The Consensus Week 14: Cardinals jump after upset win at Lambeau
Dec 5, 2018, 6:44 AM
Arizona Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds (29) rushes for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
For the first time this season, the Arizona Cardinals gave their fans (and the rest of the league, for that matter) a dose of the unexpected.
The Cardinals marched into Lambeau Field as two-touchdown underdogs and did something the franchise hadn’t done in almost 70 years — beat the Green Bay Packers.
Sure, the Packers are a damaged football team that fired its Super Bowl-winning coach of 13 years hours after the loss in shame, but for Arizona, a win is a win.
As a result, the Cardinals took a pretty healthy jump in this week’s NFL Power Rankings that we track for The Consensus.
Low Ranking: #31 – USA Today
Average Ranking: 29.5
| Outlet | Rankings | Cardinals’ Rank | Movement | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Arizona Sports NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Rams on top once again | Cardinals win at Lambeau for the first time since 1949. | ||
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Week 14 Power Rankings: Where all 32 teams rank No. 1 … almost | We’re No. 1 in: Nothing? If the league’s offensive rankings were flipped upside down, the Cardinals would be ranked No. 1 in a whole host of categories: yards per game, yards per play, passing yards per game, passing yards per play, first downs per game, fourth-down percentage, average time of possession and points per game. Otherwise, the Cardinals aren’t ranked No. 1 in any category, especially after they won Sunday in Green Bay. Until that happened, they had the best odds to claim the top pick in the NFL draft. | ||
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NFL Power Rankings, Week 14: Saints still at No. 1 despite loss | Unquestionably, the upset of Week 13 came at Lambeau, where the Cardinals’ stellar defensive effort annihilated the Packers’ postseason aspirations. Green Bay couldn’t buy a first down against Steve Wilks’ defense. Aaron Rodgers didn’t even average 5 yards per throw — when is the last time that happened? Chandler Jones got another sack in an All-Pro season that nobody is noticing. How about Gerald Hodges, who made 13 tackles, 12 of them solo? Awesome stuff. | ||
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NFL Power Rankings Poll: A Tie Atop the NFL After Wild Week 13 | No comment. | ||
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NFL power rankings: Rams reclaim No. 1 spot as Texans close in on top five | Say what you want about Packers, but don’t call Cards quitters any longer after they won first game in Green Bay in nearly seven decades. | ||
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NFL Power Rankings: Is it finally time to trust the Los Angeles Chargers? | First-year coach Steve Wilks needed that win on Sunday. Maybe he wasn’t going to get fired after one season, but it reportedly wasn’t totally off the table either. You’d assume a big win at Green Bay quiets any of that talk. | ||
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NFL Week 14 Power Rankings: Streaking Texans are legit Super Bowl contenders after starting season 0-3 | With all the talk of coach Steve Wilks being a one-and-done, winning at Green Bay is a good thing for him. They battled, which wasn’t the case the week before. | ||
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Week 14 power rankings | Steve Wilks, coach killer. | ||
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NFL Power Rankings: B/R’s Expert Consensus Rank for Every Team Entering Week 14 | Despite an 11-of-26 passing performance from Josh Rosen, the Redbirds put up 315 yards of total offense—only the second time this year that Arizona has topped 300 total yards in a game. It no doubt felt good to get a win over a team that isn’t the San Francisco 49ers, but it’s hard to get too excited about what the Cardinals did in Week 13. They’re still a bad team—especially on offense. Never mind that all this win really accomplished was costing the Redbirds slots in next year’s draft. Well, that and getting Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy fired. | ||
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NFL power rankings, Week 14: The Rams and the Chargers are the two best teams, fight me | No comment. |
