How legit are we? Will Niners game answer that question?

[SissyBoyFloyd]

Let's face it, we have played two stiffs so far. Niners aren't the Seahawks, but are at least competitive and in our own division. Will beating the Niners be making any statement really? Will losing to them at home expose us as not being a true contender yet?

It is nice we get some warm up or tune up games right off the bat. But to me it hasn't shown much as far as how good we are or not. We need to, and should, really kick ass the first half of the season, for the second half is where we will earn our place as an elite '15 team.

Evaluation of 2-0 teams per ESPN

 

[Dude]

Let's face it, we have played two stiffs so far. Niners aren't the Seahawks, but are at least competitive and in our own division. Will beating the Niners be making any statement really? Will losing to them at home expose us as not being a true contender yet?

It is nice we get some warm up or tune up games right off the bat. But to me it hasn't shown much as far as how good we are or not. We need to, and should, really kick ass the first half of the season, for the second half is where we will earn our place as an elite '15 team.

Evaluation of 2-0 teams per ESPN

11-5 with all we lost last year. 2-0 to start this season. Soon to be 3-0. Yes we have a good team. ESPN will call it a big game if we lose. If we win ESPN and some of our own fans will just say we beat another bad team. That's fine.

 

[iRobot]

Honestly until we play the Steelers, I don't think any one is going to say we're truly "LEGIT" against the teams before that. I don't think its right, but it's the truth.

 

[Redneck Voodoo]

11-5 with all we lost last year. 2-0 to start this season. Soon to be 3-0. Yes we have a good team. ESPN will call it a big game if we lose. If we win ESPN and some of our own fans will just say we beat another bad team. That's fine.

So far, our wins have been decisive, bad teams or no. Last year we won 11 but most by a small margin. I don't expect a blowout but if we don't win at home against an inferior 49er's team it could make some pundit's questions legitimate. I think we win by double digits.

For me, containing Carlos Hyde is the key and I think we will.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

I for one am not taking anything for granted in any NFL game. 49'rs looked good at home against Minnesota but looked bad in the first half against the Steelers. Played even with the Steelers in the second half though. Since this is a divisional game the niners will be fired up.

 

[crisper57]

I believe we are too legit to quit.

 

[iRobot]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Bert]

10-6
11-5
2-0

And fans are still questioning whether these Cardinals are legit...

Are we going to go undefeated and win the superbowl? Probably not, but I think we're past the point of literally questioning whether this is all some kind of sham. lol

 

[jbeecham]

1) The Bears are 0-2, but they played the Packers close (31-23) in week 1 & then looked good against us until Cutler got hurt. I don't think they're nearly as horrible as the national media makes them out to be (worst team in some power rankings). The truth about them is that they've played 2 of the best teams in the NFL & lost... if they had lost to the Titans & Jaguars or any of the other perennial bottom feeders then I'd agree that they're bad.

2) Teams usually play better in the disrespected underdog role so I've got no problem with national media "experts" counting us out every week. I hope they do it all season long & the Cards use it as extra motivation.

3) The Steelers are probably the 1st team we will play that will finish the season with a winning record & should be in the playoffs so that game could be a great test of just how good our team really is. We need to take care of business every week though against all of these teams that we are supposed to beat for that Steelers game to be important.

4) Every game is winnable for us. I know that's probably weird to hear as Cardinal fans, but it's true. I expect us to win every week. Obviously the tough games are still the Steelers, Seahawks x2, Packers & maybe the Bengals, but I like our chances against them.

 

[Cheesebeef]

in the eyes of the media, the only way this game will saying anything is that we're NOT legit if we lose. Otherwise, people will continue to say jury's out as far as being a Super Bowl contender beating another bad team.

that said, if we PUMMEL the Niners, I'm gonna start feeling even better about our chances.

 

[Russ Smith]

Honestly until we play the Steelers, I don't think any one is going to say we're truly "LEGIT" against the teams before that. I don't think its right, but it's the truth.

Exactly. if we lose we were overrated, if we win, SF's not that good the Steelers hammered them.

