The National Football League has enjoyed presenting itself as the league where anything can happen no matter what the expectations are going into any week or season. The expression “Any Given Sunday” became popular in the 1960s after the American Football League and the NFL merged, but it was actually coined by former commissioner Bert Bell in 1952 as he anticipated the growth of the league’s popularity more than 70 years ago.

“The teams are so closely matched that on any given Sunday, any one team can beat any other team. Professional football has come down to the point where the psychological edge is the determining factor. Physically these teams are even, so it depends on the mental outlook of the squads to determine the winner.”

Bell was quite prescient about the way the NFL would develop for so many decades. Every time it feels like the experts have figured out what makes things tick in the NFL, one of those major upsets comes along that is absolutely inexplicable.

Granted, when it’s a playoff or a championship game it sticks in the memory, but Sunday’s victory by the Arizona Cardinals over the Dallas Cowboys was one of those Any Given Sunday games.

Through the first two weeks of the season, the Cowboys were the best team in the league, thanks to the most ferocious defense in the league.The presence of strongside linebacker Micah Parsons gave the Dallas defense its identity.

When a defense is great, it has to have at least one player that opponents fear. That player on the Cowboys is Parsons, because he wants opponents to pay with pain in every game. He may not be Lawrence Taylor or Ray Lewis, but he is very close.

In addition to the power they have on defense, the speed on the offensive side of the ball with CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks and running back Tony Pollard is formidable.

The Arizona Cardinals had lost their first two games, and while they had put up a pretty good fight early against the Washington Commanders and New York Giants, they fell apart in the second half of both games due to a lack of skill and talent.

The Cardinals employ Joshua Dobbs at quarterback. They did not employ Dobbs until August 24, when he was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns.

Prior to bringing in Dobbs, the Cardinals had traded their best receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, to the Tennessee Titans. The only skill-position player with any kind of a solid reputation is James Conner, who had one excellent season with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018 when he ran for 973 yards and 12 touchdowns and a notable season in 2021 when he ran for 752 yards and 15 touchdowns with the Cardinals.

In addition to going to battle with several unvarnished players, the Cardinals are led by rookie head coach Jonathan Gannon, a first-year offensive coordinator in Drew Petzing and a first-year defensive coordinator in Nick Rallis.

While it would be unfair to say that the Cardinals went into the season with the intention of tanking so they could select USC quarterback Caleb Williams, that theory has been broached.

Nevertheless, the Cardinals pulled off a 28-16 triumph, as the Cowboys overlooked this opponent in the worst way. It is probably an indicator that head coach Mike McCarthy is not going to get the job done despite having a team with some of the most remarkable talent in the sport.

Quarterback Dak Prescott is not always careful with the football and he has not made any progress when it comes to protecting the ball. This should be the top priority for McCarthy and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, but they don’t know how to help Prescott.

There are only three undefeated teams through the first three weeks of the season, and it’s not a surprise to see the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers with perfect records.

However, the Miami Dolphins are also perfect, and that is something to highlight. There was every reason to think that the Dolphins could challenge the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East given the speed of wideouts Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle along with the dynamic ability of running back Raheem Mostert. However, it’s the incredible start of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa that is most noteworthy.

Tagovailoa has completed 72 of 101 passes for 1,024 yard with 8 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and a league-leading 121.9 passer rating. Most importantly he has stayed healthy, and he led the Dolphins to the NFL’s first 70-point offensive showing since the 1966 season when they bombarded the Broncos 70-20 in their home opener.

It was truly a shocking show of power and explosiveness, one that demonstrated how well a team can play on Any Given Sunday.