Arizona Cardinals outlook is much brighter after rival’s ugly loss

The Arizona Cardinals may be feeling much more confident after the Los Angeles Rams suffered a humiliating opening-game defeat. 

For the past few years, the Arizona Cardinals resided in a division that had no weakness. Any NFL club looking for an easy mark would not look toward the ultra-competitive NFC West to find it.

Fortunately for the Cardinals, at least two of the division’s squads now have major questions at the quarterback position. The Seattle Seahawks are apparently going forward with an awful plan that features Geno Smith as the starter. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers are hoping that the untested Trey Lance will live up to the hype that comes with being the third-overall pick of the 2021 draft.

That leaves the Los Angeles Rams who, low and behold, are fresh off of a Super Bowl championship. How could Arizona possibly compete with a franchise that hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy just seventh months ago?

Based off of the Rams performance in their season-opening matchup, the Cards should be feeling much more confident about their chances of overtaking their most formidable rival. In fact, Los Angeles appears to be an extremely less ferocious version of the team that won 16 games during the 2021-22 campaign.

NFL’s season-opening game may have instilled confidence in Arizona Cardinals

This past Thursday, the Rams suffered a humiliating 31-10 loss at home to the Buffalo Bills. Head coach Sean McVay’s group was equally bad on both offense and defense, and it now seems as if Los Angeles has plenty issues of their own to deal with.

Rams quarterback Matt Stafford served up not one, not two, but three interceptions against the Bills, and was sacked seven times. Wide receiver Allen Robinson, one of the organization’s most-ballyhooed offseason acquisitions, caught one lousy pass for a measly 12 yards. Running back Cam Akers carried the ball three times for an alarming zero yards in his first action of the new season.

The Los Angeles defense was just as bad as the offense. Coordinator Raheem Morris’ unit allowed Bills signal-caller Josh Allen to rack up 353 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns. Wideouts Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis torched the Rams secondary for 210 receiving yards and two scores.

It’s been seven long years since the Cardinals were crowned the champions of the NFC West. That unfortunate streak could come to a screeching halt if Los Angeles continues to play like they did on opening night.

(Statistics provided by ESPN.com)