Turf Show Times
These Cardinals seem a lot better than “those” Cardinals
The Los Angeles Rams have dominated the Cardinals since the arrival of Sean McVay in 2017, but many have expressed a belief that 2025 is going to be Arizona’s best campaign in a long time. Should the Rams be prepared for a tougher fight against the Cardinals next season, both head-to-head and in the race to win the NFC West?
ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss predicted a 5-1 start to the season for Arizona.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton predicted a 10-7 final record, one game behind the Rams in his 2025 standings prediction.
The Cardinals have a 43% chance to make the playoffs, according to Vegas Odds, something that Arizona has only done once since 2016. The Cardinals haven’t won a playoff game since 2015, which is also the last time that Arizona won the NFC West.
But with many fans skeptical of the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, there’s a chance that the NFC West crown does come down to the Rams and Cardinals.
Prior to Sean McVay’s arrival in 2017, the Rams had lost five of their last seven games against the Cardinals.
As soon as McVay started his L.A. career, the Rams won eight straight games versus Arizona.
However, the Cardinals were more like “No, we’re not doing that anymore” in 2024, beating the Rams 41-10 in Week 2 and losing a 13-9 nailbiter in Week 17.
It seems like head coach Jonnathan Gannon was starting to get his footing against L.A. last season.
It may not seem like much, but eight wins in 2024 was as many as the Cardinals had combined in 2022 (4-13) and 2023 (4-13). Not only that, but Arizona was +21 in point differential (-234 over the previous two seasons combined) and they were 6-4 after 10 games.
Following their Week 11 bye, the Cardinals lost the next three games, including 2 to the Seahawks and a one-point loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
The Cardinals were 8-9, but merely a couple of points away from winning two more games late in the year that would have made then 10-7.
This is also a team that:
The Cardinals put up over 40 points against two different NFC West opponents last season and offense is supposed to be their weakness under Gannon.
In reality, Arizona’s offense was well ahead of their defense last season, ranking 9th in points per drive but 21st in points per drive allowed.
With so much of their offseason focused on fixing the defense, could the Cardinals be a force on both sides of the ball?
Offensively, the Cardinals are relying on in-house development...
