Cardinals outside bottom 10 in Week 1 NFL power rankings

The Cardinals open the season ranked No. 22 by USA TODAY’s Nate Davis.

A year ago, NFL power rankings pretty much universally had the Arizona Cardinals in last place or second-to-last place to start the season. After winning only four games but having an improved roster and a healthy Kyler Murray, things start a little more optimistically in 2024.

USA TODAY power rankings by Nate Davis in Week 1 have the Cardinals sitting at No. 22 overall, which means they are out of the bottom 10 teams in the league, although they are the last team before the bottom 10.

So 106 catches and a shade shy of 1,500 receiving yards – those are the numbers that WR Marvin Harrison Jr. needs to elevate the constantly elevating rookie records for those categories. Honestly? Seems quite attainable for a talent of his caliber.

The Cardinals looked bad in the preseason, but Harrison was the only offensive starter to play at all and that was a total of three snaps.

The defensive starters are a much more talented group than last season’s unit, which was a bad defense. They only need to be not terrible if the offense is as good as many believe it can be.

Keep an eye on the Cardinals. This could be a team that surprises people.

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