4. Cardinals’ Red-Zone Offense is Improved

It was a struggle for the Cardinals to consistently achieve results in the red-zone last season. That hasn’t been the case through three weeks and their performance against the Lions is a strong showcase of why that’s been the case.

Last season, the Cardinals posted just a 45.3% scoring rate in the red-zone and that finished better than just the Bengals, Jaguars, and Steelers. There was little issue for Arizona to move the ball upfield but they just consistently came up short when it mattered most.

Against the Lions, the Cardinals managed to get points on the board in each of their three trips to the red-zone. Now, they hold a 77.7% red-zone scoring rate through Week 3 of this season, which ranks No. 8 on the NFL’s leaderboard in this respective category.

The ability Murray has shown to be able to get the job done with his running skills near the goal-line has been impressive. It has essentially unlocked Arizona’s ability to execute with a shorter quarterback in this part of the field.