Arizona Cardinals: Playoff team or needing to rebuild?

The Arizona Cardinals have left fans and onlookers alike scratching their heads. Is this a playoff team or one in need of a rebuild?

Week 6 of the 2017 NFL season was yet another slate of games proving that no one knows anything about this league. One team that no one can possibly have a feeling for is the Arizona Cardinals. At 3-3, they are squarely in the playoff discussion, even though we were almost positive that they stunk before this week. After a quality win, we still might feel that way because of how they won.

Are the Arizona Cardinals in denial and needing to rebuild, or is this a legitimate playoff team? Bruce Arians’ job depends on the answer.

Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the Arizona Cardinals in today’s NFL Sports Debate.

Todd Salem:

Arizona was up 31-6 heading into the fourth quarter in week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, facing a backup quarterback. Jameis Winston had left the game after just 10 pass attempts. The Cardinals were getting a throwback running performance out of the newly acquired Adrian Peterson. Even with all that, the final score was 38-33. They even got beat in one-on-one coverage against Mike Evans with just over two minutes remaining to see the deficit get within one score.

On the one hand, maybe Winston isn’t all that special. In the past, I’ve called him the next Eli Manning, which is both an insult and a compliment. But if Ryan Fitzpatrick can chuck it around with such success in this offense, maybe Winston is even a level lower than Manning. Let’s just say Tampa Bay isn’t in Green Bay’s situation having lost its starting quarterback.

But this is more about Bruce Arians and Arizona. Where do your feelings on this performance lie? Does Arians get major credit for pulling a nice upset against a supposed playoff contender when everyone was writing off his club? Does he get skewered for nearly giving the win away in the most favorable possible circumstances? Or is it a break-even point where the win is fine but the way they won doesn’t instill much confidence moving forward?

I have been disappointed in Arians this year. I know he lost his best offensive weapon in Week 1. That will hamper any offense. But look around the rest of this league right now. There are offenses doing much more with fewer weapons than even the David Johnson-less Cardinals. Carson Palmer is a below-average quarterback these days, which hurts Arians again. But is he clearly worse than his counterpart Winston? I’m not so sure.

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Before hanging on for this victory, Arizona had beaten only Indianapolis and San Francisco on the season. Those are probably two of the four worst teams in football. Indy does have two wins of its own, but they came against, you guessed it, San Francisco and Cleveland. So if this is Arizona’s signature win, Arians should probably still be on the hot seat.

The NFL is weird because of how closely bunched the league always is. In one sense, any victory, no matter the scenario, is a good win. On the other hand, the Cardinals probably stink.

Dan Salem:

The Arizona Cardinals are a really good “bad” team this season. They lost their best player, have an aging and inconsistent quarterback, and play in a division with two really good teams and one awful team. Arizona is not a playoff team, but they aren’t San Francisco either. This puts them firmly in the middle of the league, finishing anywhere from 6-10 to 9-7 on the year. Sound familiar? Its exactly what happened in Arizona a season ago, minus losing David Johnson.

I’m a Carson Palmer fan, but his career is nearly over. What is Arians’ succession plan? Do the Cardinals have one? We’ve talked before about how it’s infinitely better for a team to bottom out than muddle in the middle season after season. You need top-10 draft picks to rebuild successfully. One or two players can make all the difference. Arians will be out of a job if his Cardinals don’t overachieve this season. What does 7-9 get them? Furthermore, what does 9-7 get them if they reach such heights? It won’t equal a playoff spot this season.

While many people have been high on Tampa Bay, I suspect they are firmly in Arizona’s league. The Buccaneers are not yet a good football team, let alone a serious playoff contender. Real playoff teams beat teams like the Cardinals. Arizona gave up its lead because its not good enough to hold one. Arians is once again doing more with less, but his aging roster will break soon enough.

Next: NFL QB Power Rankings 2017: Week 6

If we assume that Tampa Bay is an average team, then Arizona has beaten every opponent it should have. Its an average team, so it should beat other average teams at home. I see three more wins on their schedule, unless a miracle happens. Anything less and Arians is gone. Anything more and Arizona can consider themselves unlucky, because this is the year you want to lose. The 2018 NFL Draft has multiple quarterbacks worth drafting. You need a top-10 pick.