The Arizona Cardinals are riding high on the heels of a four-game winning streak. Their most recent victory over the New York Jets was a clinic. Kyler Murray completed 22-of-24 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown. He added 21 yards rushing and two scores on the ground. Rookie Trey Benson earned double-digit carries for the second time this season and capitalized with 62 yards on 10 carries, with two receptions for 25 yards. New York was held to just 207 yards of offense, a paltry 3.8 yards per play and were 0-3 in the red zone.
Smashing the 3-7 Jets, the second-best record in the AFC East for whatever that's worth, counts for very little. While the AFC is proving to be more top-heavy in its Super Bowl contenders, the NFC is a shootout. The AFC has seven teams with three or fewer wins, while the NFC has 12 teams with four or more wins.
The Cardinals are the NFC's No. 4 seed, holding a 6-4 record with an edge over the 5-4 San Francisco 49ers, 4-4 Los Angeles Rams and 4-5 Seattle Seahawks. While the standings aren't as impressive as the stacked NFC North, it's a tight race out west.
When you dive deeper into the Cardinals' schedule, they've won games against the Rams, 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and New York Jets. For those not keeping score at home, those wins came against teams with a combined record of 24-29. Only two clubs hold a winning record (49ers & Chargers).
Arizona's four losses have come against the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers. Those teams have a combined record of 29-9.
Cardinals' one-dimensional offense a limiting factor
Arizona is similar to Baltimore. Ideally, the run game opens up the passing game. From there, the Cardinals want to get out to an early lead, control the clock, possess the ball and create favorable down-and-distance situations to take shots downfield. If they don't have that lead, the passing game isn't consistent enough to convert on second and third-and-long to move the chains.
Murray has failed to pass for 200 yards five times this season. He continues to take care of the football very well, something he's improved upon over the years. However, working within the confines of the passing game, especially when a defense can “pin its ears back” for the pass rush, doesn't bring out the best in Murray's game.
Rookie wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. has also shown flashes but isn't yet providing the production of a No. 1 pass-catcher. Tight end Trey McBride leads the team in targets (65), receptions (49) and receiving yards (552) despite playing in one fewer game than MHJ. Harrison has 33 catches for 499 yards and six touchdowns on 60 targets.
There are far more disappointing stats from Harrison as well. His catchable target rate (67.3%) ranks 57th among receivers. His 0.9 yards after the catch per target ranks 93rd. For all that was made about his route-running, Arizona often uses him as a deep threat, as he has 15 deep targets (seventh-most) and 797 air yards (sixth-most).
Arizona is a good team, but it is far from a great one. Its offensive DVOA is 11th, and its defensive DVOA is 14th.
The Cardinals attempted to boost their pass rush by adding Baron Browning from the Denver Broncos ahead of the NFL trade deadline. The 25-year-old collected 4.5 sacks in 10 games last year. He has yet to get a sack this season, although he was put on injured reserve after a left foot injury in Week 2.
Arizona ranks 21st with 2.4 sacks per game. It's been a team effort, though. Team leader, DT Dante Stills, has 3.5 sacks.
With their remaining schedule, the Cardinals have a good chance to make the postseason. There are four divisional matchups left (Seattle 2x, at Los Angeles and vs. San Francisco), and the non-divisional games are against Minnesota, New England and Carolina. They control their playoff destiny, already beating the Rams in Week 2 and the 49ers in Week 5.
But without a more effective pass rush to challenge the NFL's best signal-callers and lacking the passing attack that could score in bunches, the Cardinals' fate this season feels limited and a far cry from a Super Bowl contender.
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