ARIZONA CARDINALS

Arizona Sports NFL Week 3 Power Rankings: Cardinals hit bottom

Sep 18, 2018, 7:44 AM | Updated: 2:16 pm

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford leaves the field after their loss against the Los Angele...

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford leaves the field after their loss against the Los Angeles Rams during an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Did you get the feeling watching the Arizona Cardinals play the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday that the game could have lasted two days and the team in red wouldn’t score?

You weren’t alone.

The Cardinals ran 45 offensive plays against the Rams; 44 of them were in their own territory, with the only snap past the 50-yard line coming on the last play of the game. After a bold prediction that the Buffalo Bills would stay in the 32nd slot all season long in our Arizona Sports NFL Power Rankings, the Cardinals put forth an effort that made in impossible to exclude them from the cellar.

Up top, we’ve got movement, too. The Jacksonville Jaguars’ impressive win over the New England Patriots is good enough to send them to the head of the class, with the Rams and Kansas City Chiefs joining them in the top three.

Rank Team Record Result Movement Comment
1. Jacksonville Jaguars 2-0 beat New England 31-20 (▲4) Bortles isn’t a punchline anymore; beat Pats without Fournette
2. Los Angeles Rams 2-0 beat Arizona 34-0 (▲2) Feels like they could have beaten the Cardinals a lot worse
3. Kansas City Chiefs 2-0 beat Pittsburgh 42-37 (▲4) This offense is scary
4. Minnesota Vikings 1-0-1 tied Green Bay 29-29 (▼1) If only they had signed Dan Bailey earlier
5. Green Bay Packers 1-0-1 tied Minnesota 29-29 (▲1) Bogus call on Clay Matthews hurt; so did giving up 22 in 4th quarter
6. New England Patriots 1-1 lost to Jacksonville 20-31 (▼5) Roughed up in Jacksonville; can Josh Gordon help?
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2-0 beat Philadelphia 27-21 (▲4) Bucs have beaten two perceived Super Bowl contenders
8. Philadelphia Eagles 1-1 lost to Tampa Bay 21-27 (▼6) Thanks for the Super Bowl and all, Nick. Now hit the bench
9. Cincinnati Bengals 2-0 beat Baltimore 34-23 (▲4) Two straight solid starts by America’s Redhead
10. Denver Broncos 2-0 beat Oakland 20-19 (▲4) Weird concept — Denver’s kicker WON a game
11. Miami Dolphins 2-0 beat NY Jets 20-12 (▲4) Jumped on Jets early and hung on in a road win
12. Baltimore Ravens 1-1 lost to Cincinnati 23-34 (▼3) You can’t play Buffalo every week
13. Atlanta Falcons 1-1 beat Carolina 31-24 (▲4) Matt Ryan can beat you with his legs, too?
14. Carolina Panthers 1-1 lost to Atlanta 24-31 (▼6) Panthers gashed on the ground by Coleman and Co.
15. Washington Redskins 1-1 lost to Indianapolis 9-21 (▼5) Looked like a completely different team in Week 2
16. Chicago Bears 1-1 beat Seattle 24-17 (▲2) Sacked Wilson 6 times and got a rare pick-6 against him
17. New Orleans Saints 1-1 beat Cleveland 21-18 (▲4) Saints should really send Zane Gonzalez a nice pick-me-up bouquet or something
18. Los Angeles Chargers 1-1 beat Buffalo 31-20 (▲4) Rivers efficient and Gordon visited end zone three times in Buffalo
19. New York Jets 1-1 lost to Miami 12-20 (▼7) Darnold’s red-zone pick hurt. A lot.
20. San Francisco 49ers 1-1 beat Detroit 30-27 (▲1) Easy game turned into nail-biter for Niners
21. Indianapolis Colts 1-1 beat Washington 21-9 (▲3) Solid road win by the Colts; helped that Washington’s stadium was half-empty
22. Dallas Cowboys 1-1 beat NY Giants 20-13 (▲7) Still pedestrian on offense, but a win is a win
23. Tennessee Titans 1-1 beat Houston 20-17 (▲5) Blaine Gabbert is now 3-3 in his last six starts
24. Pittsburgh Steelers 0-1-1 lost to Kansas City 37-42 (▼8) Weird to throw for 452 yards and 3 TDs and easily be the 2nd-best QB on the field, huh Ben?
25. New York Giants 0-2 lost to Dallas 13-20 (▼5) All that talent, and they’ve got 28 points in two games
26. Houston Texans 0-2 lost to Tennessee 17-20 (▼7) O’Brien taking blame for the loss. He should do that every week
27. Seattle Seahawks 0-2 lost to Chicago 17-24 (▼4) Russell Wilson’s fourth-quarter turnovers were crushers
28. Cleveland Browns 0-1-1 lost to New Orleans 18-21 (▼1) An Amos Jones-coached unit has cost them two games? Weird
29. Oakland Raiders 0-2 lost to Denver 19-20 (▼3) Carr played well, but it wasn’t enough
30. Detroit Lions 0-2 lost to San Francisco 27-30 (▲1) Bounced back after Jets loss and had the ball with a chance to win
31. Buffalo Bills 0-2 lost to LA Chargers 20-31 (▲1) Vontae Davis had enough; will he be the last one?
32. Arizona Cardinals 0-2 lost to LA Rams 0-34 (▼2) Bad and boring

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