They’re at the top of arguably the toughest division in the NFL, with just one loss through six weeks of the season. They’ve overcome a lack of elite talent with great coaching and a grind-it-out brand of football.
No, I’m not talking about the Dallas Cowboys. This describes the best team in the NFL nobody is talking about: The Arizona Cardinals.
The Cardinals have been anything but flashy this season: Arizona ranks 19th in overall offence, 30th in rushing and dead last in pass defence. The personnel problems they’ve had to deal with have been just short of catastrophic. The entire 2013 linebacking corps is either injured, suspended or has signed elsewhere, two of the league’s best defensive linemen are sidelined, and they can’t seem to stay healthy at quarterback.
Bruce Arians’ team, however, continues to prevail. After going 10-6 last season only to miss the post-season, the Cards now sit alone atop the NFC West ahead of the San Francisco 49ers and defending champion Seattle Seahawks, but the football public continues to ignore them.
Can Arizona sustain their early-season success? It’s too soon to tell. Should NFL fans take notice? You bet.
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It looked early on like Peyton Manning’s MetLife struggles were going to continue, but the future Hall of Famer got it together and now has the chance to break Brett Favre’s record on Sunday night. |
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The Cowboys defence did a spectacular job of shutting down Russell Wilson while DeMarco Murray iced it late. Could this be the best team in football? Let’s see how the next month unfolds. |
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The Chargers won their fifth in a row, but it wasn’t pretty. San Diego’s usually stout defence gave up more points to the Raiders (28) than any other opponent this season. |
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The Eagles finally put together their first complete game of the season Sunday night, posting a shutout for the first time in 18 years. LeSean McCoy emerged from the shadows at the perfect time, with Darren Sproles expected to miss a couple weeks. |
6 |
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It’s far too early to rule this team out, but over the last two games the Seahawks have been struggling to find consistency on offence and the injuries on defence are piling up. |
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6 |
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Sure, the Cardinals survived without Carson Palmer (they’re that good), but Arizona is much more dangerous with the veteran QB in the lineup. Larry Fitzgerald is happy about it, too. |
12 |
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7 |
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Brandon Lloyd’s 80-yard touchdown changed the course of Monday’s game. After that, the 49ers dominated. Despite an obscene number of absences, San Francisco’s defence is still a force. |
5 |
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Andy Dalton and the Bengals were nearly perfect in OT leading up to the potential game-winning kick from 36 yards out, which Mike Nugent missed. “Everybody gets paid to do a job, so perform and do your job,” said an infuriated Adam Jones. He’s not wrong. |
4 |
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There’s no doubt about it: Andrew Luck is the best quarterback in the game right now. Despite an underwhelming roster of weapons, the Colts are tops in all major offensive categories, all thanks to a lot of Luck. |
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Since R-E-L-A-Xing the Packer faithful after the team’s 1-2 start, Aaron Rodgers has been virtually unstoppable. And that fake spike was just awesome. Thanks to Rodgers’ late-game heriocs in Miami, the Packers are winners of three straight. |
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What a performance from Joe Flacco. The quarterback didn’t do much after the start of the second quarter … because he threw five touchdowns in less than 20 minutes of play. If only that happened every game. |
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Tom Brady is playing angry. Since all that premature talk of his “demise,” Brady has thrown for 653 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions with a QB rating of 125.1. The injuries to Stevan Ridley and Jerod Mayo are big. |
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The Panthers are at their best when Cam Newton is making plays through the air and on the ground, a point proven by the fact Carolina had season highs in yards and points scored in Sunday’s tie with the Bengals. |
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The Lions are hurting on offence without Calvin Johnson and Reggie Bush, but that defence has quietly been one of the best. Through six games, Detroit’s defence is allowing the least amount of yards per game at 270.7. |
16 |
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It appears Chicago’s two outstanding receivers – Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey – are finally healthy, and that’s a scary thought. The two combined for 249 of Jay Cutler’s 381 passing yards Sunday. |
18 |
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Texans would be a legit contender if they had a true starting QB. What they do have, however, is a legit contender for defensive player of the year: J.J. Watt is unstoppable. |
14 |
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After a bye in Week 6, the Chiefs come back a bit healthier – Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry is expected to return – and with the favourable post-bye week record of Andy Reid, who is 13-2 after the week off. |
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The Browns didn’t do anything spectacular in their third win against the Steelers in the last 23 games, but the defence made it tough for Big Ben while Brian Hoyer and Cleveland’s offence got it done when it mattered most. |
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Thanks to the poor-to-average records of the rest of the teams in the NFC South, the Saints are still very much alive despite an awful start. But it’s not going to be easy in Week 7, when New Orleans takes on the Lions’ top-ranked defence. |
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Everything about the Giants’ performance was awful; they looked like a completely different team than the one that came into Sunday on a three-game winning streak. Worse, though, was Victor Cruz’s injury. |
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21 |
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The Bills proved on Sunday they can hang with Tom Brady and the Patriots, but they were their own worst enemy and it cost them. Eight penalties for 107 yards and terribly timed turnovers doomed Buffalo. |
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After a terrible first-half performance, Ryan Tannehill rebounded nicely to lead the Dolphins to what looked like a big home victory. Unfortunately, a boneheaded timeout call from Joe Philbin gave Aaron Rodgers enough time to win it. |
18 |
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Despite what the score (31-10) suggests, the Steelers offence was able to rack up a good amount of yards, they just couldn’t convert or score points. Pittsburgh has put up just 27 point in its last two games. |
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It’s not just the Falcons’ defence that is failing them anymore, Matt Ryan and the offence didn’t bother showing up Sunday. Atlanta racked up a season-low 287 yards against the Bears, including just 42 on the ground. |
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Austin Davis and the Rams’ young offence got off to a wicked start, but came crashing down to earth in the second half. After racking up 53 sacks last season (third in the league), St. Louis has just one this season, good for dead last. |
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In this week’s version of the Toilet Bowl, the Titans won a nail-biter over the winless Jags … barely. What’s more worrisome is that Tennessee was outplayed by Jacksonville in every stat except the one that matters most, the score. |
30 |
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27 |
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The Redskins have dropped four straight and 13 of their last 14. This time you can thank three dreadful interceptions from Kirk Cousins in the fourth quarter. |
25 |
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28 |
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The Jets kept it closer than expected against the Broncos, but in the end it was the same old mistakes that sunk Geno Smith and company. Smith now leads the NFL in individual turnovers with 13. |
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Playing against a real defence — after first facing the Falcons’ 31st ranked D – Teddy Bridgewater was poor in all aspects and the offensive line was overpowered once again. |
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So does this mean Derek Carr is the Raiders’ answer at quarterback? Let’s not go that far just yet, but Sunday was a good indication of the rookie’s potential. |
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It doesn’t get any worse than the first quarter the Bucs had against Baltimore. Tampa had been better since being routed by the Falcons, and then Sunday happened. Could Lovie Smith’s job already be at risk? |
27 |
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For the second straight week, the Jaguars held their opponent in check but couldn’t pull out the win. The offensive line, however, continues to give up sacks at an alarming rate and Jacksonville ranks 31st in rushing. |
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