The Arizona Cardinals have an opportunity to find their way out of three extremely challenging matchups with a winning record.
The Arizona Cardinals couldn’t have been thrilled back in May when the NFL released its schedule for the 2022-23 campaign. Starting off the season with matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams would be an enormous mountain to climb for any professional football team.
Things got off to an awful start on opening day when the Cards were thoroughly outclassed by a much-more prepared Chiefs squad. Quarterback Kyler Murray led a somewhat lifeless offense, and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s crew played even worse during the 44-21 blowout.
Arizona didn’t fare any better during the first half of last weekend’s clash with the Raiders. The final 30-plus minutes was a different story, however, as Murray guided his teammates to a 29-23 comeback victory.
Arizona Cardinals will meet the defending Super Bowl champions in week 3
This coming Sunday, the Cardinals have an opportunity to confound the skeptics by coming out of the season’s first three games with a winning record. On tap are the Rams, the club’s bitter division rival who won Super Bowl LVI back in February.
Working in the Cards’ favor is the fact that Los Angeles has struggled a bit over the past couple of weeks. The Rams suffered a humiliating 31-10 defeat to the Buffalo Bills in week 1, and a surprisingly-tough 31-27 win over the Atlanta Falcons last weekend was far from impressive.
“Big Red” could also be in revenge mode when they play host to Los Angeles at State Farm Stadium in week 3. The franchise’s first trip to the playoffs in six years ended in embarrassment last January when the Rams inflicted a 34-11 beating on the overwhelmed Redbirds.
No organization would be happy with a schedule that includes three bona fide contenders to start off the campaign. The Cardinals would make one heck of a statement to the league by coming out of that predicament with a pair of unexpected victories.