The Arizona Cardinals Got Another Hot Start. This is different.


The 2020 Cardinals relied on Murray’s sandlot tactics and 115 receptions from All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to build up most of their offense, especially after Kingsbury’s new ideas dwindled. But so far this season, eight different skill position players have come at least 100 yards from the offense. Thanks to upgrades in skill positions, better game negotiation and more experience, Murray is working out-of-pocket much more efficiently than last season.

On defense, former All-Pro lineman Chandler Jones is back in form after an injury-packed 2020 season; Watt’s presence also helped a little. Cornerback Byron Murphy has caught three passes this season after making just one pass in his first two seasons. And linebacker Isaiah Simmons, the eighth overall pick to fail to land a rookie role in the 2020 draft, is beginning to develop as an all-purpose passer, ranger, and running player.

Most obviously, the Cardinals ran for 216 yards and allowed three sacks against the Rams despite the absence of first offensive players Kelvin Beachum and Justin Murray. Senior center Rodney Hudson didn’t make Watt-level headlines when the Cardinals traded for him in March, but it did become a balancing act on a once shaky alliance.

With a lack of playoff pedigrees and a roster and coaching staff that don’t quite fit the mold, the Cardinals still seem like furry misfits among top NFC contenders. The bookies give them a steep odds of +1600 to win the Super Bowl, while the Rams team they just beat are at +800 and the barely surviving Buccaneers Brady’s return to New England with their reputation intact, at +500.

Analytics, on the other hand, are blind to such biases. Football Aliens simulation-based playoff odds It gives the Cardinals a 43.7 percent chance to win the tightly contested NFC West, while the Rams’ chances stand at 24.7 percent. (The Buccaneers have the best Super Bowl odds among NFC teams, because even the laws of math precede Brady).

In many ways, the 2021 Cardinals are like the Seahawks of the early 2010s, who ditched their team-building guides and invested their fortunes in tiny Russell Wilson, multicollege Pete Carroll, Richard Sherman and some square athletes like the game. Plans and philosophies that don’t have to work in the NFL

These Seahawks won one Super Bowl, reached another, and settled down as permanent contenders. After a false start in 2020, the Cardinals may be following the same path.



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