Tuesday, October 3, 2023

Arizona Cardinals Week 5 NFL Power Rankings Roundup

Throughout the 2023 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Below you will find a Week 5 roundup for the Arizona Cardinals in our consensus 2023 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 23

Biggest issue on defense: Pass defense

When the Cardinals gave up 148 yards to 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk on Sunday, it was indicative of a larger problem Arizona's defense has against the pass. Arizona is giving up the fourth-most yards per pass attempt (8.2) and the fifth-most yards per dropback (6.96). The Cardinals also rank 24th in the league in passing yards allowed (970) and 25th in opponent completion percentage (69.8%). -- Josh Weinfuss

NFL.com -- Rank: 27

There's a lot of fight and creativity in this team, but the defense has now been pushed around a little for three straight weeks. The clutch stops in the Week 3 win over Dallas might have masked some of the issues that were impossible to ignore against San Francisco in Week 4. The Cardinals' game plan seemed smart: trying to shorten the game and take whatever risks presented themselves. But when the defense allows five TDs in six possessions (not counting the pre-halftime kneeldown), it ends up being futile in the end. The run defense was shoddy, the pressure was nonexistent (except for Dennis Gardeck, who needs to play more) and the coverage wasn't great. This defense needs to rediscover its Week 1 form badly.

CBS Sports -- Rank: 26

For the first time this season, they really weren't in the game against the 49ers. It sounds like Josh Dobbs will be the quarterback for a while since Kyler Murray isn't ready.

USA Today -- Rank: 27

Appears QB Kyler Murray (knee) won't be surfacing any time soon even though his mandatory four-week stay on the PUP list is complete. Frankly, given he's only nine months removed from ACL reconstruction, no one should be surprised ... nor does Arizona need to rush him.

The Athletic -- Rank: 24

The Cardinals are the seventh-highest-scoring team in the first half (16 points). They are the only team to have beaten Dallas, and they have been competitive in all three losses. They also have two first-round picks (and six picks in the first three rounds) coming their way in 2024.

FOX -- Rank: 26

The final score doesn't completely reflect how well the Cardinals played the 49ers, but you can see the talent gap. Arizona played well enough to spring an upset on Dallas last week, but it wasn't likely to happen twice. Still, you can't deny that Jonathan Gannon has had his guys ready to play every week.

Yahoo! -- Rank: 27

The worst thing for the Cardinals this season might be the Texans looking good. The Cardinals have the Texans' 2024 first-round pick and entering this season it looked like that could be as high as first overall. But the Texans are 2-2 and way better than expected. The Cardinals have been better than expected, too, despite a 1-3 record. So much for drafting Caleb Williams and/or Marvin Harrison Jr.

PFT -- Rank: 26

Josh Dobbs would be an interesting candidate for comeback player of the year, if he'd ever been here.

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