The Arizona Cardinals are preparing to play the 6-7 Cleveland Browns this weekend in their home finale. Cleveland has been an inconsistent team this year but they are not a team the Cardinals should overlook.
Some suggest that with the high variance in the quality of play of the Browns, they would be difficult to scout and prepare for.
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury doesn’t see it that way. He sees a very talented team who has a pair of wins that are as good as any win by any team in the league.
“It’s not difficult to scout, simply because you can show your team those two big wins that they had,” he told reporters on Wednesday. ‘They looked as dominant as any team in the league when you’re talking about the Baltimore and Buffalo games. You point to those and say, ‘This is what they can be, so we better prepare for that.’ I wouldn’t say it’s difficult. You always prepare for their high end, and when they’re playing like that, they’re as talented and as good as anybody in the league.”
Two of the Browns’ wins this season are over two of the best teams in the AFC.
They absolutely overwhelmed the Baltimore Ravens, beating them 40-25 in Week 4 and then also beat the Buffalo Bills last month 19-16.
Cleveland is a team with a high ceiling. They have talent on both sides of the ball and had high expectations entering the year. They have underachieved at 6-7, although they still have a chance at a winning season, something the Browns haven’t had since 2007.
A Cardinals win would end that possibility.
At 3-9-1, the Cardinals can’t exactly overlook anyone. They are capable of beating the Browns but this weekend they face an opponent who is just as likely to blow them out as they are to lose in the Cardinals’ home finale.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 251:
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Ep. 250:
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