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Can the Arizona Cardinals Make the Playoffs in 2021 With New WR AJ Green?

Published 03/18/2021, 4:05 PM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

The Arizona Cardinals narrowly missed out on making the Playoffs last season. With an 8-8 record, the franchise improved on its record from 2019, but it still wasn’t enough to book them a berth in the postseason. 

Fortunately for them, some things did work out in their favor. The 2nd-year QB Kyler Murray finally seemed to have found his stride. Throwing 26 touchdowns, the QB’s improvement boiled down to essentially two things. 

Number one, him becoming more familiar with the league and franchise. And number two, the addition of DeAndre Hopkins to his arsenal of weapons. 

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The Cardinals trade for Hopkins was deemed as the steal of the summer last offseason. But the franchise is not done as they’re pushing hard once again to further strengthen their roster through free agency.

Arizona Cardinals bringing in more weapons  

With the Arizona Cardinals signing AJ Green via free agency, the franchise is once again showing that they are no pushovers. Another big-play wide receiver, Green is a 7-time Pro Bowler.

And now, after spending a decade with the Cincinnati Bengals, Green is finally heading out for a new challenge. A challenge that could well end with a trip to the Playoffs.

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USA Today via Reuters

While Green’s output may have declined over the past few seasons, he is still very much a threat via the aerial route. There’s no doubt that Hopkins will remain WR1 for the franchise.

But adding Green gives Murray and Head Coach Kliff Kingsbury more options to exploit the opposition defense. Add to that, the Arizona Cardinals still have the legendary Larry Fitzgerald.

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We’ve seen in 2020 just how important signing up free-agent wide receivers is to a team’s success. Reigning Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, took a chance with Antonio Brown when everyone thought his best days were behind him. In return, Brown scored one of the Buccaneers’ touchdowns during the NFL’s showcase event.

With Green added to their ranks, the Arizona Cardinals now have a formidable wide receiver duo. Double-teaming Hopkins won’t cut the trick for defenses anymore, thanks to the addition of Green.

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Thus even if green can get around 6 touchdowns this coming season (his avg TD record over the past 10 seasons), one can expect the Cardinals to grab a crucial win or two which would go a long way in fulfilling their ambition of making the Playoffs.

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Written by:

Shivayan Roy

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Shivayan Roy is currently an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his Masters Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Roy functioned as a reporter for Goal.com and extensively covered the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
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