The hilarity of this nimrod from SI putting the Cards in 7th is that these **weekly** power rankings SHOULD reflect where we are today - not some projection of failure down the road. And given that context, NFW you can put the Cards anywhere but 1 today. It's indefensible not to.
Now if the context instead was "this is my weekly update on where I think everyone will finish", then that's another kettle of fish, and much more sellable to say that Team X is going to be way better (or worse) than their current record may reflect. But that's not the premise here. Therefore this guy is a certified jackass.
This is a replay of what the national media did to the 49ers in 1981, their first Super Bowl year, and the first of 4 titles that decade. They got ZERO respect for most of the season, among the snubs getting shunned weekly on the halftime highlights show on MNF, which were "a thing" back then, as they were dramatically narrated by the legendary Howard Cosell, and only showed the top games of the weekend. The 49ers used this disrespect as motivation all season long. I fully expect that the leaders in the Cards locker room are making sure that everyone is aware of the lack of respect, and are also using it as motivation. Let's all hope it continues!
www.si.com
