NFL Power Rankings, Week 10: Ravens upend Patriots, Browns implode completely
By Randy Gurzi
22. Arizona Cardinals (22)
After falling behind 28-14 on Thursday Night Football, the Arizona Cardinals made a valiant effort to get back into the game against the NFC West leading San Francisco 49ers. They scored 11 points in the quarter to pull it within three but fell short and are now 3-5-1. It’s the second time this season that they started out slow and then tried to make a ferocious comeback in the end.
It worked out for them — to an extent — in Week 1 as they were able to tie things up with the Detroit Lions with an 18-point fourth quarter. Then both teams scored field goals in overtime to end it in a draw. Being able to do something similar, even though they never actually tied it up, against an undefeated 49ers squad proves they have the firepower to compete. The problem is, the Cardinals just can’t put a full game together. They also make far too many little mistakes.
Kyler Murray, for example, lost 37 yards on sacks where he was continually running backward trying to elude defenders. At Oklahoma, he could do this and it would result in a big play but the talent level in the NFL won’t allow that to succeed. There was also a fourth-and-goal stop for the defense that was negated due to a timeout called by head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Things such as this are fixable and they are showing progress, which is a good sign. They just aren’t where they need to be yet.