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    • After the win over Bears, are Cardinals a playoff team?
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    After the win over Bears, are Cardinals a playoff team?

    Vaseline Posted on

    For a month, the Cardinals’ wins followed versions of the same script. They were close, intense affairs. Everything had to go right to come out on top.

    This wasn’t that. This was a show of power in both attack and defense. It looked like the Cardinals got a fourth-down sack, gave the ball back and then sacked Bears quarterback Caleb Williams again on his next play.

    It looked like Trey Benson and Emari Demercado were ripping off back-to-back touchdowns when James Conner had to take a break. It simply looked dominant.

    And with a 29-9 win over Chicago, the Cardinals are now above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2021 season.

    Here’s what we learned from the win:

    The Cardinals play like a playoff team

    Making the playoffs in the NFC this year may not be easy. The wild-card race is packed with strong teams, and if the 49ers get into shape, winning the NFC West could require 10 or 11 wins.

    Regardless of where their season ends, the Cardinals are currently playing like a playoff team. That wasn’t always the case early in the year, even in their wins. The win over the 49ers required a slew of turnovers and goal-line stands. The win over the Chargers felt like a breakout move from a defense that won’t break.

    Last week, however, the Cardinals won with a seemingly sustainable strategy – solid defense and explosive offense – behind the arm of Kyler Murray. They followed that up on Sunday with a full performance. Their defense suffocated Williams, they dominated with 213 yards on the ground and Murray threw the ball all over the field on the rare occasions when he needed to.

    That’s a recipe that will last a long time.

    The defensive front was stepped up

    On paper, Sunday was a big opportunity for the Cardinals’ pass rush. They faced a rookie quarterback with a tendency to take sacks while a third-string left tackle protected him.

    However, the Cardinals have missed opportunities like this before. This time they took full advantage.

    They brought down Williams six times and provided constant pressure all afternoon. Some of that was due to a blitz-heavy strategy from defensive coordinator Nick Rallis, but they also generated eight pressures on 24 four-man rushes. Per Pro Football Focus, fourteen different Cardinals players provided pressure.

    Last week the Cardinals struggled to put pressure on Tua Tagovailoa with his quick passing, but this balanced approach isn’t entirely new. Two weeks ago they had twelve players registering pressure against Justin Herbert. The Cardinals don’t have high-end pass rushers, but they have been able to perform better than the sum of their parts at times.

    The back end also helped with the pass rush on Sunday. Rookie Max Melton – who had struggled in recent weeks – allowed just two receptions on seven targets. And nickel Garrett Williams continued to shine, allowing one reception on five targets.

    The Cardinals dominated on the court

    By halftime, the Cardinals had 148 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries — without a single rushing attempt from Murray. They finished with 213 yards on 34 carries.

    Yes, if the Cardinals want to beat good offenses — like they did last week in Miami — they’re going to need their passing attack to step up. But offensive coordinator Drew Petzing prefers an offense that moves the ball downhill early and often. That can provide advantageous looks in the passing game, but it can also occasionally be enough to win on its own.

    Sunday was such a day. Conner finished with 107 yards, Trey Benson continued his development with 37 yards and Demercado scored a backbreaking 53-yard touchdown on the precipice of halftime.

    According to Elias Sports Bureau, it was the longest rushing touchdown in the final 20 seconds of the first half since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. It was that kind of day for the Bears, and it was that kind of day for the Cardinals.

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