The Arizona Cardinals are being written off by virtually everyone, and for good reason. They weren’t a good team a year ago and their solution to the 2018 quarterback position was giving Sam Bradford $20 million. All the buzz in the NFC West is around the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. Even the Seattle Seahawks are mentioned due to the massive changes going on there.
But the Cardinals are barely getting a mention. Fooch posted on the NFL.com power rankings that were released and where the 49ers stand on them. But I was looking at them earlier and noticed the Cardinals at No. 27, lowest in the division.
And then I looked at the teams below them, and I started to question if the Cardinals are actually better than them.
The New York Jets come in at 28, but I can see them being a much better team in 2018, especially if Teddy Bridgewater plays as well as I think he will be able to, beating Josh McCown for the starting role.
Then it’s the New York Giants, who have Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. and could be good in 2018, or at least better than 29th in the league, though I don’t have much faith in Pat Shurmur.
The Miami Dolphins released and lost everybody who was any good on the team (that’s an exaggeration but boy did they lose some good players) and come in at No. 30. I could easily see them surprising in 2018.
The good ol’ Cleveland Browns come in at No. 31, and while I don’t see them improving dramatically, they got better in a lot of areas this offseason. I’m a fan of Tyrod Taylor, and there’s Carlos Hyde to consider, of course. They’re losing Joe Thomas, and that’s weird, but the Browns shouldn’t be an 0-16 team this year.
Finally, it’s the Indianapolis Colts. They made very little moves in free agency, and are in the midst of a big rebuild. Andrew Luck is impossible to predict at this point. I believe they face more uncertainty than the Browns, but I still expect them to be better than last in the league.
I cannot, however, say that I would rank the Browns and Dolphins above the Cardinals right now, but it’s very close. The Cardinals may not be the worst team in 2018, but I expect them to be in contention for it. I just cannot believe that Bradford deal, or the fact that they are now without Tyrann Mathieu, and have nothing else at receiver but a 34-year-old Larry Fitzgerald.
What do you folks think?