The Arizona Cardinals have already given their fans two very different snapshots under Mike LaFleur.
Week 1 was the kind of performance that makes people sit up and take notice, an emphatic win over the Los Angeles Chargers. Then came Week 2, when the Seattle Seahawks dragged Arizona back to reality last Sunday. After 120 minutes, the picture is clearer than it was two weeks ago, but still far from finished.
What stands out most is that the Cardinals haven’t spent much time looking overmatched. They put together one of their most complete outings against the Chargers, then were tied 7-7 with Seattle at halftime.
By that count, Arizona has played a strong six of its eight quarters pretty well. For a team that wasn’t favored in a single game coming into the season, that’s a meaningful place to be.
This hasn’t been a one-unit story, either. Both the offense and defense have flashed at different points in the opening stretch.
Arizona has already surprised plenty of people, and while there’s plenty to clean up, the Cardinals haven’t been getting pushed around for most of their time on the field. If anything, the early evidence points the other way.
That’s why it’s worth being careful not to let one bad stretch warp the bigger view. Yes, there’s plenty to criticize. But even with that, Arizona looks closer to a competent football team than it did at this point last season despite the 2025 Cardinals being 2-0.
There’s also the injury situation, which has piled up quickly as the 2026 season gets rolling. Arizona has Chase Bisontis, Tip Reiman, James Conner, Kaleb Proctor, Kitan Crawford and Joey Blount on injured reserve, plus a few more faces dealing with issues. Garrett Williams still hasn’t played even though he was activated from PUP in preseason, and Will Johnson is set to land on injured reserve soon after what appears to be a season-ending injury.
The health problems started in camp and preseason, too. Josh Sweat had an offseason procedure and still doesn’t look 100%, while Jeremiyah Love dealt with a high ankle sprain. On top of that, Isaiah Adams and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson have already been in and out of the lineup, along with others.
That kind of attrition matters because the Cardinals weren’t viewed as a deep roster to begin with. Missing key pieces on both sides of the ball has already forced them to adjust game plans, and that’s not a small thing this early in the year.
If Arizona is going to beat expectations, the heavy lifting has to come from the top of the roster. That part is non-negotiable.
So far, outside of Trey McBride and Mack Wilson Sr., the biggest names haven’t delivered consistently. Marvin Harrison Jr. has already drawn plenty of heat for his quiet start.
Budda Baker has a perfect passer rating when targeted this season according to PFF, via Kyle Odegard. Josh Sweat and Walter Nolen III have both gotten off to slow starts.
And the running back pairing of Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier is averaging less than 3.5 yards per carry combined.
Arizona has gotten useful snaps from some smaller names, and there’s no issue there. But the real question hangs over the rest of the season: when do the Cardinals’ biggest players start stacking big performances? That answer could end up shaping everything.
In Other News...
Cardinals Just Got A Harsh Reality Check On Their Offense
Two weeks into the 2026 NFL season, the Cardinals are already hearing the kind of early verdict that tends to follow a flat offensive showing. Across five different power rankings, Arizona has landed mostly in the mid-to-lower tier of the league, a sign that evaluators see a team that is not sinking to the very bottom but also not matching the pace of the NFLs better clubs. The latest numbers have the Cardinals clustered between 24 and 27, which is usually where questions about identity and consistency start to matter more than preseason optimism.
Much of that skepticism traces back to the loss to the Seahawks, where the offense never really found its footing. There are still eyes on the starting quarterback and the first-round running back, two players who need to help tilt the conversation back in Arizonas favor. For now, the Cardinals are stuck in a familiar holding pattern: respected enough to avoid panic, but not yet convincing enough to quiet doubts about whether this unit can keep up with the top teams in the division or the conference. [Read more 🡒]
Marvin Harrison Jr. Is Raising Early Questions In Arizonas Offense
Two weeks into the 2026 season, Marvin Harrison Jr. has become one of the early storylines around Arizonas offense, and not in the way the Cardinals hoped. The second-year receiver has only one catch for 33 yards and just four targets, a startlingly quiet start for a player expected to be a central part of the passing game.
Much of the usage has pointed him downfield, where Arizona has leaned on him as a deep threat with plenty of go routes. That deployment has kept his target count low, but it has also led to a tougher conversation around his early impact, with some observers questioning both his effort and his ability to separate on routes. The Cardinals do not seem ready to abandon the plan, but the way they balance his vertical role with a broader menu of chances may be the next thing to watch. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Win Just Added Fuel To A Wild Justin Herbert Question
The Chargers rough start to the 2026 season has only intensified the noise around Justin Herbert, whose early struggles under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel have become impossible to ignore. With Los Angeles opening with consecutive losses and Herbert posting a low quarterback rating, the conversation around the franchise has shifted from simple early-season concern to something much bigger, with one of the leagues most talented passers suddenly at the center of trade speculation.
For the Cardinals, a win that adds to the AFC West mess elsewhere comes with an unexpected ripple effect. Any hint that the Chargers could eventually entertain moving Herbert would send the quarterback market into chaos, because even amid the slump he would remain one of the most coveted assets in the league. And with several quarterback-needy teams already being linked as possible destinations, Arizona has every reason to keep an eye on a situation that could reshape more than one roster before long. [Read more 🡒]