Cardinals climb to top spot in latest AP Pro32 poll

Updated Oct. 5, 2021 4:03 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — And then there was one.

After four weeks there is only one unbeaten team left in the NFL. To the surprise of many, it's the Arizona Cardinals.

And those Cardinals have flown all the way to the top of

Arizona received eight of 12 first-place votes for 378 points in balloting Tuesday by media members who regularly cover the NFL.

The Cardinals moved up four spots after routing the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams 37-20. The Rams, who were on top a week ago, dropped to No. 4.

“The NFL’s surprise team so far,” Newsday's Bob Glauber said. “Kyler Murray is off to a spectacular start, helped by an elite group of wide receivers, and the defense smothered Matthew Stafford to give Arizona the lead in the uber-competitive NFC West.”

Arizona will try to remain perfect as it hosts another division foe, the San Francisco 49ers, on Sunday.

The Buffalo Bills earned the other four first-place votes for 366 points as they moved up one spot to No. 2 overall. The Bills switched places with the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who slipped to No. 3 after a hard-fought 19-17 win over the New England Patriots in Tom Brady's return to Foxborough.

The Baltimore Ravens and the Green Bay Packers, who both have won three in a row, follow next. The Ravens improved two places to No. 5 and will close Week 5 when they host the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night.

“The Ravens are off to a 3-1 start despite playing three of their first four games on the road,” said Rick Gosselin of the Talk of Fame Network.

“The schedule turns friendly at this point — the Ravens won’t leave home for the next five weeks. Their next road game isn’t until Nov. 11. In the meantime, Baltimore will have consecutive home games against the Colts, Chargers and Bengals, then a bye, then another home game against the Vikings.”

The Packers remained at No. 6 after topping the Pittsburgh Steelers and will look to stay on a roll as they head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Chargers, fresh off handing the Las Vegas Raiders their first loss of the season on Monday night, climbed three spots to No. 7. Next up for the Chargers is the Cleveland Browns, who stayed at No. 8.

The Dallas Cowboys moved up four places to No. 9 as they have also won three in a row for the early lead in the NFC East.

For the second consecutive week, the Kansas City Chiefs rounded out the top 10.

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