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Ben Solak, ESPN
Well, Week 10 of the NFL season has come and gone, and I know less than I did before it began. The Rams looked shaky against the Dolphins, the Lions and Chiefs both should have lost their games, the Steelers are still winning, and the Panthers have won successive matchups. Football is a silly, silly game.
Every Tuesday, I’ll spin the previous week of NFL football forward, looking at what the biggest storylines mean and what comes next. We’ll take a first look at the consequences of “Monday Night Football,” break down a major trend or two, and highlight some key individual players and plays. There will be film. There will be stats (a whole section of them). And there will be fun.
This week, we size up whether the surging Cardinals are for real, defend Caleb Williams and dive into a few moves that didn’t happen at last week’s trade deadline. Let’s jump in.
Jump to a section:
The Big Thing: Are the Cardinals legit?
Deadline hindsight: Why didn’t my team …?
Second Take: Give Caleb a break
Mailbag: Answering questions from … you
Next Ben Stats: Wild Week 10 stats
“Monday Night Football” spin
The Big Thing: Are the Cardinals for real?
Every week, this column will kick off with one wide look at a key game, player or trend from the previous slate of NFL action. What does it mean for the rest of the season?
Coming out of Week 1 of the NFL season, I wrote this: “The Cardinals’ offense is going to be good. … While the passing game largely operated underneath, Kyler Murray looked as comfortable from the pocket operating with timing as I can remember him looking. The downfield reps will come, as will success for Marvin Harrison Jr. as their chemistry grows. I don’t trust this defense to stop anyone, but I trust this running game to keep good offenses on the sideline. And as the passing attack matures, the Cardinals will win a shootout or two.”
Then after Week 8, I wrote about teams that I just couldn’t figure out, and the Cardinals were right up there: “No matter which way you slice it, this is a good [offensive] unit. But I don’t understand why it vacillates between being so hard and so easy for the Cardinals to move the ball. … Any hope they have hinges on this offense ascending from a pretty good unit to a weekly juggernaut, and that ascension demands finding some consistency. If Arizona does what it did to the Dolphins for the next month, call me. Until then, I have my doubts about this team.”
Well, it hasn’t been a month. But in the past two games, the Cardinals have faced two really good defenses in the Bears and Jets, and they have looked excellent against both.