Arizona Cardinals Power Rankings Round Up: Week 16

After beating the Rams and earning their 10th victory of the season, the Cardinals have moved up a notch in most website's power rankings. As you can see, most people are amazed that the Cardinals won 10 games in a season since 1976. Most are still unsure of what to think about the Cardinals. They finished with an average ranking of 7.3.

ESPN - 6th

A shot at higher seeding gives the Cardinals something to gain against the Packers in their Week 17 matchup.

Yahoo - 5th

After punter Ben Graham forced Rams returner Danny Amendola to fumble Sunday, did he receive a celebratory phone call and hearty cheer from former Chargers punter Darren Bennett?

CBS - 9th

Don't count out the reigning NFC champions. They can score and they have a good defense. They will be a tough team to get past in the playoffs.

 Ten wins for the first time since 1976. Ken Whisenhunt has done a superb job.

Sports Illustrated - 9th

Try to wrap your head around these mind-boggling statistics: The Cardinals franchise just reached 10 wins in a regular season for the first time since 1976. From 1977-2008, 292 teams had a regular season of at least 10 wins, or an average of more than nine clubs per year. Other than expansion Houston, which has now gone its first eight seasons without a 10-win year, every other NFL franchise has had at least three seasons of 10 wins or more in that span. Detroit is the next lowest, with three such seasons, and San Francisco had an NFL-high 19 seasons of 10-wins-plus from 1997-2008, including 16 in a row.

Most overlooked stat of Week 16? Try Arizona, which won its 10th game in a season for the first time since 1976. Think of that for a moment: 33 years ago, America's bicentennial year, little Kurt Warner was five years old (while most of the other NFL star QBs and over half the league's current rosters were not even born yet).

Peter King reports that the Cardinals may be the Cardinals again this year. And while it's easy to mock him for such a statement, it's quite true; the Cardinals are a dangerous, underrated team -- not to mention that they're better than last year's rendition -- who are peaking at the right time. Added bonus: they won 10 games in a single season for the first time since 1976.