Thursday, October 7, 2021

Arizona Cardinals Week 5 NFL Power Rankings Roundup

Throughout the 2021 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Here is where the Arizona Cardinals rank in terms of average, best and worst:

  • Average ranking: 1.2 (1st)
  • Best ranking: 1st (Multiple)
  • Worst ranking: 2nd (ESPN)

Below you will find a Week 5 roundup for the Cardinals in our consensus 2021 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 2

Biggest surprise: Success is happening so quickly

Why it's a surprise: It's not that the Cardinals being good is surprising, it's that everything is clicking so early in the season. The offense added some important pieces this season and it was expected that they would all jell, but for all of it to come together and to be undefeated, lead the NFC West, have one of the best offenses in the league and an early MVP candidate at quarterback -- well, that is what's surprising. The early meshing of everything is as good of a scenario as it gets for the Cardinals. Even though Arizona started hot last year and then went into a tailspin, this start feels different. -- Josh Weinfuss

NFL.com -- Rank: 1

That right there was a certified, no-doubt-about-it, oh-helllllll-yes, Statement Win™. The Cardinals went to Los Angeles and laid the smackdown on a Rams team that spent the week being hyped up as a Super Bowl favorite (we may have played a small role in this space). What made the 37-20 triumph especially impressive was that it wasn't all about a dynamo performance by Kyler Murray, though the rising third-year quarterback was again excellent. Instead, this was a team effort: The offense had its way with the Rams' elite defense, while the Cards' defense forced two early turnovers and kept the Matthew Stafford-led Rams air attack out of sync all afternoon. The victory was the first for the Cardinals in nine tries against Sean McVay's Rams. Said cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.: "I feel like, as a team, we're building towards something."

CBS Sports -- Rank: 1

They have earned the right to be in the top spot. They dominated the Rams on the road and Kyler Murray is in the MVP conversation.

USA Today -- Rank: 1

Are they really the best team in the NFL? It feels a little dubious for a club that deserved a loss to Minnesota in Week 2. But Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells is famous for saying, "You are what your record says you are," and Arizona is the only 4-0 team in the league and coming off a dominant performance of the previously top-ranked Rams. The Cards have also posted at least 30 points and 400 yards in each of their first four games for the first time in eight decades. So let's give them their due ... at least for now.

The Athletic -- Rank: 1

The Cardinals gained 465 yards against a talented Rams defense last week in one of the biggest wins of the Kliff Kingsbury era. The Cardinals are the NFL's last undefeated team, and now have an edge over the Rams in the uber-competitive NFC West. Kyler Murray has been the star the Cardinals need him to be, but how about running back Chase Edmonds (12 rushes for 120 yards) and receiver A.J. Green (five catches, 67 yards and a touchdown) emerging as consistent role players?

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