.

I don’t think I’m tossing any shade on the Seattle Seahawks to point out the obvious: The Seahawks traded away veteran QB Russell Wilson and, in the process, surrendered to the inevitable rebuild that everyone knew was coming. That leaves the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers.

The Arizona Cardinals are a tough team to put on the scale of very good to very bad, because they seem to ride the spectrum from very good early in the season, to very bad late in the season.

For the first half of the 2021 NFL season, the Cardinals appeared to be a shoo-in for the top seed spot in the NFC Playoffs. If that is the team that competes throughout the 2022 NFL season’s 17 games, then the answer is the Arizona Cardinals.

But the Cardinals, after reaching their apex at 8-1, finished off the rest of the 2021 NFL season with a 3-5 record, and an 0-1 record in the NFL playoffs.

If the LA Rams face that team this year, then the obvious answer is that the Rams believe the San Francisco 49ers will likely be the more serious threat in the division.

It’s a persistent pattern for the Cardinals, who rose to 5-2 in the 2020 NFL season before going 3-6 to finish the year at 8-8. I suppose the correct answer is that the Rams believe the Cardinals in the first half of 2022 as the more serious threat, but the 49ers in the second half of the season as the more serious threat.