Arizona Cardinals HC Bruce Arians Keeping Players Humble After 2-0 Start

USA Today

The Arizona Cardinals are quickly turning into the team to beat in the NFC West with head coach Bruce Arians and company getting off to a flawless start with two straight wins thus far. The San Francisco 49ers (1-1), St. Louis Rams (1-1) and defending division champion Seattle Seahawks (0-2) are already struggling to play consistently well paving the way for a big season for the Cardinals if able to stay focused moving forward.

Although the Cardinals have received high praise after beating the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears in consecutive weeks, Arians is keeping his players humble. Arians said the following about the team receiving praise as one of the better teams in the NFC, via Jose Romero of ESPN:

“When they’re patting you on the back, they’re looking for a soft spot where to stick the knife,” Arians said after Wednesday’s practice.

Veteran quarterback Carson Palmer also talked about Arians keeping his players in check heading into Week 3 against the division rival 49ers, via Romero:

“Coach put it best when he said ‘You ain’t blank,’” quarterback Carson Palmer said of Arians’ words to his team before a meeting. “I don’t see that being an issue for us this year. We’re 2-0, we’d love to be 3-0, but we all realize that it means nothing.”

Currently, the Cardinals, as expected, are favored to win the NFC West showdown with the 49ers. According to Sportsbook.ag, Arizona is sporting a -6.5 point spread heading into the matchup with San Francisco.

The 49ers are coming off a substantial loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2. Although San Francisco got off to an impressive start with Carlos Hyde running all over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1, the 49ers struggled against a legitimate Super Bowl title contender in Pittsburgh.

Arizona will likely come out on top against San Francisco while covering the spread in Week 3.