The Cincinnati Bengals (8-1) are coming froma a 10-6 loss to the Houston Texans last week.
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On the season, the Arizona Cardinals average 297.2 yards in passing and 123.9 yards in rushing. Besides, as long as Carson Palmer is in the pocket, the passing game will survive.
The Bengals must find balance against the Cardinals. As it is the Seahawks were setup with first and goal on the 3 yard line which immediately lead to THIS. Despite that success, Dalton’s biggest critique is his inability to play well in the playoffs or in primetime games. The low scoring, 10-6 loss showed the Cincinnati offense can be stopped. Tied for the league lead in interceptions with 14, the Cardinals defense has been solid this year as well. His pass rush productivity grade of 13.0% is the 6th highest of the 18 qualified 4-3 OLBs in the NFL.
A burgeoning issue for the Bengals is the inability to establish a consistent ground game with the tandem of RBs Gio Bernard and Jeremy Hill. Then Bengals head coach Dick LeBeau interviewed Arians for the Bengals offensive coordinator job after the 2000 season before hiring Bob Bratkowski. They allow less than 17 a game. However, the Cardinals have never lost at home against Cincinnati.
This is one of the highlight matchups of the entire week, not just this game. His completion percentage is 66.2 through nine games.
Ellington said this is the freshest and fittest he’s felt since he entered the National Football League and he added that he’s perfectly content with his reduced role now that veteran Chris Johnson has established himself as the team’s primary ball carrier.
Michael Floyd and John Brown, two of Arizona’s top three wide receivers, are listed as questionable because of hamstring injuries.
The first point is stopping the run.
– With defensive tackle Cory Redding out with a bad ankle, there is a chance we could see undrafted rookie nose tackle Xavier Williams active for the first time this season. That says something pretty special about what we’ve been able to accomplish here.
The key will be pressure and disruption. Palmer, Fitzgerald, and Johnson will have a big game.
After a rocky stint in LA, Palmer overcame an ACL injury and now, in his third season in Arizona, is playing as well as he has at any point in his career with more than 2,700 passing yards and 23 TDs in nine games.
“He looked fine, got a few work in today”, Goodwin said, “but we’ll see what happens going into tomorrow and to Saturday to see whether he makes it or not on Sunday”.
If Green can not win what might be the best one-on-one matchup of the week, the Bengals won’t have an easy time. I don’t think Michael Floyd plays after missing practice all week, and Smokey Brown isn’t at full strength.
Palmer will be well aware of these numbers, so Kirkpatrick’s a focal point.
The Bengals defense has been nothing short of spectacular in many aspect this season.
To Cincinnati’s credit, the strategy continues to be riding the hot hand.
“He was tough as nails”, Arians said, “and the more we hit him, the better he got”.
The Bengals are the best team the Cardinals have faced, and the two teams are somewhat similar. Making the defense respect him opens things up for wideouts down the field.
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There will always be doubt, when it comes to the Bengals playing night games. As it stands, Green Bay and Atlanta would be the NFC wild cards, with Arizona winning the division, and Seattle and St. Louis watching from home, and San Francisco likely in the running for the top draft pick next year. Even the fans are having a down year in Seattle, so the Seahawks might as well try to shock everybody on the road.
