Arizona Cardinals - How Good Are They?
I took a look at the Cards schedule this past year and tried to see if I could gleen anything from it with respect to the Cards beating the Steelers.
1. Did they play anyone like the Steelers this year?
2. What was the team like in the last two playoff weeks?
Number 1: The Cards record looks like this...
Week
Score
Result
Record
Week 1
ARI 23 @ SF 13
W
0-0
Week 2
MIA 10 @ ARI 31
W
0-1
Week 3
ARI 17 @ WAS 24
L
1-1
Week 4
ARI 35 @ NYJ 56
L
1-2
Week 5
BUF 17 @ ARI 41
W
4-0
Week 6
DAL 24 @ ARI 30
W
4-1
Week 7
Bye
Week 8
ARI 23 @ CAR 27
L
5-2
Week 9
ARI 34 @ STL 13
W
2-5
Week 10
SF 24 @ ARI 29
W
2-6
Week 11
ARI 26 @ SEA 20
W
2-7
Week 12
NYG 37 @ ARI 29
L
9-1
Week 13
ARI 20 @ PHI 48
L
5-5
Week 14
STL 10 @ ARI 34
W
2-10
Week 15
MIN 35 @ ARI 14
L
8-5
Week 16
ARI 7 @ NE 47
L
9-5
Week 17
SEA 21 @ ARI 34
W
4-11
The combined record of the opponents they beat was 20-41 (32.79%) Weak.
The combined record of the opponents they lost to was 38-21 (64.41%) Good.
The closest game match I could find is the Vikings - Cards game in Week 15. It's somewhat recent and the Vikings are a run based team with some passing and a good defense.
The Vikings got out to an early 28-0 lead and maintained it to a 35-14 final. They beat the Cards with running, although Jackson threw 5 TD's, Peterson ran for 165 yards on 28 carries. The Vikes got 14 of 20 first downs from running and the Cards got 13 of 16 first downs from passing.
The Vikings Passer rating was 134.1
The Cards Passer rating was 63.2
The Vikings Rusher rating was 83.2
The Cards Rusher rating was 44.9
It looks like the Vikings defense was able to stop the Cards passing game and completely stop the Cards running game.
Their Strength of Schedule rating was a 13.2 (rank 25). Moderately weak.
Number 2: The Cards beat the Panthers and the Eagles, two good teams. The Panthers had a great ground game with an average defense and the Eagles had a great passing game with a great defense. Let's look at the ratings for each team combined.
Cards Passing Rating was 120.3
Opp Passing Rating was 66.2
Cards Rusher Rating was 60.5
Opp Rusher Rating was 51.5
It looks like this game comes down to the Cards passing game and the Cards passing defense and turnovers. The Cards won the turnover war 9-2. Rushing was neutral.
Basically, the Cards are really hot right now but generally not that good.
Let's look at the Steelers next.