The Arizona Cardinals were one of the best teams in the NFL for much of the 2021 season. However, things fell apart and they lost five of their last six games, including an embarrassing first-round exit from the playoffs in a loss to the eventual world champion Los Angeles Rams.
They had several players put together solid seasons and five players ended up in the Pro Bowl.
However, apparently no individual Cardinals player’s season was good enough to be in Pro Football Focus’ top 101 players of 2021.
Ranking the top 101 players and their performance in 2021, the Cardinals did not have a single player make the list.
Quarterback Kyler Murray is not mentioned and neither is running back James Conner, safety Budda Baker or pass rushers Chandler Jones and Markus Golden.
The Cardinals did not have any single player have any exceptional season from start to finish.
Murray looked like an MVP favorite for the first half of the season but his play faded after a high ankle sprain. Baker did more but did not have the same production. Jones and Golden had double-digit sacks but were not consistently dominant all season.
The Cardinals did lack players making plays in their late-season slide.
Perhaps this shouldn’t be as surprising as it is.
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