Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals: Win your division

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Arizona Cardinals next two games are against NFC West opponents

The Arizona Cardinals may be off to a slow start this season and sitting at 1-2, however it is also a long season. There are still 13 games left to play.

The first of those 13 games is this Sunday at University of Phoenix Stadium against the Los Angeles Rams. Forget Super Bowl right now. Forget everything else that is in front of them. Win these next two games over the next seven days.

After they host the Rams on Sunday, they have a short week next week and will play at the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football. The Cardinals need to be concerned about winning within their division.

These games won’t be easy. Both of these games gave the Cardinals fits in 2015. The Rams visit to Glendale, on the same weekend last year coincidentally, resulted in one of only three Cardinals losses.

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The 24-22 loss to the Rams on October 4th, 2015 at home was a struggle all day. The Cardinals could not put the ball in the end zone and had to settle for field goals. The game started with a David Johnson fumble on the opening kickoff. It set the tone for the entire afternoon.

When the Cardinals visited the 49ers last season in Santa Clara, they came away with the 19-13 victory, however this was a game that could have gone either way. The Cardinals again had trouble punching the ball into the end zone.

Before a team with Super Bowl aspirations can even think about playoffs, it starts with playing well and winning within the division. If the Cardinals can’t beat their NFC West foes, then they might as well forget any postseason plans.

With the Cardinals starting 1-2 it is equally as important to get back to their winning ways on a consistent basis. They may not find two consecutive weeks the rest of the year where they can right the ship in a hurry like they can now.