5 likeliest NFL teams to go worst-to-first in 2020

As with the AFC West, the NFC West could be one of the most competitive divisions in the NFL next year. All four fanbases in this division can semi-realistically convince themselves they’re good enough to reach the playoffs. For the Arizona Cardinals, their 2020 team looks to be the best since Bruce Arians, Carson Palmer and the rest of the 2015 team made it to the NFC Championship.

With Kyler Murray at quarterback, Kenyan Drake at running back and DeAndre Hopkins as their new No. 1 wide receiver, head coach Kliff Kingsbury has the offensive weapons to hang with any team they come across. As long as they draft a franchise left tackle at No. 8 in the 2020 NFL Draft, the Cardinals could certainly double their win total this fall.

Are the Cardinals better than the Los Angeles Rams? That’s debatable, but what isn’t is where they stack up against the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. San Francisco could succumb to a Super Bowl hangover and Murray could end up being better than Jimmy Garoppolo in his second year out of Oklahoma. But can the Cardinals be better than the Seahawks?

Seattle has a great culture under Pete Carroll. They play great defense and can run the football with conviction. However, their team is as good as Russell Wilson allows it to be. He’s had a clean bill of health in his pro career, but if he misses a few games and the Cardinals split the season series, then perhaps Arizona can win the battle of the birds and the NFC West in the process.