Cardinals Gaining National Respect

After Week 2, the Cardinals have moved up among various national power rankings.

Arizona Cardinals defensive end L.J. Collier (91) celebrates his fumble recovery with teammates against the Los Angeles Rams during the fourth quarter at State Farm Stadium. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- After two weeks of football, the Arizona Cardinals are gaining some respect across the National Football League.

Despite narrowly upsetting the Buffalo BIlls as road underdogs to begin 2024, the Cardinals dismantled the Los Angeles Rams 41-10 in Week 2 to gain their first win of the season.

As a result, the Cardinals have climbed up a few power rankings from national outlets:

NFL.com: No. 22

Eric Edholm: Top to bottom, Sunday's win over the Rams was the best performance of the Jonathan Gannon era, even better than the win over Dallas in Week 3 last year or either of the gutsy December road wins in Pennsylvania. Kyler Murray played a nearly perfect game. Marvin Harrison Jr. broke out. The rushing attack kept doing its thing behind Hjalte Froholdt and the boys. And after a year-plus of some hard-to-watch defense, the Cardinals were terrific on that side of the ball, even taking into account the fact that they caught a beat-up Rams team at just about the best time possible.

The Week 1 loss to Buffalo showed the work that was needed, but Week 2 was a big exclamation point -- to the point where we might soon have to begin re-evaluating Arizona's ceiling this season.

The Athletic: No. 14

Josh Kendall: Kyler Murray became the second player in NFL history with 250 passing yards, 50 rushing yards and a perfect passer rating in a game. He finished 17-for-21 for 266 yards and three touchdowns and became the third Cardinal with a perfect passer rating since 1960. Plus, Marvin Harrison Jr. came to life after a disappointing Week 1. The rookie wide receiver had four catches for 130 yards, all in the first quarter. After the game, he noted all four of Murray’s incompletions were targeted at him, so there’s room for more.

Sports Illustrated: No. 18

Donnie Druin: "The Arizona Cardinals shocked practically the entire world with their first 40-point performance since October of 2022. Kyler Murray returned to old form and Arizona's defense flashed five sacks - is this a preview of what's to come?"

PFF: No. 23

Thomas Valentine: "The Cardinals were hot in Week 2, trouncing the Los Angeles Rams 41-10 while Kyler Murray earned a 96.9 grade. The offense has been top-three in EPA per play (0.170), so they’re heading in the right direction."

ESPN: No. 19

Josh Weinfuss: "Emari Demercado has established himself as the Cardinals' critical third-down back, sitting behind James Conner and Trey Benson on the depth chart. He has played on 16 of 24 third downs this season and had pass blocks on 4 of 10 passing third downs he has been on the field for. Of the 16 third downshas played so far, the Cardinals have moved the chains on nine of them."