Former NFL star Jason Bell is impressed with the surprise package Arizona Cardinals.
Tipped to struggle, the 6-5 Cardinals head into Sunday’s clash with the division rival Settle Seahawks on top of the NFC West.
A huge factor behind their success has been the revival of quarterback Kyler Murray.
He has thrown for over 2,000 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just three interceptions, as well as adding four scores on the ground.
And Bell admits he should have been expecting Murray to be on song as he recovers from the ACL tear he suffered in December 2022.
“They came out of nowhere. I’m surprised. One thing I should have been more aware of is when you have a knee injury at any position, it literally takes two years,” he told talkSPORT.
“So the fact that he’s a year removed from that knee and he’s looking like this, I shouldn’t be surprised, I’ve seen it before with players.
“And he’s moving around like the old Kyler Murray. He’s making plays, his offense works. It’s showing you that the philosophy of the team is making sense.
“They’re physical in the run game. And overall, they’re just taking advantage of a void in the NFC West, right?
“They’re going out there and they’re surprising a lot of teams. Kyler Murray is a playmaker. And if he’s in a position to do that, that is going to have success.
“He has weapons on the outside. I mean, his tight end’s playing well, his receivers are doing good. And Connor in the running game is a substantial upgrade, the way he’s running the ball.
“Offense looks good. They look good. Arizona, man, they’re threatening everybody in the West.”
The Cardinals went 4-13 the last two seasons, but are starting to see the benefits of some personal changes.
In 2023, Monti Ossenfort was named GM and Jonathan Gannon came in as head coach.
The duo has overseen a shake-up of the franchise, which included the splashy draft pick of Marvin Harrison Jr. this year.
“Once you have a change in belief in culture and direction, it’s all about the players kind of seeing improvement,” added Bell.
“We just want to play better and win. And if we are being coached up and we’re improving as individuals, we’ll take it. We’ll buy in.
“And then the wins come and start stacking. And that’s what you’ve seen with this staff.
“Players are playing better and they’re winning games. That’s what it’s all about.
“Once that happens, you believe in what everybody’s saying. That makes you a good team.”
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the Houston Texans have shown that one season is enough to turn around a struggling franchise – if you play your cards right.
The Cards may just have done that, but they will need a few aces up their sleeve to beat the 5-5 Seahawks.
You can listen to Jason Bell’s chat with talkSPORT in full on our End Zone YouTube channel.
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