The Arizona Cardinals enter the bye week 6-2 and are coming off a big win on the road over the Cleveland Browns. It was big not because of the opponent, but because of how they won. They were down 20-10 at halftime and outscored their opponent 24-0 in the second half.
On the heels of that win, power rankings around the Internet have Arizona steady. As you will see, all but a couple have them in the exact same slot -- sixth overall.
It starts with our own weekly power rankings. Despite the urge to be homers, Robert Norman slides the Cards in at number six.
A second half comeback against and underrated Cleveland Browns was a solid first step in proving the Cards have mettle and resilience. Say what you will about the old men of the offense, the Cards are riding their young defense led by Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu.
SB Nation's rankings by Danny Kelly have them fifth overall, calling them one of the two top dogs in the NFC after the Packers were punked on Sunday Night Football.
In the NFC, the Panthers and Cardinals look like the top dogs following the Packers' beatdown at the hands of the Broncos. Arizona got 109 rushing yards and four touchdown passes from Carson Palmer to take out the Browns on the road, while Cam Newton and the Panthers survived a Colts comeback to win in overtime and stay unbeaten.
ESPN's rankings have Arizona sixth.
Carson Palmer leads the NFL in Total QBR (85) and his 20 touchdown passes are tied with Tom Brady for most in the league. No Cardinals quarterback has ever thrown more than 30 touchdown passes in a season.
Pete Prisco at CBS Sports has the Cardinals sixth, but also as the third team in the NFC, behind the Panthers and the Packers.
They head to their bye at 6-2, the second consecutive season that they've had more than six wins at the midway point. They were 7-1 last season. They face a big one in two weeks with Seattle.
FOX Sports is one to ranking the Cardinals in the top five...as number five.
It's never easy to win a road game, in a different time zone, on a short week, but Bruce Arians' group finds ways to consistently win. He should be on everyone's Coach of the Year short list again.
Wouldn't you know it? The Cardinals are sixth in USA Today's rankings.
Young man's game? Thirtysomethings Carson Palmer, Larry Fitzgerald, Chris Johnson and Dwight Freeney sparked Cleveland comeback.
The Cardinals moved up three spots in NFL.com's rankings with their win over Cleveland. They stand...wait for it...in sixth place in their rankings.
Hey, Saturday was Halloween -- so cool of the Cardinals to give their fans a real scare in Cleveland. It was also appropriate for 2015, as the so-called "quality" teams have been falling aplenty to the lower-barrel clubs. On another note, with the Packers getting crushed in Denver, the argument for Arizona being the premier club in the NFC certainly picked up steam. The Cards continue to feed off takeaways (putting up 10 points off turnovers on Sunday) while averaging 32.7 points per game, second to only the top team in the NFL, the Patriots.
Our favorite, Yahoo!'s Shutdown Corner, also puts the Cardinals at number six, which is up two spots from last week and still behind both the Panther and the Packers in the NFC.
It'll be fun to see them get tested at Seattle and vs. Cincinnati after the bye. Win those two, then maybe they really are the team that can challenge the Packers for the NFC.