NFL Power Rankings, Week 5: Rams, Titans earn statement wins

32. Arizona Cardinals (32)

It only took the Arizona Cardinals three games to realize that investing all of that ridiculous money in Sam Bradford was a terrible mistake, as the team allowed Josh Rosen to make his first career start during Sunday’s contest against the Seattle Seahawks. In previous years, a first start against a defense like the Seahawks would seem like an absolute nightmare for a quarterback like Rosen, but things are different now.

While the defense of the Seahawks played well for the most part, Rosen’s first start wasn’t all that terrible for the Cardinals after the former UCLA star completed 15 of 27 passes for 180 yards to go along with a touchdown. This may seem frustrating since Arizona knows what he’s capable of under center, but also keep in mind that Rosen will progress over time, and hopefully get better with experience.

Getting that first start out of the way will help Rosen remove some of the pressure most rookies experience when taking over the starting role on offense, and it will be interesting to see what kind of progress he makes moving forward. Arizona may be wasting a ton of money on Bradford, but at least giving Rosen some early experience as a rookie will benefit the offense in the long run.