A struggling NFC West gives the Cardinals a fighting chance
If you think of something that is driving you crazy about the Arizona Cardinals, it’s worse for other teams in the NFC West.
If Jared Veldheer (left) and Carson Palmer can step up their performance, the NFC West might be there for the taking for the Arizona Cardinals. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
After watching every game involving an NFC West team, I’ve come to two conclusions that seem to contradict.
1.) The Arizona Cardinals are an average football team.
2.) The Arizona Cardinals are the best team in the NFC West.
Sample size warning! After two games, there’s very little hard information to go by, so it’s mostly eye test. Everyone in the division has problems, but the Cardinals’ problems seem to be the easiest to fix, or, at least improve upon.
However, there are only two teams in the NFL to lose to an NFC West team: the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers.
If you think of something that is driving you crazy about the Cardinals, it’s worse for other teams in the division. the Cardinals’ offensive line is bad. The Seahawks’ O-line is deplorable.
Carson Palmer has floated between average and sad but the highest-rated QB in the division is Jared Goff. Russell Wilson is 25, Palmer’s 29 and Brian Hoyer is 31 in the league. Arizona only scored 16 points in an overtime game, while San Francisco has scored 12 points all year! Seattle scored its first touchdown of the year in its eighth quarter of the season.
Seattle is giving up 5.2 yards per attempt. That’s a terrible rush defense. If you’re a Seattle fan, you might be happy to find out the teams with the worst rush defense are the two teams from last year’s Super Bowl. It raises a red flag for me because I see a Seahawks’ defense that wants to run up and hit everything but tackle nothing.
The Rams smashed the Colts in Week 1 but gave up 6.5 yards per carry to the Redskins’ Rob Kelley before the Washington running back left the game with an injury. Unfortunately, the Rams have the signature win of the whole division, and it’s against the Colts.
Almost every problem in the whole division can be fixed with better offensive line play. As I look through each team, it appears the Cardinals have the best chance of expecting more from their O-line. D.J. Humphries returning soon will dramatically help. More reps for Evan Boehm will only improve his communication and feel as a guard. Alex Boone actually having time to learn the offense will cement him ahead of Iupati. No one expected the weak link of the Cardinals’ season to be Jared Veldheer and Carson Palmer. If Veldheer plays better football, so will Palmer.
A better Palmer is all it will take to win a very weak division. It’s not very motivating but someone has to win the NFC West, it might as well be Arizona.
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Comments
2 Comments
Seahawks are overrated, coasting on their defense. Rams may end up being a team to watch, though.
Palmer and the O-Line will come around. I think a lot of the offenses issue had to do with playing back to back early kick off 10AM East Coast games which Palmer and the offense has always struggled with ( Palmer thru 0TDs-4INTs early in the season in BUF last year) and losing not just 5 offensive starters but 5 key critical offensive starters.
Now that Arizona has weathered being on the road over the last month and is back home for a 2 week stretch I think the offense is going to play a lot better, if they don't then I'd worry but AZ always plays well at home. Palmer will have more than enough offensive fire power around him to get the job done and getting Jermaine Gresham back will not only help in protection and run blocking but he also gives AZ one more solid receiving option and really good red-zone threat. LG Mike Iupati back and hopefully LT DJ Humphries will be back as well. RT Jared Veldheer was good last weekend over the 2nd half of the game but he sucked early in that game, he needs to keep play an entire good game and keep Palmer clean, as long as he plays well I think AZ's O-Line will have a better showing this weekend in pass-protection.