Many experts and fans around the NFL shared a common take heading into the season, which is quite rare in the sports world. That shared take was that the Arizona Cardinals were the undisputed bottom feeder for the 2023/2024 season. According to many, the 1st overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft was surly theirs. I’ll be honest with you guys; this was my take as well. 3 weeks of football is far from a large sample size, but did we get the Cardinals wrong? Arizona went into Washington week 1 and kept the game within one score for its entirety, and even held a lead through the 2nd and 3rd quarters. The Commanders are a tricky team to gauge, they’ve been middle of the pack winning 7-8 games over the last 3 seasons. They were at home, with a sold-out crowd and new ownership in place. They also have an elite defensive line and a stout group of playmakers on offense. Yet, the Cardinals had a chance to steal a road win at any given moment. The Cardinals returned home for a 2-week home stretch that they kicked off vs another NFC East opponent, the New York Giants. The Giants are another tricky team to gauge, but many media members felt this was a playoff team heading into the season. The Cardinals started the game red hot and found themselves walking into the half up 20-0. With 9:34 left in the 3rd quarter, Josh Dobbs hit Marquise Brown for a short TD and followed the score up by rushing for a 2-point conversion. Now leading 28-7, it felt like the Cardinals were on their way to trouncing the Giants. Alas, that scoring drive would be the Cardinals last, credit to Daniel Jones and the Giants as they pulled off an incredible comeback to end up winning the game 31-28. Still, the Cardinals were just 7 total points from being 2-0, not bad for the worst team in the league. Week 3 had the Cardinals taking on their 3rd NFC East opponent in as many weeks, the Dallas Cowboys. While the Commanders and Giants are shrouded in mystery on what their ceiling can be, the same cannot be said of the Cowboys. The talk of the town and a team many media members put as high as number 1 in their pre-Sunday power rankings, surely this would be a walk in the park for the Boys. Arizona scored 28 points yet again this week, except this time there would be no comeback. Dallas struggled mightily in the redzone all evening ending with a Dak Prescott interception near the end of the game. They faltered vs the Giants, but this Cardinals defense has been impressive through the first 3 weeks of the season, and QB Josh Dobbs is doing enough to win. Can this defense keep the team afloat until the return of Kyler Murray? If they can, this team could find itself as a dark horse playoff candidate, and I will be pulling for them.
