Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians did some serious chest-beating after his team’s win over the St. Louis Rams on Thursday night.
After entering the game as four-point underdogs, the Cardinals dominated the Rams defensively and gave up just two field goals the entire game. The Rams’ defense, which was coming off back-to-back shutouts, had gotten most of the press leading up to Thursday.
“I love it when nobody says you have a chance to win,” Arians told reporters after the game, via Gregg Rosenthal of Around the League. “There’s an 11-3 team and a team that is always 8-8. You figure it out.”
Arians, who is 21-9 since taking over in Arizona, is one of the most underrated head coaches in football. Most people expected the Cardinals to fall off the face of the earth after Carson Palmer tore his ACL, but they have remained atop the NFC West division — ahead of the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.
“Everybody wanted to talk all that stuff about how great their defense is. I think they saw a good defense tonight, it was in red and white,” Arians added. “We blocked them. I think they had been reading their press clippings way too much.”
For what it’s worth, the Rams defense was pretty great, too. They allowed the Cards to rush for 143 yards, but they did not give up a touchdown. Arizona’s defense made more plays, but it was Jeff Fisher’s team’s inability to score that cost them.
Arians has every right to feel underappreciated. You can tell he is coaching with a chip on his shoulder by some of the fits he has thrown during games, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He’s an obvious candidate for Coach of the Year.
H/T Evan Silva