Until we play someone everyone thinks is good, not going to matter, and my guess is Pitt is the first team everyone thinks is good, on our schedule.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Nope, because every team Cards will have beaten will have 2+ losses in the first 3 weeks. If Cards build a record of say, 5-1 to start have season and then lose to a contender they'll say,"We knew they weren't as good as their record..."

They just ignore that Cards went:

10-6, then 11-5, then 3-0...

 

[azmike74]

You must be registered for see images attach

Exactly what came to my mind

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Cards have only had 23 winning seasons in their entire history, with 4 coming in the past 7 seasons.

This franchise has turned the corner...

 

[azmike74]

I believe we are too legit to quit.

I agree with this wise message board poster. If we were able to vote, certainly, this would win.

 

[ARZCardinals]

Not worried about national press as others state...any real fan of the NFL will tell you "The Arizona Cardinals are a TOP team!"
There isn't a fan in the NFL of another team that's going to play us and say, "That's a W!" before the game starts.
Is this game a big one? They all are! It's one more step towards the ring!
This is the first year I've ever said and meant it "The Cardinals can WIN the Super Bowl this year!"

 

[fatosber]

This question has been asked time and time again for about two seasons now. Haters will hate but the facts speak best.

We are a legit borderline contender. Our defense is arguably top 5 in the league, passing game is arguably top 10; and we are developing a running game (something we had none of for decades).

It all comes down to this: keep Carson Palmer healthy and in the game, and the Cardinals are a SupeBowl caliber team. ESPN can say whatever they want


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BillsCarnage]

The Cards should be 4-0 when they start the middle part of the schedule. It's going to be tough, but if the Cards can keep improving their line play - more on the D side than O side - I can see them making the SB.

There are 4-6 teams that are true SB contenders and the Cards are one of them. NE, Pitt, KC, GB, Cards and Seattle. Another team or two might jump in and someone might fall, but going into the season those are the six i had penciled in.

 

[Shaggy]

ESPN - We wrote before the season that the Cardinals were the strongest candidate of any team to decline in 2015. Oops.

Why would anyone think they were going to decline? Even if I wasn't a Cards fan, I wouldn't have thought they were going to decline this year. Maybe a little on D, but the overall team, no way. Oops is right ESPN..

I get that there are alot of "I don't knows" but they dominated both NO and Chicago, which a good team will do to crappy ones. If they barely won each game, I would be thinking the same thing. Yes, SF will be a game where we can really see who this team really is, but come on, they have all the tools to kill teams on offense. They have the tools on D also with a few missing parts, but manageable. Players are stepping up and they will continue to step up. I'm just as excited for this team this year as I was last year. I thought the had a great chance to make the SB last year, and I think they have another chance this year. Just stay healthy!!!

 

[crisper57]

ESPN - We wrote before the season that the Cardinals were the strongest candidate of any team to decline in 2015. Oops.

Why would anyone think they were going to decline? Even if I wasn't a Cards fan, I wouldn't have thought they were going to decline this year. Maybe a little on D, but the overall team, no way. Oops is right ESPN..

That is an analytics person doing what they do. Crunching numbers without watching games. The Cardinals won a statistically significant number of close games over what the law of averages says they should win. So if they were a statistical anomaly last year, reason would dictate that they return to the norm this year. Add that to a team that looked poor against Carolina in the playoffs, and you get the impression that they over performed last season.

(Except they aren't accounting for injuries playing a role in those close wins)

 

[DVontel]

The Cards should be 4-0 when they start the middle part of the schedule. It's going to be tough, but if the Cards can keep improving their line play - more on the D side than O side - I can see them making the SB.

There are 4-6 teams that are true SB contenders and the Cards are one of them. NE, Pitt, KC, GB, Cards and Seattle. Another team or two might jump in and someone might fall, but going into the season those are the six i had penciled in.

An Alex Smith-led team is not a SB contender.

 

[Russ Smith]

ESPN - We wrote before the season that the Cardinals were the strongest candidate of any team to decline in 2015. Oops.

Why would anyone think they were going to decline? Even if I wasn't a Cards fan, I wouldn't have thought they were going to decline this year. Maybe a little on D, but the overall team, no way. Oops is right ESPN..

