Arizona Cardinals Disrespected in NFL Power Rankings

Sitting behind the Dallas Cowboys (20) and above the New York Jets (21) - here's what yours truly offered on Arizona:

"It was difficult in the Big Easy, though the Cardinals’ defense got the job done with the game on the line. There’s plenty to fix before hosting the Panthers in Week 2, though good teams find ways to win close games - and that’s what Arizona accomplished on Sunday."

Sure, the Cardinals didn't exactly impress in their victory - though are there really 20 teams better than Arizona?

That's tough to believe - and maybe things won't get any easier for my counterparts when the Carolina Panthers (ranked 31st) come to town.

"Home opener versus Carolina. Week 2 so we're obviously on to them right now. I don't live in the past, but if you look back at that game last year, we did not play our brand of ball, so that was talked about," said Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon.

"They're a good football team coming here. They got some premium players. They're hard to defend. So we got to work cut out for us."

The Cardinals move into Week 2 with hopes of avenging last year's loss to Carolina - though Gannon says they try not to dwell too much into the past.

“They’ve got different players, but same coaching staff. Schematically, they did some good things, I thought. You turn over every stone, so a little bit. We’re not living in that, but obviously the Jacksonville game we looked at pretty good and it’s still Week 2, so there’s going to be some un-scouted things (on) both sides," said Gannon.

"The other thing too, I told our guys is that there’s some things that we have to do a lot better in all three phases, in a hurry, so I’ve got my eye on that too. They know those things that they’re aware of and what we have to do a better job of going from Week 1 to Week 2, regardless of your opponent, just to play better football to give us a better chance to win. We have to correct those things on the practice field these next three days.”

It's clear Arizona will have to win emphatically to gain more brownie points across the league.