The Arizona Cardinals entered the 2020 with some buzz, as many believe they could be a dark horse to compete for the playoffs. After a Week 1 upset win on the road against the San Francisco 49ers, who lost in the Super Bowl last season, the Cardinals are getting some love.
In the latest power rankings from Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar, the Cardinals come in at No. 9.
Last season, Cardinals rookie Kyler Murray was the only quarterback to post a passer rating of over 100 against the 49ers, and he did it twice. Murray didn’t quite manage it again in Arizona’s 24-20 win over the defending NFC champs, but he did engineer an offense that put up 404 yards against San Francisco’s defense – only the Saints gained more than 400 yards against the 49ers last season. Murray hit new target DeAndre Hopkins for 14 catches on 16 targets for 151 yards, Arizona’s defense looked like a different beast, and the Cards appear to be a sneaky-good pain in the butt in the NFC West.
The difference for the Cardinals in the season opener over all last season was the play on defense. While QB Jimmy Garoppolo still threw two touchdown passes and had a passer rating of 103.0, Arizona’s third-down defense was fantastic. The 49ers converted on only 2-of-11 third downs and also went 0-for-2 on fourth down. After having the league’s worst pass defense in 2019, the Cardinals defense broke up three passes in San Francisco’s final possession to give the Cardinals the win.
Arizona will face the Washington Football Team in Week 2, who come in at No. 13 in these same power rankings.
Despite ranking in the top 10, the Cardinals still manage to only be the third-best team in the NFC West. The Seattle Seahawks rank fourth and the Los Angeles Rams come in at No. 7.
The 49ers rank 16th after the loss.
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