The Cardinals are the best team in the league right now.
As the only undefeated squad in the NFL, they marched right into Cleveland and dominated a really good Browns team that has enough talent to go to the Super Bowl.
But Kyler Murray and company made the Cleveland defense look like me on the treadmill after the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Murray was 20/30 for 229 yards and threw four touchdowns on the day. The Cardinals had 352 total yards on a really good defense that not only included spectacular plays from Murray but had a running game that put up 144 yards on the ground.
The defense is also much improved from last season. They kept an explosive running attack to only 73 yards on the day and forced Baker Mayfield to try to beat them through the air. Granted, it was a little easier for them without Nick Chubb, who is battling a calf injury, but the outing was impressive all the same.
The Cardinals are beating down the rest of the league and it’s been pretty fun to watch.
As for the Browns, they have quickly gone from being one of the top 5 teams in the league to wondering if they’ll even make the playoffs. With the Mayfield injury yesterday, this team now has more questions than the SATs. Against two good offenses in back-to-back weeks, the defense has been nonexistent. The Chargers dropped 47 on them last week, and without Kliff Kingsbury calling plays, the Cardinals dropped 37 points themselves.
It’s clear that Arizona’s defense is stunting harder than a broke man on Instagram.
The Browns are in a peculiar position right now. They have their backs against the wall and will need to scratch and claw their way back to the top of a division that’s really good.