I get that there are alot of "I don't knows" but they dominated both NO and Chicago, which a good team will do to crappy ones. If they barely won each game, I would be thinking the same thing. Yes, SF will be a game where we can really see who this team really is, but come on, they have all the tools to kill teams on offense. They have the tools on D also with a few missing parts, but manageable. Players are stepping up and they will continue to step up. I'm just as excited for this team this year as I was last year. I thought the had a great chance to make the SB last year, and I think they have another chance this year. Just stay healthy!!!

IT's a Bill James type stat approach that K9 mentioned before. Generally speaking teams that win a high percentage of close games one year won't repeat that the next. They were assuming that would be the case with us.

It may still be of course but the difference as people pointed out is with Palmer we weren't winnning lots of close games, the average margin was pretty decent, it was more the games without him that were either close wins or losses that impacted that stat.

I don't think we have a top 5 defense right now. if D Wash were reinstated, in shape, and played like he can, the defense might move up several notches but I don't expect him to be reinstated anytime soon and if he is, I don't think he'll step right in and be his normal self. For the D to be top 5 the LB's have to get better, and that probably means anything at all from Weatherspoon and more consistency from Minter etc.

I think the secondary is pretty good, I think the DL is good against the run, we need improved LB play.

I don't see us getting to top 5 defense this year, probably not even top 10. I do think we can be a top 5 offense if Palmer stays healthy and the OL continues to improve.

 

[Cheesebeef]

IT's a Bill James type stat approach that K9 mentioned before. Generally speaking teams that win a high percentage of close games one year won't repeat that the next. They were assuming that would be the case with us.

It may still be of course but the difference as people pointed out is with Palmer we weren't winnning lots of close games, the average margin was pretty decent, it was more the games without him that were either close wins or losses that impacted that stat.

I don't think we have a top 5 defense right now. if D Wash were reinstated, in shape, and played like he can, the defense might move up several notches but I don't expect him to be reinstated anytime soon and if he is, I don't think he'll step right in and be his normal self. For the D to be top 5 the LB's have to get better, and that probably means anything at all from Weatherspoon and more consistency from Minter etc.

I think the secondary is pretty good, I think the DL is good against the run, we need improved LB play.

I don't see us getting to top 5 defense this year, probably not even top 10. I do think we can be a top 5 offense if Palmer stays healthy and the OL continues to improve.

agree with all of this.

 

[kerouac9]

IT's a Bill James type stat approach that K9 mentioned before. Generally speaking teams that win a high percentage of close games one year won't repeat that the next. They were assuming that would be the case with us.

It may still be of course but the difference as people pointed out is with Palmer we weren't winnning lots of close games, the average margin was pretty decent, it was more the games without him that were either close wins or losses that impacted that stat.

I don't think we have a top 5 defense right now. if D Wash were reinstated, in shape, and played like he can, the defense might move up several notches but I don't expect him to be reinstated anytime soon and if he is, I don't think he'll step right in and be his normal self. For the D to be top 5 the LB's have to get better, and that probably means anything at all from Weatherspoon and more consistency from Minter etc.

I think the secondary is pretty good, I think the DL is good against the run, we need improved LB play.

I don't see us getting to top 5 defense this year, probably not even top 10. I do think we can be a top 5 offense if Palmer stays healthy and the OL continues to improve.

I agree with all of this. If we're between 8-12 in total defense (we're 11th in points and 22nd in yards right now) and 5-11 in total offense (1st in points 10th in yards), this is going to be a pretty good team in this division.

I think we'll know in a couple of weeks whether the AFC North is good — I'm not convinced that Baltimore or Cincy are — and the NFC North smells pretty ripe after Green Bay, but that game might not matter for either team when we get to the end of the year.

Or it could be for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

[Chaz]

According to the ELO rating right now the only game the Cardinals are not favored in of the first 8 is @ Pittsburgh.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2015-nfl-predictions/


As is typical any team the Cards beat just proves how bad that team is and not how good the Cardinals are. Until they win a tough road game against an good team playing well the perception wont change.