The Consensus Week 10: Loss to 49ers actually boosts Cardinals

The San Francisco 49ers are a good football team.

So good, in fact, that their undefeated record — coupled with the New England Patriots’ first loss of the season — has the Niners taking over the top spot in most NFL Power Rankings this week.

So what does that mean for the Arizona Cardinals, the team that narrowly lost to San Francisco, 28-25, last Thursday night on national television?

Actually, it meant a slight rise in their median rankings in the 11 outlets we monitor.

Here’s a quick rundown of what some of the leading national rankings are saying about the Cardinals and where they rank heading into a Week 10 visit to Tampa to take on their old coach, Bruce Arains, and his Buccaneers.

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High Ranking: 21 (USA Today, The Big Lead)

Low Ranking: 25 (NFL.com, SI.com)

Week 10 Average Ranking: 22.9 (Up from 23.5 in Week 9)

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Week 10 NFL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus scary trends for each team

This Week: 23 

Movement: ▲1

Comment: Scary trend: 35.5% red zone efficiency

The Cardinals have scored just 18 touchdowns this season in nine games and are struggling to convert red zone opportunities into scores. Their red zone efficiency rate is the fourth lowest in the NFL. Since Week 6, however, the Cardinals’ red zone efficiency rate has increased to 45.5%. It’s a definite improvement, but in order for the Cardinals to find more wins in the second half of the season, they need to jump into the top half of the league in red zone efficiency.

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NFL Power Rankings, Week 10: 49ers hit No. 1; Ravens soar to 4

This Week: 25 

Movement: —

Comment: No shame in losing to the undefeated 49ers by a field goal. This was another promising week from the Cards, who got a killer debut from running back Kenyan Drake and a few more promising flashes from quarterback Kyler Murray on Thursday Night Football. Drake, acquired for peanuts from the Dolphins three days earlier, ran for 110 yards and a touchdown against San Francisco’s elite defense. His 162 yards from scrimmage are the most by a Cardinals player in a game this season. It will be interesting to see how Kliff Kingsbury rotates his backfield when David Johnson returns from injury. Drake was the offensive star, but Murray had his moments, none bigger than the 88-yard connection with Andy Isabella that put Arizona back in the game in the fourth quarter. Murray has now gone five games without a turnover, a fairly remarkable statistic for a rookie QB. The arrow is pointing up in the desert.

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NFL Power Rankings Poll: 49ers Take Over the Top Spot, Bengals Sink

This Week: 25

Movement: ▼1

Comment: A rookie head coach made some rookie mistakes that cost the Birds a tight one against the class of the NFC. But Kenyon Drake looked happy to be in the desert instead of the swamp, and the future in Arizona looks much brighter than it did last year.

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NFL power rankings: After New England Patriots’ first loss, who takes over No. 1 spot?

This Week: 21

Movement: ▲4

Comment: Since September’s end, they’ve scored 25-plus points in four of five games. “Air Raid” attack evidently taking off, and new RB Kenyan Drake helping.

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NFL Power Rankings: How far should the Patriots fall after a loss?

This Week: 24

Movement: —

Comment: Kenyan Drake played very well (hey, remember when Adam Gase refused to even try Drake in a larger role?) in his first game for the Cardinals. I’m still not sure why they’d trade for a half-season rental when they’re not going to the playoffs, but whatever.

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NFL Week 10 Power Rankings: Unbeaten 49ers claim top spot, Ravens climb, Patriots drop after first loss

This Week: 23

Movement: ▲1

Comment: They’ve improved as the season moved along and really pushed the 49ers last Thursday. They have a winnable game against former coach Bruce Arians and the Bucs this week.

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PFT’s Week 10 power rankings

This Week: 24

Movement: —

Comment: If this team was in any other division, they could be a potential playoff contender.

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NFL Power Rankings: B/R’s Consensus Rank for Every Team Entering Week 10

This Week: 22

Movement: ▼1

Comment: The schedule hasn’t been doing the Arizona Cardinals any favors of late. Just four days after getting blown out in New Orleans, the Cardinals squared off Thursday against the undefeated San Francisco 49ers—and they were forced to do so without their top two tailbacks in David Johnson and Chase Edmonds.

The Redbirds came up short at home, but if there’s such a thing as a moral victory, they may well have notched one in giving the 49ers all they could handle.

Just a few days after joining the team, Cardinals running back Kenyan Drake lit up the conference’s best defense for over 150 total yards and a score. Arizona piled up 357 total yards against a San Francisco defense that entered the week surrendering well fewer than 250.

The Cardinals aren’t going to the playoffs in 2019. But there’s no denying Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray have the franchise headed in the right direction.

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NFL power rankings: 49ers, Saints jump Patriots; Ravens, Seahawks pass Packers for Week 10

This Week: 22

Movement: ▼2

Comment: The Cardinals were impressive in their response to the 49ers’ defensive challenge, and they have built some confidence for Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury. That should help them going into a matchup against former Arizona coach Bruce Arians in Tampa Bay.

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NFL Power Rankings: An eventful Week 9 brings us new teams at the top and bottom spots for the first time all season

This Week: 22

Movement: ▲2

Comment: The Cardinals are the rare team in the rankings to move up after a loss, and in this case, two losses. But all losses aren’t equal — the Cardinals lost two games in five days to the Saints and 49ers, and really, we’re judging Arizona this year on progress. And unlike a lot of other teams in this area of the rankings, at least the Cardinals are interesting to watch, so that’s certainly worth something to our voters.

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NFL Power Rankings Week 10

This Week: 21

Movement: ▲2

Comment: Arizona gave one of the best teams in the league a serious run for their money and scored more points than any other offense has managed against the Niners defense. They’re trending towards average, a huge step in the right direction after we assumed they’d be in line for another top-five pick in 2020.

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