2. Atlanta Falcons
Current record: 3-7
2019 record vs. winning teams: 1-5
Number of upcoming winning opponents: 2
So, this team could be a real problem. During the Falcons’ Week 9 bye, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn made some changes to his defensive coaching staff, assigning first- and second-down defense to linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich, and third-down defense to assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Raheem Morris. Before this move, Atlanta ranked 28th in the NFL in points allowed and 25th in total touchdowns allowed. The Falcons also were dead last in interceptions, and they had just eight sacks in eight games. Since the move, Atlanta ran over the Saints and Panthers by a combined score of 55-6. In that span, they haven’t allowed a touchdown, they’ve picked off four passes, added 11 sacks to their team total, and both of those wins are on the road.
It’s probably too late for the Falcons to do anything nearing a postseason run, but they have the Saints, Panthers, and 49ers before the season is over, and right now, this looks like a defense that could ruin a lot of hoped-for playoff seeds.
1. Arizona Cardinals
Current record: 3-7-1
2019 record vs. winning teams: 0-5
Number of upcoming winning opponents: 3
The union of rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury and rookie quarterback Kyler Murray continues to bear fruit in the Valley of the Sun. In two close losses to the 49ers and their incendiary defense, Murray became the only quarterback to post a passer rating of over 100 against San Francisco — and he’s done it twice. Murray has thrown seven touchdown passes and just one interception since Week 9 — only Dak Prescott, Jimmy Garoppolo, Lamar Jackson, and Kirk Cousins have more touchdown passes in that time. If Arizona’s defense wasn’t such a problem (especially against the pass), and the Cardinals weren’t in a division with the 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams (combined record: 23-7), we’d be talking more about this.
As it stands, Kingsbury has put an offense on the field that nobody really wants to face right now. The Rams will have to do it twice before the season ends, and the Seahawks get another chance to beat Arizona in Week 16 as they did in Week 4. They will find a different passing game awaiting them.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”