How in the world can Jim Cramer make sense of the resilience he is seeing in the market?

At times like this, the market reminds Cramer of a game of football. The National Football League uses a term called "next man up" when they expect a player to go down from injury, so they put another player in the line-up to get things going again.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is chalk full of man-up situations, especially on Thursday.

First man up? Wal-Mart. Many have written off this company as a stuffy old chain that is behind the times. But investors rallied behind the company Thursday following its earnings beat, which showed CEO Doug McMillon didn't see a stuffy chain store, sending it 4 percent higher.

"I liked everything that McMillon had to say, and it's clear that he has his finger on the pulse of the stores the way that Wal-Mart's legendary founder Sam Walton did," said the "Mad Money" host.

Next man up is networking equipment maker Cisco. The company initially traded higher after releasing quarterly numbers but later traded lower after its outlook disappointed investors. Stocks can often reverse course once investors latch on to bad news.

"Boy did I like what I heard from this Dow laggard, including excellent results in the United States and Europe, plus a triumphant game over for the other guys as Chambers declared victory over his hobbled rivals," said Cramer.

That is why Cramer thinks that Cisco's rally on Thursday made a ton of sense. And if any news comes out in this company's favor, he wouldn't be surprised to see it rise further.

Other men up that have been waiting on the bench are companies like Disney and Boeing. With Star Wars in Disney's pipeline for next year and terrific numbers released for Viacom, Cramer doesn't think this stock was ever injured.

----------------------------------------------------------
Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer
Cramer Remix: Apple & oil—what you need to know
Cramer: Oil drop produces winners
Cramer: This stock is ready to roar
----------------------------------------------------------

As for Boeing, they still have some issues with the Dreamliner to resolve first. However, Cramer thinks it will make a comeback.

These major players were dismissed and benched, and now are starting to play better than ever. Leave it to the NFL to show investors what is going right in the stock market lately! Who's ready for a stock market Super Bowl?

Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC

Questions for Cramer? madmoney@cnbc.com

Questions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com