Arizona Cardinals trying to make leap in NFC West
The Arizona Cardinals collapsed last year, and now in the NFL’s toughest division, they look to take the next step towards contention.
It’s time for Kyler Murray, it’s time for Kliff Kingsbury. It’s time for the Arizona Cardinals.
After two years of turning the Cardinals from a moribund franchise to a solid one, the duo of Murray and Kingsbury are now charged with making Arizona one of the NFC’s top squads. It won’t be easy, with the Cardinals having to scale the torturous NFC West.
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Arizona has one of the league’s toughest schedules, drawing the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and san Francisco 49ers twice apiece, while also squaring off with the Tennessee Titans, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys. All those teams are either playoff teams from 2020 and/or potential ones this season.
If the Cardinals are going to become a playoff team for the first time since the Bruce Arians era, it’ll be with Kingsbury doing a better job with situational football. It’ll also be largely on Murray, who threw for 3,971 yards and 26 touchdowns in his second season after being a No. 1 pick out of Oklahoma.
Murray was given help this offseason by general manager Steve Keim, who signed veteran receiver A.J. Green to pair with DeAndre Hopkins, while also trading for star center Rodney Hudson. The defense is the bigger question, with corner Patrick Peterson leaving without an obvious replacement. However, the front got a boost with J.J. Watt coming over via free agency from the Houston Texans.
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Are the moves enough to buoy a team which started 5-2 before going 8-8? Probably not, considering Watt and Green are oft-injured veterans trying to reestablish their value. This is why Kingsbury and Murray need to dramatically improve, particularly the former. Those two are the power players on the team. If they can step up, everyone around them will as well.
For the Cardinals to finally get back into the NFL’s top tier, Murray needs to be a consistent passer who continues making plays with his legs. Kingsbury must be more creative, smarter with time management and better in situational play-calling. Arizona isn’t going to beat the upper echelon teams simply off talent, it’ll need to win on the margins as well.
Arizona has the talent to be a problem. It’s time the Cardinals step up and make it happen.
