NFL Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals Won’t Miss a Beat With Drew Stanton

Fresh Videos

By @The12thDude

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

At 9-1, the Arizona Cardinals are officially in great position to win the NFC West after the Seattle Seahawks lost a tough game to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier in the day, and it doesn’t look like Drew Stanton will slow the Cardinals down whatsoever.

Stanton has been here before when Carson Palmer first went down with an injury, and Arizona went 2-1 with the backup under center. The only loss was to the Denver Broncos on the road, and Stanton left that game with a concussion.

That is not to say that Stanton is just as good as Palmer, but Arizona is able to run plays as usual because Stanton has a great understanding of the offense.

Stanton is far from perfect — his two interceptions were a result of staring down the receiver — but he does possess a pretty good looking deep ball, which resulted in a fantastic throw-and-catch in the end zone to Michael Floyd that put that Cardinals up early over the Detroit Lions.

Stanton finished with 306 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Not bad at all and a heck of a lot better than Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who put up a stinker (183 passing yards and an interception). What makes Stanton’s performance even more impressive is that the Lions boast the NFL’s No. 1 defense, but as Stafford just learned, Arizona has a pretty darn good defense of their own.

While Stanton will get the attention, it is really the entire team that deserves recognition. The Cardinals’ defense stopped a Lions team that was 7-2, with the Green Bay Packers hot on their tail. This game was important to Detroit, and they are severely underwhelming. Arizona may not be flashy, but they are so good as an entire team. What is important is that they get the job done on a weekly basis.

Stanton doesn’t have to be great for Arizona; he just has to be efficient and occasionally continue to connect on those deep balls. This is a very well coached team that will be a real threat in the playoffs.

Tyson Sweet is a sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @The12thDude, like him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google!

Share Tweet
Trending Now on